Artists mourn a much-loved tenor

Artists mourn a much-loved tenor

main

norman lebrecht

October 05, 2019

Tributes to Marcello Giordani, who died suddenly today at his home, aged 56.

Angela Gheorghiu: ‘I am devastated by the very sudden and early loss of my dear friend and great colleague, Marcello Giordani, a tenor with a golden voice with whom I had the pleasure to sing together many times at The Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Teatro Real in Madrid among others, and the last time in our Japan tour in 2017 with Teatro Massimo Palermo. May your soul rest in peace, your voice will live eternally in our hearts!’

Piotr Beczala: ‘I send my condolences to the family and I would like to dedicate my today’s recital in Linz to the memory of Marcello. ‘

Aprile Millo: ‘I am speechless. Marcello Giordani, truly fabulous tenor voice, passed away suddenly in Sicily. What a great shock and sadness. An exciting wonderful singer and friend. My heart goes to his family the amazing Wilma Ahrens and their sons and family. I am so deeply sorry. He will be in the beauty and harmony he helped give the world. Perpetual light and harmony. Pax Eterna. So young.’

Michael Fabiano: ‘ Very shocked to learn of the passing of Marcello Giordani. My heartfelt condolences to Wilma Ahrens, her family, and his dearest ones… My greatest memory of Marcello was the first time I heard him sing at the Met in Simone. He had a triumph as Gabriele above the rest of the cast in a role that isn’t the most triumphant. I also screamed my lungs out twice in a Tosca for him in places where people used to scream their lungs out but don’t these days. Opera fans know where. He will be greatly missed.’

Anna Netrebko: ‘Crying for Marcello Giordani…🙏🏻❤️ Fantastic singer and great partner on stage, we shared so many times… thank you for your Art… we always will love and remember you .. here is our last performance together. Manon Lescaut from Vienna, June 2016…

Salvo La Rosa: ‘Un dolore davvero enorme. La morte improvvisa di Marcello Guagliardo-Giordani mi ha sconvolto.
Ciao Marcello, Amico vero e sincero, sempre disponibile e premuroso; Artista straordinario e di grande talento, col quale ho avuto l’onore e la gioia di lavorare sempre su palcoscenici di grande prestigio; Uomo onesto e dalle grandi virtù.
Te ne se sei andato troppo presto, con tante belle cose ancora da fare e tanti progetti importanti rimasti nel cassetto. E te ne sei andato lo stesso giorno in cui un anno fa se ne andava un altro nostro grande Amico, Gilberto Idonea: incontrandovi in Paradiso con Gilberto ricordatevi della meravigliosa giornata che abbiamo trascorso insieme noi tre qualche anno fa a New York, tra sorridi e ricordi (che ridere quel giorno in piena Times Square) e dei tanti momenti trascorsi insieme sul palco e nella Vita.
Grazie anche per la bellissima sigla che mi hai regalato nel 2010 per il Festival della canzone siciliana: con me sei sempre stato tanto generoso e la tua voce e la tua presenza hanno dato ancora più valore al Festival.
Ciao Marcello, riposa in pace. Ci hai lasciati all’improvviso e ho perso un altro dei miei migliori Amici: mi mancherai tantissimo.
Sono vicino col cuore e con la preghiera a Tua moglie Wilma, ai tuoi figli e ai tuoi familiari.
Un abbraccio forte #cututtuucori.’

Patricia Racette: ‘I am reeling at this news! I sang with Marcello perhaps more than any other tenor in my career. What an amazing talent and what a loss. My heart goes out to Wilma and the kids.’

Speranza Scappucci: ‘Tristissima di aver appreso questa notizia Caro Marcello , che la terra ti sia lieve . Mi ritengo fortunata di aver potuto condividere insieme a te la Musica . Grande collega , artista immenso. Sei stato con me in Manon Lescaut e Aida, e ancor prima tante volte abbiamo lavorato insieme al pianoforte e mi chiamavi sempre con grande affetto e rispetto “Maestro” TVB mancherai ‘

Comments

  • Nonbarihunk says:

    Had the pleasure to sing with Marcello on many occasions. Not only a really great voice but a great and warm colleague.
    A truly great loss. RIP dear Marcello.

  • Andre Heller-Lopes says:

    Such sad news! Marcelo sang a gorgeous Boheme at the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro back in 1987, his Brazilian debut and one of the very first shows I remember watching as a teenager. Later, thank to John Copley I had the luck of working with him at the Met, in Bellini’s Il Pirata. Nice guy, Amazing top notes.

  • Olassus says:

    Bellini, Il pirata,
    Pidò/Fleming/Giordani/Shagidullin/Turco,
    2002, live in Paris, Premiere Opera

    Bellini, Il pirata,
    Campanella/Fleming/Giordani/Croft-D/Martirossian,
    2003, live in New York, Celestial Audio

    Bellini, I puritani,
    Domingo/Gruberová/Giordani/Hvorostovsky/Scandiuzzi,
    1994, live in Vienna, Premiere Opera

    Bellini, La straniera,
    Moretti/Neblett/Graham/Giordani/Robertson-C/Short,
    1989, live in Charleston, Lyric Distribution

    Berlioz, Benvenuto Cellini,
    Levine/Bayrakdarian/Jepson/Giordani/Coleman-Wright/del Carlo,
    2003, live in New York, Met

    Berlioz, La damnation de Faust,
    Plasson/Ganassi/Giordani/Raimondi,
    2002, live in Genoa, Premiere Opera

    Berlioz, La damnation de Faust,
    Levine/Naef/Giordani/van Dam,
    2007, live in London, Premiere Opera

    Berlioz, La damnation de Faust,
    Levine/Graham/Giordani/Relyea,
    2008, DVD, New York, non-commercial

    Bizet, Carmen,
    Lombard/Luigia Borsi/Uria-Monzon/Giordani/Aceto,
    2004, DVD, Palermo, Encore

    Bizet, Les pêcheurs de perles,
    Flint/Hall-Ja/Giordani/Dietsch/Cox,
    1991, live in Costa Mesa, Premiere Opera

    Cilèa, Adriana Lecouvreur,
    Queler/Millo/Zajick/Giordani/Golesorkhi,
    2002, live in New York, Premiere Opera

    Donizetti, La favorite,
    Armiliato/Ganassi/Giordani/Chernov/Langan,
    1999, live in San Francisco, Premiere Opera

    Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor,
    Šutej/Fabbricini/Giordani/Kastón/Colombara,
    1994, Jan 20, live in Houston, Lyric Distribution

    Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor,
    Levine/Dessay/Giordani/Kwiecień/Relyea,
    2007, live in New York, Celestial Audio

    Donizetti, Lucrezia Borgia,
    Gelmetti/Fleming/Ganassi/Giordani/Pertusi,
    1998, live in Milan, House of Opera

    Donizetti, Lucrezia Borgia,
    Queler/Fleming/Blythe/Giordani/Peterson,
    2000, live in New York, Celestial Audio

  • Olassus says:

    Gounod, Faust,
    Auguin/Vaduva/Dey-Toth/Giordani/Mackenzie/Ramey,
    2000, live in Los Angeles, House of Opera

    Gounod, Faust,
    Benini/Isokoski/Jepson/Giordani/Braun/Furlanetto-F,
    2001, DVD, Paris, Premiere Opera

    Gounod, Roméo et Juliette,
    Guingal/Devia/Giordani/Furlanetto-G,
    1999, live in Parma, Premiere Opera

    Massenet, Manon,
    Mauceri/Swenson/Giordani/Ulloa/Autry/Patterson,
    1998, live in Detroit, Legato

    Meyerbeer, L’Africaine,
    Queler/Dehn/Taigi/Giordani/Mvinjelwa,
    2011, live in New York, non-commercial

    Meyerbeer, Les Huguenots,
    Allemandi/Davidova/Sánchez-AM/Genaux/Giordani/Chaignaud/Kahn/Prestia,
    1999, DVD, Bilbao, Encore

    Meyerbeer, Les Huguenots,
    Queler/Makarina/Stoyanova/Zifchak/Giordani/Boutros/Simpson/Faria,
    2001, live in New York, Premiere Opera

    Ponchielli, La Gioconda,
    Renzetti/Mazzaria/Gertseva/Tirendi/Giordani/Mastromarino/Rysov,
    2006, DVD, Catania, Kicco

    Puccini, La Bohème,
    Welser-Möst/Gallardo-Domâs/Mosuc/Giordani/Volle,
    2005, DVD, Zurich, EMI

    Puccini, La fanciulla del West,
    Luisotti/Voigt/Giordani/Gallo,
    2011, Jan 8, DVD, New York, DG

    Puccini, Madama Butterfly,
    Oren/Cedolins/Franci/Giordani/Pons-Jn,
    2004, DVD, Verona, TDK

    Puccini, Madama Butterfly,
    Summers-P/Racette/Zifchak/Giordani/Croft-D,
    2009, DVD, New York, Sony

    Puccini, Manon Lescaut,
    Levine/Mattila/Giordani/Croft-D,
    2008, DVD, New York, EMI

    Puccini, Manon Lescaut,
    Armiliato/Netrebko/Giordani/Pershall,
    2016, live in Vienna, non-commercial

    Puccini, Tosca,
    Auguin/Blancke-Biggs/Giordani/Gagnidze,
    2010, live in New York, Sirius

    Puccini, Turandot,
    Nelsons-A/Poplavskaya/Guleghina/Giordani,
    2009, DVD, New York, Decca

  • Olassus says:

    Rossini, Guillaume Tell,
    Campanella/Le Roi/Papian/Giordani/Hampson/Wells,
    2003, DVD, Paris, Encore

    Rossini, Guillaume Tell,
    Queler/Dehn/Blasi/Giordani/Chingari/Carfizzi,
    2005, live in New York, Premiere Opera

    Verdi, Aida,
    Armiliato/Moore-L/Blythe/Giordani/Ataneli/Morris,
    2012, live in New York, non-commercial

    Verdi, Attila,
    Carignani/Guleghina/Giordani/Bruson/Colombara,
    1996, live in Macerata, House of Opera

    Verdi, Un ballo in maschera,
    Conlon/Voigt/Petrova-L/Cornetti/Giordani/Álvarez-C,
    2005, live in New York, Celestial Audio

    Verdi, Ernani,
    Abbado-R/Meade/Giordani/Hampson/Furlanetto-F,
    2008, live in New York, Celestial Audio

    Verdi, Ernani,
    Armiliato/Meade/Giordani/Hvorostovsky/Furlanetto-F,
    2012, Feb 25, DVD, New York, YouTube

    Verdi, La forza del destino,
    Mehta/Urmana/Gertseva/Giordani/Guelfi-C/Scandiuzzi,
    2007, DVD, Florence, TDK

    Verdi, Jérusalem,
    Luisi/Mescheriakova/Giordani/Rouillon/Scandiuzzi,
    1998, Philips

    Verdi, Simon Boccanegra,
    Levine/Frittoli/Giordani/van Dam/Aceto,
    2009, live in Boston, Premiere Opera

    Verdi, Simon Boccanegra,
    Levine/Pieczonka/Giordani/Domingo/Morris,
    2010, DVD, New York, Sony

    Verdi, Il trovatore,
    Armiliato/Meade/Zajick/Giordani/Rodríguez-JJ,
    2016, live in New York, non-commercial

    Verdi, Les vêpres siciliennes,
    Conlon/Miricioiu/Giordani/Michaels-Moore/Furlanetto-F,
    2003, live in Paris, Celestial Audio

    Zandonai, Francesca da Rimini,
    Armiliato/Westbroek/Brubaker/Giordani/Delavan,
    2013, DVD, New York, non-commercial

  • Daniel says:

    I also sang with Marcello a few times and he was always a terrific and exemplary colleague. He sang an absolutely stunning huguenots, and I was lucky to hear it. He will be missed.

  • tenoreconbelto says:

    I heard him just once alas, in Tosca, and he was under the weather a bit and not, perhaps, at his absolute best. However, despite it all be soldiered through it and saved his voice for the big moments, but acted and supported his colleagues with full commitment. I wish I had heard more of him in his prime. The tributes of colleagues though speak more forcefully of the true extent of his loss. RIP.

  • Dana Gioia says:

    Marcello Giordani’s death is a great loss to opera not only in artistic but human terms. He had one of the great tenor voices of his era. I had the pleasure of hearing him perform at least a dozen times–not only in opera houses but once in the chambers of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was never less than thrilling.

    I also had the privilege of knowing Marcello and his family. His personality was like his voice–robust, warm, and ebullient. He was always good company–friendly, full of insight about music and always down to earth. God rest his gentle soul.

  • MOST READ TODAY: