Another request. Hipólito Lázaro was an exceptional, but now somewhat overlooked tenor (1887-1974). He received no formal training before he made his debut in his hometown in 1910. Only after this successful start he traveled to Italy to study voice. By 1913 he had gained the attention of composer Pietro Mascagni, who cast Lázaro in his new opera Parisina at La Scala in Milan. Lázaro was a success, and this paved the way for his triumphant comeback to Barcelona as Rigoletto in 1914. Through the years of the Great War, Lázaro traveled throughout Europe and in 1918, joined the cast of the Metropolitan Opera in New York for a period of two years. Lázaro was not back in Spain until 1922. Finally, he returned to the United States and rejoined the cast at the Metropolitan, where he remained a regular staple until his retirement in 1940 at age 53, though he would make special appearances in Spain through about his sixtieth birthday. Ruperto Chapí y Lorente (1851-1909) was a Spanish composer of operas including Roger de Flor (1878), La Serenata (1881), and Circe (1902). His symphonic music includes a Fantasía morisca, a Polaca de concierto, a Symphony in D and a the tone poem Los gnomos de la Alhambra. He also wrote four string quartets, songs and other chamber music, as well as an oratorio Los ángeles. In 1899 he founded the Sociedad de Autores. He was taken ill whilst conducting his last opera Margarita la tornera (1909) and died two days before his 58th birthday. His operas are occasionally resurrected, but Chapí's fame now rests with the best of his many zarzuelas, notably the large three-act works La tempestad (1882), La bruja (1887), El rey que rabió (1891), El milagro de la Virgen (1884) and Curro Vargas (1898). Equally famous he is for his shorter zarzuelas El tambor de granaderos (1894), Las bravías (1896) and his best-loved work La revoltosa (1897). As for this great recording, it was made in the late 1920's. The accompanying orchestra remained uncredited.
Comments