A.I.O.L. G. Verdi - Accademia Internazionale dell'Opera Lirica G. Verdi

Direzione Artistica: Carlo Palleschi

Sede Legale
Strada Colli di Valenza 39, 05100 Terni (TR)
Tel. +39 0744 288116 / +39 349 8706515
E-mail info@accademialiricaverdi.org

Master Class

Bonaldo Giaiotti (bass)

Bonaldo Giaiotti (bass)2009 Summer Music Festival
Masterclass for Opera Singing


M° Bonaldo Giaiotti
With a voice described variously as "oaken," "solid," and "sonorous,"
Bonaldo Giaiotti spent a quarter century as a reliable if seldom galvanizing
artist at the Metropolitan Opera. Elsewhere, too, his firm, handsome basso
cantante was deployed most often in static roles: high priests, fathers, and
characters whose function is as much ceremonial as dramatic. His voice
recorded well and he was often engaged for important studio assignments.
He survived a misdiagnosis regarding the condition of his vocal chords that
might have impaired or even ended his career to reformulate his voice
production and continue as a reassuring presence on numerous stages in
Europe and America. As late as 1996, his King Phillip II for the New Jersey
Opera won critical commendation for style and finely crafted singing,
despite an instrument inevitably showing the effects of four decades before
the public.
Giaiotti's family held no professional musicians, but Bonaldo, like his
father, had a fine voice and sang in church until he was 12. Eight years
later, his vocal gift came to the attention of a local choral director who
began to train his voice. After two years of studies, he went to Milan,
where he worked with Alfredo Starno before making his debut at Milan's
Teatro Nuovo in 1957 in La bohhme and Manon. The impact of his strong,
firm voice assured him increasingly important assignments in theaters throughout Italy over the next several years and, in 1959, he made his American debut at Cincinnati performing Rossini's Don Basilio.
Giaiotti's Metropolitan Opera debut in the relatively minor role of the High
Priest in Verdi's Nabucco on October 24, 1960, soon led to more important
assignments in that theater. Faust, Turandot, Ernani, Luisa Miller, Don
Carlos, La forza del Destino, and Lohengrin were among those works in
which the bass achieved his greatest successes. Among these, his Timur in
Turandot was heard most often. By 1963, however, a faulty technique that tended to constrict his throat began to cause vocal fatigue, threatening a crisis just as his reputation was growing. Only with the advice of several colleagues
and throat specialists and much experimentation was Giaiotti able to
construct for himself a foundation for free and consistent singing, one that
carried him forward through a long career.
Giaiotti enjoyed considerable success in Vienna where, over a number of
seasons, he appeared in Aida, Don Carlos, Il barbiere di Siviglia, and
Faust. His first appearance at La Scala came as bass soloist in Verdi's
Manzoni Requiem under Claudio Abbado. A 1986 La Scala production of La
sonnambula directed by Gavazzeni won Giaiotti numerous plaudits. Earlier,
he had been called upon to open the 1963 season at the Maggio Musicale
Fiorentino in a production of Verdi's I masnadieri, returning for Nabucco
and Rossini's Mosi in 1977. In 1973, the bass participated in the reopening
of the Teatro Regio in Turin, singing Procida in Verdi's I vespri Siciliani..
Palermo, Verona, Buenos Aires, and Tokyo were other venues that heard
Giaiotti during the years of his prime.
A number of Giaiotti's core roles were recorded in the studio, while others
were captured in live performance. Among the former are Padre Guardiano,
Count Walter in Luisa Miller, and the Father in Mascagni's Iris. His Timur
was featured in the Nilsson/Corelli Turandot recorded by EMI.
His magnificent voice is a part of the great tradition of Itallan basses . It is recognizable for colour, dynamics, and diction and is capable of bringing great emotion to the listener.

Teacher : Bonaldo Giaiotti (bass)
Pianists accompanist : Inseon Lee, Yeami Ra
Period : 10 – 15 August 2009
Ending date for applications : 25 July
Place : Convento di S. Antonio dei Cappuccini - Lugnano in Teverina (Terni)
Final Concert : Wednesday 12 August h. 21.30 Anfiteatro di Attigliano (Terni)

Attention: The Academy reserves the right to reverse or postpone masterclass which doesn't reach the minimum number of students necessary, providing for refound the entire amount of the tuition fee and possible deposit to anybody who has the right to.

For more information download the regulation [zip file, ITA / ENG]

Download the Application Form [zip file, ITA]

Apply filling the online form