Franco Corelli Begins

Corelli was largely self-taught. There are conflicting accounts of formal training, but it was brief and unsuccessful. His friend Carlo Scaravelli was studying with a voice teacher, Arturo Melocchi, whose unconventional method was based on lowering the larynx. After each lesson he'd demonstrate for Corelli what he'd just been taught. (Melocchi was also the teacher of Mario del Monaco and Luigi Ottolini). It is a dangerous way to sing, in part because it requires great athleticism and stamina, "and vocal cords of steel". Many voices have been ruined in this way. Corelli had been an athlete, and his powerful physique was the very instrument this challenging technique might reward. (As Corelli neared 50, I believe he was simply no longer strong enough to sing like this.) Apart from these second-hand lessons, Corelli taught himself, but he never abandoned Melocchi's raised larynx. At first Corelli didn't have a very strong upper voice, but he worked obsessively with a tape recorder, and his upper register improved. He won an important competition, and soon after made his debut, in 1951, as Don Jose.

Radames was his originally scheduled debut, but he was unable to sustain the high tessitura of that role—one of the most difficult Verdi tenor parts—and he made his debut instead as Don Jose in Bizet's "Carmen", which he later called his favorite role. Besides the RCA 1963 commercial recording, with Price, Freni and Merrill under Von Karajan, there are at least 4 complete live recordings of Corelli in his youthful prime in this role, more or less readily available. (He recorded the role again in the early 70's, with Anna Moffo as Carmen, for Eurodisc. I think this may have been Franco's last commercial recording.)

By 1956, Corelli had tamed his recalcitrant upper range enough to record Radames commercially for Cetra, with Mary Curtis-Verna, Miriam Pirazzini, Gian-Giacomo Guelphi and Giulio Neri. This is a strong, visceral performance, and a good example of Corelli's singing in the studio in the middle-fifties. (By happy coincidence, Curtis-Verna's last performances before her retirement were as Desdemona in Verdi's "Otello", at Baltimore Opera. She was happy to leave the stage under the wing of Rosa Ponselle, and I was fortunate to hear what an aging diva could accomplish in a nurturing environment. The Met comprimario Robert Nagy was Otello, and I can report that he sang the hell out of it. I saw all three peformances, and I learned a lot. Richard Fredericks was Iago.) A radio broadcast of one of his Naples "Aida" performances exists, and, like the Cetra set, it shows a quite pronounced caprino. Caprino is an Italian cheese made from goat's milk. Applied to a singer—especially to a tenor-- it means that he displays a quick vibrato reminiscent of a bleating goat. This problem is caused by imperfect breath control and support. Corelli's sound is already big, beautiful and exciting, but he has not yet perfected his technique:"contents under pressure".