Autograph letter signed to "Dearest Ferdinando."
1 page of a bifolium. Octavo. Dated Porretta, June 25, [18]71. In Italian (with translation).
Fraschini describes an unfortunate sojourn in Porretta.
"The Mignani are very kind and the apartment good but horribly located, where it is impossible to rest, and were it only last night, when the drunkards properly celebrated San Giovanni; then the narrow street with a shack on top – all considered I truly don't know if we'll stay... What is very comfortable is the bathing establishment, they are truly delightful baths, and were these absent, I don't think anyone would come to this town to be taken advantage of by paying 25 lire a day to rent a place situated between two butchers, a baker, several canteens, a clarinet player, a trombone player, and a hundred other devils... "
Slightly worn and soiled; creased at folds and overall; two short tears to central fold.
Fraschini "created Gerardo in Caterina Cornaro (1844); other Donizetti operas in which he sang included Linda di Chamounix, Maria di Rohan, La favorite, Poliuto and Lucia di Lammermoor. He was dubbed the ‘tenore della maledizione’ because of the force with which he delivered Edgardo’s curse in Lucia, and was noted above all as an early tenore di forza. He was chosen by Verdi to create Zamoro in Alzira (1845, Naples), Corrado in Il corsaro (1848, Trieste), Arrigo in La battaglia di Legnano (1849, Rome) and the title role of Stiffelio (1850, Trieste). He also appeared in Oberto, Ernani, I Lombardi, I masnadieri, Luisa Miller and Il trovatore. In 1856 he sang Henri in Les vêpres siciliennes at Rome, in 1858 Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra at Naples, and he created Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera (1859, Rome). It is a commentary on his technique and taste that, after so many forceful roles, he could still be expected to sing with the refinement and elegance necessary for Riccardo’s music. He sang in the first London performance of I due Foscari at Her Majesty’s Theatre (1847), in La forza del destino at Madrid (1863), and La traviata and Rigoletto at the Théâtre Italien, Paris (1864). He made his last appearance as Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia at Rome in 1873 when, though in his late fifties, he still retained the firmness and security of his voice." Elizabeth Forbes in Grove Music Online.
Item #24265
Price: $150.00 other currencies