Lebendige Vergangenheit - Antonio Paoli

In the world of Opera and lyric artistry Commendatore Antonio Paoli has been indeed the eigth wonder. He definately had all that it took: an extraordinarily rich, round; powerfun and stertorous voice of a true, bona fide dramatic tenor timbre and heldentenor quality, an extraordinary Bel Canto vocal techinque and vocal place­ ment, a flawless vocal phrasing and vocal acting, an extraordinary "fiato", a very handsome physique with an exquisite personality, an incredible stage presence and a down to earth and humble human being who had a very noble heart and was very considerate and compassionate with his fellow artists. Antonio Paoli was indeed a notable character and a Dandy as wen. He was a Giant of a man with brown and curly hair and who indulged in waxing the edges of his mustache. For example, he never entered a room instead he made an entrance. His favorite offstage dress was an impeccable white outfit from hat to shoes. In addition to this offstage elegance was his onstage ultra elegant state of the art attire. A notorious example was on a gala performance of the Wagnerian opera "Lohengrin" to which the Emperor Joseph of Austria attended. For this performance he had a costume made of real silver mail at a cost of 5,000 Francs. Paoli was married twice to ladies which were considered among the great beauties of Europe at that time. Being a beau himself he had such an appearance that was so striking that his most famous roles were tailored not only to his voice but also to his physique. His most notoriously famous role was Verdi's "Oteno" a role he sang no less than 575 times and in the way and manner that it was intended to be sung. The power of his voice and vocal technique as wen as the fury of his interpretation always made his most frequent Iago, Tita Ruffo (one of the biggest baritone voices in operatic history) work thrice has hard in the famous "Si pel ciel" duet. He was also one of the famous Manrico in Verdi's "Trovatore". So extraordinary was he in this role, which he sang over 420 times, that many a time he would have to repeat three times the dreadful aria "Di quella pira" while holding up the sword and walking the extent of the stage. As mentioned above, Paoli's voice was considered by many as the most powerful and the most big voice that had been heard on stage by virtue of the vibrational intensity and timbre. Giacomo Lauri Volpi, exquisite tenor and operatic historian, in his internationally renown book and treatise, "Voci Paralle", an in a special interview with mein Burjasot, Valencia attested to this. This operatic authority has claimed that Paoli and Bernardo Di Muro have been the most powerful voices that have sung on any stage. In fact, Lauri Volpi was so impressed with and admired Paoli so that he honored me in writing the prologue for my biography of Paoli. In addition to the above descriptions of Paoli's voice the following can be included to give a more detailed description of the nature and quality of the same. During Paoli's first recording event while the attempt was being made the carbon filters of the recording horn shattered in pieces. In order to avoid this he had to step back a few feet away from the recording horn and again the filter shattered. So it was not till he finally stepped back a good twenty feet that he was finally able to record and then when he hit the high notes (Paoli has the biggest B flat and B natural ever recorded to this day) he had to turn his back to the recording horn. And even so, and despite the fact that these were 78 type of recordings, the listener will feel the incisive and piercing nature of the great singer's timbre. Paoli was the first Puerto Rican - American to gain international fame in the operatic endeavor. The courts of Italy, Russia, Portugal, Spain and Germany bestowed their most highest honors on Paoli. He adroitly performed the greatest and the most vocally difficult and demanding tenor roles in the greatest opera houses of Europe and America. He was the first tenor to record a complete opera under the supervision of its composer ( I Pagliacci by R. Leoncavallo ). It is interesting to note that some fellow artists that were interviewed expressed the fact that Paoli always walked more like a prince than like an artist. He used to visit the "Galleria in Milano, Italy and he would make his grandeur entrances appearing dressed all in white with his ebony and silver walking stick in his hand. Then minutes later he would be surrounded by an entourage which usually consisted of young, aspiring as well as famished artists. Since Paoli was aware of that after a while he would invite the entire crowd to dinner in which these artists would consider as the best one they ever had in their lives. Paoli also developed a reputation for himself in helping many young artists in their careers. Verdi's "Oteno" was also known as Paoli's "Otello" because of his definitive characterization. Many Shakespearian theatric artists would assist the last act of the opera to study his impeccable characterization of la morte di Otello". Every stage move that Paoli made in this opera he made in perfect synchrony with the orchestral score. The great diva Elvira De Hidalgo upon being interviewed expressed the fact that Paoli's size and flashing blue eyes actually terrified some of the Desdemonas who performed with him in "Otello". In fact, once he whispered to a particularly standoffish soprano "I am really going to kill you" and the diva became so terrified that her screams could be heard out in the street thus it made for an exceptionally dramatic performance and a very real one at that. Being a strong and powerfully built person he once picked up a Desdemona who happened to weigh some 300 pounds and threw her on the bed with such force that the bed fell apart and all that could be seen from the audience's view were two hefty legs sticking out and pointing straight up to the air. The diva was understandably furious and out …