Vedi io piango

Giuseppe Radaelli (1887-1939) was a spinto-dramatic tenor whose quarter century career took him to theaters on both sides of the Atlantic. Born in Caravaggio in Italy’s Bergamo province, Radaelli studied in Milan with Vincenzo Manni and celebrated tenor Enrico Colli (1866-1928). His debut was as Enzo in La Gioconda at the Teatro Lauro Rossi in Macerata in May of 1914. Within a few years, the tenor was in demand at provincial theaters throughout Italy, with appearances in Parma, Reggio Emilia, Piacenza, Rimini, Genoa, Turin, Florence, Brecia and Bologna. Although Radaelli was heard mainly from the stages of regional opera houses, there were appearances with major companies such as the Petruzelli in Bari, Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera and La Scala in Milan. By the 1920s, his career had expanded throughout Europe and the Americas with appearances in Berlin, Vienna, Budapest, Milan, Paris, Buenos Aires, Rio, Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Los Angeles. His repertoire of some thirty roles included Rodolfo in La Bohème, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera, Arrigo in I Vespri Siciliani, Alvaro in La Forza del Destino, Arturo in I Puritani, Pollione in Norma, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Fernando in La Favorita, Osiride in Mosè in Egitto, Peri in Il Guarany, Hagenbach in La Wally, Giannetto in La Cena delle Beffe and the title roles in Ernani and Andrea Chénier. Radaelli also created the leads in the world premieres of Michetti’s La Grazia (Teatro Costanzi, Rome, 1923) and Pizzi’s Ivania (Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo, 1926).

In the fall of 1924, Radaelli made his U.S. debut as Alfredo in La Traviata with Alfredo Salmaggi’s Manhattan Grand Opera Association. This would prove to be the beginning of a long association with the legendary producer, famed for his bargain priced opera presentations. The tenor returned to the States nearly every year for appearances with Salmaggi’s many companies, eventually settling in New York in 1934. Radaelli proved to be a popular draw and was lured away by other impresarios during the infamous East Coast “Opera Wars” of the 1930s. Among the many budget rate companies the tenor worked with were Pasquale Amato’s Broadway-Chicago Opera Company (which made headlines for “stealing” the tenor from Salmaggi!), The Empire City Grand Opera Festival, Dell’ Orefice New York Opera Company, The Puccini Grand Opera Company, The Apollo Grand Opera Company and The Pittsburgh Metropolitan Grand Opera, Inc.

Radaelli also enjoyed a number of high profile engagements. He was a featured artist in the historic 1929 broadcast from Boston to Admiral Byrd’s expedition at the South Pole and appeared with Lew Leslie’s International Revue in 1930. The latter got off to a rocky start according to a New York Daily News report from March 4, 1930. “That man who comes out and warbles an aria from ‘Pagliacci’ in the ‘International Revue’ is Giuseppe Radaelli…he had a terrible time making an impression…When the show tried out in Philadelphia. Radaelli came on so late that by then all the critics had gone…on the second night his number was dropped altogether…He was put back in just before the New York opening – and at the premiere his was one of eight numbers left out…”

Radaelli spent the 1930s steadily working with smaller companies around the U.S., primarily singing Manrico in Il Trovatore, Radames in Aïda, Don José in Carmen, and his most popular role, Canio in Pagliacci, which he sang over 1,000 times. Canio proved to be the last role the tenor ever performed, at New York’s Hippodrome on April 17, 1938. Radaelli’s health was now deteriorating and by the summer he was compelled to enter Columbus Hospital for treatment of chronic renal failure. Sadly, the veteran tenor never recovered from his illness. After lingering for several months, Radaelli died from uremia on January 30, 1939, just two weeks after his 52nd birthday.

Giuseppe Radaelli was a gifted and remarkably expressive singer who deserves to be better remembered. Although he was quite a popular tenor with the public during his day, his long association with bargain basement opera companies has led to the impression that he was a third rate tenor who deserves the obscurity into which he has fallen. This is an unfair assessment. The reasons for Radaelli’s obscurity are many…competition from a plethora of renowned tenors (Gigli, Martinelli, Lauri-Volpi, Cortis, Pertile, Lázaro and Zenatello, to name a few), chronic ill health and, perhaps, poor career management…but much can be blamed on his paltry recorded legacy. Apart from a single 1931 Victor test pressing (now believed to be lost), Radaelli’s entire recorded output consists of fewer than 20 hard to find sides made for Columbia between about 1923 and 1929. Here, Radaelli sings "Vedi, io piango" from Giordano's Fedora. This recording was made in Milan around 1923.