Vogliatemi bene

Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli (1890-1957); Italian soprano Toti Dal Monte (1893-1975) / Bimba daghli occhi pieni di malia.... Vogliatemi bene, un bene piccolino... Quanti occhi, quanti stelle / Madama Butterfly (Puccini) / Orchestra e Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma / Oliviero De Fabrtis - conductor / Recorded: July 1939 --

Italian opera singer Beniamino Gigli, (March 20, 1890 - November 30, 1957). The most famous tenor of his generation, he was renowned internationally for the great beauty of his voice and the soundness of his vocal technique. Critics sometimes took him to task, however, for what was perceived to be the over-emotionalism of his interpretations. Nevertheless, such was Gigli's talent that he is considered to be one of the very finest tenors in the recorded history of music. ( the full wikipedia article can be found here:
Antonietta Meneghel (June 27, 1893 January 26, 1975), better known by her stage name Toti Dal Monte, was a celebrated Italian operatic soprano, and a favourite of Arturo Toscanini.

Born in Mogliano Veneto, in the Province of Treviso, she made her debut at La Scala, Milan at the age of seventeen as Biancofiore in Riccardo Zandonais Francesca da Rimini. She was an immediate success, and her clear nightingale-like voice came to be highly appreciated throughout the world. Her best-known roles included Amina (in Bellinis La sonnambula), Lucia (in Donizettis Lucia di Lammermoor) and Gilda (in Verdis Rigoletto). She is perhaps best-known for her performances as Cio-cio-san (in Puccinis Madama Butterfly), and her recording of this role (with Beniamino Gigli as Pinkerton) is an interesting souvenir of her interpretation.

In 1924, fresh from triumphs in Milan and Paris, but before her debut in London or New York, Nellie Melba engaged her as a star for her second opera company to tour Australia. She was a popular and critical success and there was no rivalry between the ageing Melba and Dal Monte. Rather they threw bouquets after each other's performances. In 1928, on her third visit to Australia, Dal Monte married the tenor Enzo de Muro Lomanto in St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney. The following year she sang the role of Rosalina, which was specifically written for her, in the world premiere of Umberto Giordano's Il re on the 12 January at La Scala.

She retired from the operatic stage in 1943 at the age of fifty. However, she continued to work in the theatre (as well as to make the occasional recording) and appeared in a number of films, of which the best known is perhaps her last, Enrico Maria Salernos Anonimo veneziano, a 1970 story about a musician at La Fenice. She was also active as a singing teacher. Among her notable pupils was Canadian soprano Dodi Protero.

La Toti died at the age of 81, in Pieve di Soligo, as a result of circulatory disorders.

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