Esultate l'orgoglio musulmano

Francesco Tamagno sings the brief yet taxing "Esultate!" from Act I of Verdi's First Otello.

Few tenors can pull off this aria since it makes demands that few other arias make.

Keep in mind that this is how the tenor starts near the start of the opera--his very first notes. The tenor had not chance to "warm up" the voice by singing earlier in the opera!

This was recorded on both 10 inch and 12 inch masters. This seems to be the 12 inch version (the piano introduction was bungled on the 10 inch version).

Francesco Tamagno lived from December 28, 1850, to August 31, 1905. He was born in Turin in the Kingdom of Piemonte (now part of Italy).

He died in Varese, Italy.

He was the son of an innkeeper.

He sang his first principal role in 1874 at the Teatro Bellini in Palermo, taking the role of Riccardo in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera.

In his early years he had a firm, bright voice with squillanti. He was an Italian operatic tenor with a unique voice--powerful yet beautiful in roles that few other tenors could tackle.

He made history on February 5, 1887, when he sang as Otello in the first performance of Giuseppe Verdi's classic Otello.

Esultate! L'orgoglio musulmano
sepolto è in mar; nostra e del ciel è gloria!
Dopo l'armi lo vinse l'uragano.

TRANSLATION:

Rejoice! The Muslim pride
is buried in the deep.
Ours and heaven’s is the glory.
After our arms the storm has conquered it.



Francesco Tamagno "Esultate!" Verdi's First Otello (historic) Esultate! (1903) voice with squillanti