Dear Elsa,
I don't know if this helps, but I'll have a go.
I had remembered Daviesi's Christian name as Riccardo, which recollection I
think derives from Herbert-Caesari, but Giovanni also rings a bell. It is
possible that these are one and the same person: the practice of using
different combinations of given names for different audiences at different
times was not unusual in Italy. Well known examples are furnished by Schipa,
Ruffo, Viglione-Borghese, Corelli and many, many others. I think there may
have been a superstition about this. If one made an unsuccessful debut under
one name, one waited, went to a new town, and tried again under a new name.
The first name to meet with success was retained. I have also read of
instances in which a flagging career was re-started under a new name.
Daviesi could have been Riccardo in Rome but Giovanni in Tuscany. If
Giovanni and Riccardo are not the same the same person, the Roman is our
man: Herbert-Caesari has his Daviesi in Rome at the Sistine Chapel.
It doesn't take much to get a Welshman called John or Richard Davies out of
Giovanni or Riccardo Daviesi. This sounds plausible: it would be fascinating
to know whether it was true. If it is true it could be quite a story: the
good Methodist boy from the valleys whose heavenly voice took him to the
Vatican!
What is implausible is that Daviesi was a castrato. Herbert-Caesari says he
was a tenor. The Sistine 'contraltos' were what we would call tenors, an
archaic usage that reserved the word 'tenor' for that part which 'held' the
cantus firmus in polyphony.
Any use?
Regards / vriendelijke groeten
Laurie Kubiak
Commercial Analyst - Europe & Africa SMMS
Sales and Contract Support, Shell Services International
Shell Centre, London SE1 7NA
Telephone: +44 171 934 3853; Fax: +44 171 934 6674
Mobile: 07771 971 921: E.mail: Laurence.l.Kubiak@i...
Office: LON-SC 631
-----Original Message-----
From: velluti@c...
Sent: 25 July 2000 18:01
To: vocalist-temporary@egroups.com
Cc: velluti@c...
Subject: RE: [vocalist-temporary] Herbert-Caesari
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