100Singers's video: 100 Singers - ENZO SORDELLO

Enzo Sordello, Baritone (1927-2008) Giuseppe Verdi: IL TROVATORE Act II: Aria Conte di Luna. "Il balen del suo sorriso" ("The flash of her smile) With John West (Ferrando), Bass New Orleans 1968, conducted by Knud Andersson My personal opinion: There is danger of confusion with names: Bulgarian baritone Ivan Petrov (1899-1963) was not the same person as Russian bass Ivan Ivanovich Petrov (1920-2003), Baritone Hans Hermann Nissen (1893-1980) was not baritone Hanns-Heinz Nissen (1905-1969), Brazilian tenor Joao Gibin (1929-1997) was not French-Canadian tenor Raoul Jobin (1906-1974), Czech Marcello Cortis (1915-1962) was not German Marcel Cordes (1920-1992), Mezzo-soprano Vesselina Kasarova (*1965) is not soprano Krassimira Stoyanova (*1962) and Italian-American bass Ezio Flagello (1931-2009) was not Italian baritone Enzo Sordello (1927-2008), whose career got a fatal blow after a potentially scandalous incident at the Metropolitan Opera. The story is age-old, but gladly told again for all who like such antics: On December 8, 1956, the company broadcast LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR with Maria Callas (her eleventh Met appearance), Giuseppe Campora as Edgardo and Enzo Sordello as the villainous brother Enrico. Act II brought the dramatic "Se tradirmi, tu potrai" duet. At the end, as the legend goes, the baritone held on to a top G longer than prescribed by Donizetti, giving the impression that Callas did not have the reserves of breath to hold on for a correspondingly long time. According to the press, Callas reviled her partner on stage and afterwards issued an ultimatum to manager Rudolf Bing in unmistakable words: "Him or me!" Bing himself in his memoirs went a step further, writing that she said "Basta!", which was misinterpreted by the first row audience as "Bastard!" Howsoever, Sordello's contract was instantly terminated; the next day the front pages featured the baritone tearing up a Callas picture ... There is fiction, there is the alleged truth and there is, fortunately, the broadcast tape that unmasked what really happened: Callas had a bad day after another disput with conductor Fausto Cleva, who was - according to many singers - a choleric hothead. The performance was not under a good star, all of the protagonists were nervous. La Callas had a problem with her penultimate high D and attacked it in seemingly secure but released it abruptly. Enzo Sordello, obviously not quite sure how to negotiate the cadence, moved to a strong high G and held it four fast beats beyond Callas. This misfortune was certainly no ill-behaviour of Sordello, who was described by Bing as "one of the most undisciplined singers I've ever met", exactly the same words the cynical impresario also used to discredit on another occasion Lauritz Melchior, Giuseppe di Stefano and Jussi Björling (Beverly Sills bluntly said: "Oh, Mr. Bing was an ..." - and she used the naughty A-word ...) The irony of fate is, that Enzo Sordello never again made proper headlines. After the scandal, he still performed at prestigious opera houses, but achieved only one other modest success as the Duke Visconti in Bellini's BEATRICE DI TENDA, revived in 1961 by Joan Sutherland. Even for the studio recording a few years later, he was replaced by the unknown Cornelius Opthof. Shunned by the phonogram companies, Enzo Sordello was only thirty-five years old, when his career continued slowly in the shadow of other baritones with less impressive voices. The 1958 Tebaldi-Bergonzi recording of Puccini's MADAMA BUTTERFLY with Sordello as Sharpless (a role he also performed under Karajan in Vienna) reveals, that he had a Rigoletto in his throat. One really wonders what would have been to be expected under other conditions. His voice was a puissant instrument with dramatic impetus, perhaps at times a bit throaty. His phrasing, especially in the moving letter-scene Sharpless-Butterfly ("Ora a noi, sedete qui") is vivid; compassionate and soft when he speaks to the young girl, disgusted when he thinks aloud ("Quel diavolo d'un Pinkerton"). This BUTTERFLY under the baton of Tullio Serafin remained Enzo Sordello's only well-known studio-recording. On the highway to international acclaim, he stumbled over a stupid incident, not worth mentioning under normal circumstances. But type his name in a search-engine and immediately you'll get the ill-fated combination Sordello-Callas. And so it happened, a career - actually suitable for more recognition - became doomed to die. As for me, I would have liked to hear him more often on records instead of the usual ever-present 1960s baritones ... By the way: Callas herself was fired by Sir Rudolf on November 6, 1958. Bing (as cited in the press): "I'm glad to be rid of her!" - Perhaps this is what some call poetic justice ...