Giuseppe Valdengo, Herva Nelli, Arturo Toscanini - Ciel! mio padre [Aida] - LIVE 1949

From The Real Toscanini: Musicians Reveal the Maestro (https://amzn.to/3cIucLp)

Valdengo wrote about his audition for the role of Amonasro in the NBC concert version of Aida in 1949: “Toscanini began playing the bars before the entrance of the prisoners in the second act. I began and sang as well as I could. Between rushing to get to the audition and my agitation, I don’t even know how my voice could have come out. As I sang, the Maestro’s face became darker and darker, but I dragged forward with the sole hope of being able to finish quickly … When I got to the phrase ‘Rivedrai le foreste imbalsamate,’ Toscanini had had enough and he stopped. He remained for a very long time looking at me, peering at me in a strange and ominous way, almost as if he wanted to throw me out the door, then he shouted, ‘You are ruined! What did you do with your beautiful voice, your breathing, your mezza voce, your diction that was so clear? You lost everything!’ With those hard words Toscanini had destroyed me and I stood immobile, petrified, not knowing what to say. He continued, ‘Your head got swollen from singing at the Metropolitan. Great. Good going. Now you’ll have to pay for it.’ Knowing him well, I knew that in those predicaments it was better not to respond and to simply take it. I tried to get away, but he already guessed my move, ran to the door, and locked it, saying, ‘You know, it’s not over yet; I can set you straight. Do you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to accept you for Aida. I’ll sign you on, then I’ll tear up your contract in protest. At that point you’ll go around with shame stamped on your brow … Tell me, with whom did you sing Aida? … But don’t you know that the phrase “Ma tu Re, tu signore possente” has to be sung mezza voce? Don’t you know that? Don’t you know that the recitative before the duet with the woman should not be screamed, but should be sung paternally? … Shame, shame!’” Valdengo then studied the part with the baritone Giuseppe Danise. He described his next rehearsal with Toscanini: “I sang the entire part the way Danise had coached me on it and Toscanini didn’t interrupt me. When I finished he said, ‘Would it have taken a lot for you to have sung it for me that way the last time you came? You would have avoided angering me and receiving that tongue-lashing! Don’t you think that it’s more beautiful to hear the phrase “Ma tu Re, tu signore possente” … sung mezza voce instead of hearing it shouted the way everyone does and the way you did last week?!’ ‘Yes, Maestro, you’re right.’ ‘Right, right, but you didn’t do it correctly and angered me.’ “Finally, one day I was able to satisfy him. And he said, ‘The orchestra at this point plays very softly and, if you look at the score, you will see that Verdi has put four p’s, that is more than pianissimo. Therefore it is important that the baritone does not yell, rather to sing with the maximum gentleness, the way, in fact, you did just now.’ “Another time I had arrived at the words of Amonasro, ‘Se l’amor della patria è delitto, siam rei tutti, siam pronti a morir!’ In the heat of singing and in trying to give it the most emphasis, I went flat on the word patria. The Maestro stopped me and said, ‘Not so much enthusiasm on the word patria.’ Looking at him, I read a bitter expression in his eyes. “Although the part of Amonasro is not as long and complicated as that of Iago in Otello, the Maestro was still able to make it into a great part. There was not a passage of which he was not deeply aware of the color, the timbre, the expression. He often said to me: ‘Remember, rascal, that Verdi saw Amonasro more as a father than as a soldier. All the phrases, except the words “Non sei mia figlia! Dei Faraoni tu sei la schiava!” must be sung with gentleness.’ “Another day at the phrase ‘Suo padre,’ I held the D-natural too long and at full voice. The Maestro stopped immediately: ‘If the Ethiopians had a hammy king like you, they would have been scared, they would have all run away, and you would have been left alone to play at being the king.’ “One day the Maestro had me sing the entire part. The other soloists did the same. Our throats were so used to it that that music became almost second nature.”

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