Tito Schipa interpreta " Quiereme Mucho" Gonzalo Roig

Maestro Tito Schipa

Tito Schipa was the outstanding tenore di grazia of his generation. He made his début in 1910 in La traviata at Vercelli, and by 1915 had reached La Scala in Prince Igor and Manon, and created the role of Ruggero in Puccini’s La rondine at Monte Carlo. Schipa specialized in the lighter and more lyrical roles. His beautiful, flexible voice was at its peak during his years in Chicago (1919-1932) and at the Metropolitan (1933-1936). During the 1930s he continued to sing at La Scala and in Rome, concentrating increasingly on the lighter Italian roles and a few French roles (Lakmé, Mignon, Manon, Werther).

[Tito Schipa’s] attractive voice, so well produced as to carry with ease in large theatres, was employed with exquisite skill and taste. His refined musical phrasing and clear enunciation are well displayed in his numerous recordings.
—Desmond Shawe-Taylor

From the 1925 Victor catalog:
Tito Schipa was born at Lecce and made his début at the Constanze Theatre in Rome in La Traviata. Ten years later, he made his first American appearance, in Chicago, as the Duke in Rigoletto. His fine voice, distinguished stage presence, and his most intelligent singing, brought him quickly into recognition, and into favor, in the new world. He is a tenor of natural gifts, accomplishing with ease what so many strive for, and so vainly, through the whole of a lifetime, without success. His voice has a wholesome, robust, manly quality for all its lyric smoothness and its ease of production. He is a singer of original mind, choosing to sing what suits his voice and method, and, as his records testify, he is a most excellent judge. He is an important figure in the vocal music today, and he is growing into a very much larger one. He has those attributes, as an artist, which seem to appeal most powerfully to the general American public. His first Victor record was one of recondite origin and of great beauty; since then he has made a series—each one in profoundly individual style. With youth, skill, temperament, imagination, fearlessness, and the natural gift of a great voice, Tito Schipa’s place in the vocal music of today and tomorrow is an assured one.

Maestro Gonzalo Roig

Gonzalo Roig
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gonzalo Roig (Havana, 20 July 1890 – Havana, 13 June 1970) was a Cuban musician, composer, musical director and founder of several orchestras. He was a pioneer of the symphonic movement in Cuba.


Gonzalo Roig
In 1902 he began to study piano, music theory and solfège and later graduated in music studies at the Havana Conservatory. In 1907 he played part, as a pianist, in an ensemble (trio), and thus started his very active career in music, composed his first musical piece Voice of misfortune for piano and solo voice. Two years later he began playing violin at the Marti Theater in Havana. In 1917 he traveled to Mexico, and worked there briefly, returning to Cuba the same year. In 1922 he was co-founder of the Symphony Orchestra in Havana, of which he become music director.
In 1927 he was appointed director of the Municipal Music Band of Havana. During his tenure as director (he held the position until his death) he made countless contributions to the Cuban music. In 1929 he founded the Orchestra of Ignacio Cervantes which, a year later, was invited by the Pan American Union to lead a series of concerts in The United States of America. In 1931, while participating in the creation of the National Theatre, he composed and premiered (next year) his zarzuela, Cecilia Valdés, a typical example of the Cuban lyric theatre.
In 1938 he founded the National Opera in Havana, which he directed for a few years. He traveled frequently and gave performances in many parts of the world. He founded the Society of Cuban Authors, the National Federation of Authors of Cuba, the National Union of Authors of Cuba and the National Society of Authors of Cuba.
Besides his Cecilia Valdés he was the composer of many popular numbers, "Yours" among others.
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