From time immemorial, the human voice has been considered to be the world’s favourite instrument. Of all the registers in the human voice, perhaps the most popular has been the tenor. From the last 150 or so years, many greats come to mind— Giovanni Rubini, Giovanni Mario, Italo Campanini, Roberto Stagno, Francesco Tamagno and others. In the last century, perhaps the most acclaimed was Enrico Caruso, yet when the final list is made, the name of Giovanni Martinelli will rank at the very pinnacle of fame. 

Martinelli was born in the town of Montagnana near Venice on 22nd October 1885. His father was a cabinet maker, and it was Martinelli’s intention to follow in his father’s footsteps. The young Martinelli was musically inclined, and he played in a regimental band during military service. His voice was discovered by one of the officers and at 21, he decided to try for a vocal career. He studied with Giuseppe Mandolini in Rome and in 1908 made his first appearance onstage in his home town as the messenger in Aida, a part which held him before the public for less than two minutes and for which he was paid a fee of three liras. In 1910, he made his initial stage debut at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan in Verdi’s Ernani. In the following year, he sang Dick Johnson in La fanciulla del West—this would later become his passport role to many theatres—at Rome under Toscanini. “Bravo, Giovanni! With your voice, your career will be a great credit to you, to Italy, and to the world.” These prescient words were written by Giacomo Puccini to the young Martinelli in 1912. Martinelli went on to rank in public and critical estimation as one of the three greatest Italian tenors of the century along with comrades and friendly rivals, Caruso and Beniamino Gigli. 

Soon after, Martinelli was engaged by Covent Garden where he debuted as Cavaradossi. He appeared at Covent Garden during five seasons between 1912 and 1937 singing in over 90 performances in 15 operas, among which Otello and Turandot of his last season were particularly memorable. 

In 1913, he came to the Metropolitan Opera, making his initial appearance as Rodolfo in La bohème. No one, least of all Martinelli, realised at the time that the longest consecutive reign of a tenor in the history of the Met or any other major theatre had been launched. Martinelli remained at the Met for 33 consecutive seasons, singing in a total of over 600 performances of 35 major parts. For his initial seven seasons, he vied with Caruso in both lyric and dramatic parts and after the death of his colleague in 1921, he took over the majority of Caruso’s roles. 

His final appearance at the Met took place in the 1945-46 season in La bohème, the opera of his debut. However, he did not retire but continued to make personal appearances in the US and Italy. In the US, Martinelli appeared for more than a score of seasons as leading tenor of the San Francisco Opera and Chicago

Opera Company as well as annually touring the continent in concerts. Throughout Europe and South America, he appeared in every major opera house and sang parts not given at the Met. In Chicago, in 1940 he appeared as Tristan opposite Kirsten Flagstad. 

What were the vocal attributes of this singer? He was gifted with a superb natural voice of trumpet-like power capable of shaking the rafters of the auditorium. His quality could best be described as pure silver-bright and with a ring and intensity above the staff, which was equalled by few and surpassed by none. The brilliance and fire with which he tossed off his high notes continually startled audiences used to the finest in singing. His breath control was probably the greatest ever developed by a tenor. He was capable of sustaining a legato line and swelling a crescendo to a point where the audience went numb. His diction was impeccable and he brought a sincerity and an intensity to his phrases.  

His acting in the beginning was adequate. But as he grew in stature, it improved tremendously. His Eléazar in La Juive, Canio in Pagliacci and Otello were dramatic characterisations of so fine a nature that he did not have to sing to portray any of these and other characters. The role of Canio in Pagliacci was one of Martinelli’s greatest parts and he sustained the mantle of Caruso in this opera for more than a quarter century. Martinelli’s immense power and incredible phrasing in the agonising finale of the aria ‘Vesti la Giubba’, “E’ l dolor – Ridi Pagliaccio, sul tuo amore infranto, ridi del duol, che t’ avvelena il cor” is the epitome of all that is grand in opera. All in all, he sang 61 major parts in an estimated total of 4,500 performances in his career.

An incident occurred when the name of Martinelli came up at a party attended by Giuseppe De Luca, who had been Martinelli’s friend and colleague for more than 35 years. A young tenor at the Met asked, “Why was Martinelli considered so important?” De Luca rose to his feet. “I have sung with Giovanni since 1914. Let me tell you. In his vocal prime his voice had a unique quality which was as individual as that of Caruso. It was golden in hue and so ingratiating in its warmth that it caressed the ear—and that, for a spinto, is a remarkable thing. Martinelli’s diction, his phrasing and especially his breathing were unique. I never heard any singer who had the enormous breath and line which Martinelli possessed … He would sing phrase after phrase in a limpid legato line which would leave a listener limp and gasping for breath. His high register was magnificent and thrilling. The voice was an enormous one to start with, with carrying quality which increased its volume the further back one sat in a theatre. To me, I would rank Martinelli as one of the three greatest tenors with whom I have been associated.” Martinelli died in New York on 2nd February 1969 at the age of 83.

The Stuart-Liff Collection features recordings of this great tenor in about 10 LPs of his solos and duets in various operas. 

To a voice that will forever remain young in the minds of music lovers: “Advance forever eternal youth”. Or, as they say in Italian, “Sempre Avanti Eterna Giovinezza.”

The NCPA houses the world-famous Stuart-Liff Collection of 6,000 books, 11,000 LPs and 12,000 CDs on Western classical music. This collection was generously donated to the centre in 2009 by Vivian Liff, on behalf of George Stuart and himself, as a gesture of their friendship with Chairman Mr. Khushroo N. Suntook, an avid collector and connoisseur himself. The collection is an invaluable source for research by musicologists and students as well as for general music lovers. The library housing the collection is open from 10 am to 5.15 pm on weekdays.