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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