How a self-taught Italian tenor became the prince of the opera world
In short: Franco Corelli was a powerhouse tenor who disdained formal voice teachers, instead teaching himself by imitating legends like Enrico Caruso. With his movie-star looks and a voice described as having cords of steel, he commanded the world's greatest stages for decades, leaving behind a legacy of intense, electrifying performances.
Born in Ancona in 1921, Franco Corelli initially pursued naval engineering before a dare led him to a singing competition. Though he briefly attended the Pesaro Conservatory, he grew disillusioned with formal instruction, famously labeling voice teachers as a plague. Instead, he developed his own technique, partially inspired by Arturo Melocchi’s method of singing with a lowered larynx. Corelli refined this approach, ensuring his larynx 'floated' rather than remaining fixed, which allowed him to balance a cavernous, brilliant sound with the delicate control required for smooth, legato singing.
Corelli’s career skyrocketed in the 1950s, marked by a legendary partnership with Maria Callas and triumphs at La Scala. By 1961, he began a prolific tenure at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he became a fixture until 1974. His repertoire was vast, spanning dramatic Italian and French roles, including over 100 performances as Don José in Bizet’s Carmen. Despite his massive popularity, critics were often divided; some accused him of self-indulgent phrasing, while others, like Harold C. Schonberg of The New York Times, argued his expressive liberties possessed their own internal logic.
The physical demands of his career eventually took a toll. By the early 1970s, Corelli struggled with performance anxiety and vocal fatigue, leading to his retirement from the stage in 1976 at age 55. In a final irony, the man who once shunned formal training became a sought-after voice teacher in New York. Corelli passed away in Milan in 2003, remembered as a 'prince of tenors' whose live recordings continue to capture the vibrancy and white heat of his stage presence.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Franco Corelli
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