Silvano Carroli

Silvano Carroli was born in Venice. As a child, his flair for singing was so evident that he was noticed in the Young Singers Choir of St. Marc’s Basilica. After his initial studies with Marcello Del Monaco, he completed his preparation under the personal guidance of world-famous Mario Del Monaco. After passing the selection to be admitted at the three-year opera school of the Fenice theatre in Venice, he deepened his knowledge of several music and art subjects, to later make his debut at the same theatre in 1963, when he was in his early twenties, interpreting Marcello in Puccini’s Bohéme, a performance with Freni and Aragall directed by Zeffirelli. Having been immediately noticed by the public and critics, his success arrived at once. His repertoire increased and he began to perform in the most prestigious theatres in Italy and Europe. In the early 1970s also American theatres began to call him, to perform roles that made him internationally renowned. The most important theatres worldwide -like Milan’s Scala, New York’s Metropolitan and many others -wanted him to open concert seasons. Countless are the shows in which he sang next to renowned artists (Kraus, Domingo, Pavarotti, Ber¬gonzi, Carreras, Cura, Christoff, Caballè, Dimitrova, Kabaivanska, Ghiaurov, etc.), under the most important conductors (Kleiber, Metha, Maazel, Savallisch, Levine, Sinopoli, Patanè, Abbado, Santi, Capuana, etc.), and directors (Miller, De Hana, Faggioni, Lavia, etc.). His baritone voice, characterized by a unique warm and burnished colour, is homo-geneous in the whole range, wide and rich in harmonics, of great extension and power to the extent that he is totally at ease even in large open spaces and amphitheatres -a very rare peculiarity nowadays. His solid familiarity with singing techniques allows Carroli to bent his voice to modulations, muffling, wonderful mid-voices, and explosions of sounds that fill theatres. He is a master in softly slurring phrases together, in producing incisive harsh sounds not disregarding the scenic recitation, and always respecting the music score. Even if he is completely at ease also as a bass, as he proved on several occasions with excellent results, even recently, as a baritone he can cope with the diversified musical language of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His vast rep¬ertoire includes the greatest Italian and European composers of the last three centuries with a particular preference for the nineteenth century. Many interpretations of his have been recorded and are available on DVDs, also thanks to his uncommon quality of being an excellent actor, which make him the reference point for several roles, such as Puccini’s Scarpia (Tosca), Rance (Fanciulla del West) and Michele (Tabarro); Verdi’s Simone, Rigoletto, and Renato (Ballo in maschera), Jago (Othello), Macbeth, and many other composers. Even today, 48 years after his debut, the firmness of his emission, his vocal power and width of breath are astonishing, as even the rigorous British critics underlined on the occasion of his performance in La Fanciulla del West at the Covent Garden theatre under the conduction of Pappano in September 2008. His artistic profile is mentioned in The New Grove music dictionary, and his name is included in the select list of the best opera singers having per¬formed at the Covent Garden theatre in London.
(Note about Cetti Gentile Amenta)

Reasons for awarding the prize

This Prize has been assigned to renowned baritone Silvano Carroli for his charismatic and touching vocal and scenic presence, which he showed during his long career, dedicating himself to opera with great professionalism. Through the rigorous, consistent and thorough study of the manifold characters that he interpreted, through great fidelity to the music scores written by composers from the Classic period to the twentieth century, Silvano Carroli has honoured his natural gift of having an uncommonly powerful voice characterized by a huge extension and persuasiveness.
He has given a brilliant, modern and emotionally enthralling touch to each and every role that he interpreted, also thanks to his constant attention to a “scenic recitation” distinguished by cunning phrasings, excellent elocution and outstanding acting skills.

Da sinistra: Silvano Carroli - Baritono, Alessandra Bellini - Presentatrice, Giacomo Scala Sindaco della CittÀ DI ALCAMO, Francesco Bambina - Presidente dell’Associazione “Amici Della Musica” di Alcamo e la piccola Irene Castiglione