Pertile was born on 9 November 1885
in Montagnana On
16th of February 1911, Pertile made his debut in Flotow's Marta
at the Teatro Eretenio in Vicenza . The other artists were Aida Gonzaga
and De Dionigi while Bavagnoli conducted. The local newspaper La
provincia di Vicenza commented on the performance as follows:
Excellent
the tenor Aureliano Pertile who was singing for the first time in
front of an audience of his city. Pertile impersonated very well
the person of Lionello, a young man in love. Pertile has a strong
voice that he used to show both sweetness and dramatic temperament.
There were seven performances. In
May, Pertile was engaged at Milan's Teatro Dal Verme to sing in
the Italian Premiere of Quo vadis by Jean Nouguès. The performance
took place on the 3rd of May. The other artists in the cast included
Zauner, Garelli and Montesanto. Pertile finishes the year at the
Teatro Vittorio Emanuele of Torino singing in Quo vadis (20th September),
Rigoletto (October ??, with Muzio, Bernal), La Gioconda (November ?? with
Corsi, Vannini, Bernal, Montesanto, Contini) and Norma (15th November
with Alloro, Vannini, Contini).
In early 1912, Pertile returned to
the Dal Verme for Pagliacci (21st January with Bosini, Zani, Baracchi)
and later, Andrea Chénier (17 December with Wroblenska, Passuello).
During that year, Pertile sang in Asti (Isabeau, Andrea Chénier)
and Vicenza (Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Andrea Chénier).
1913 finds Pertile in Brescia singing
La Gioconda (January ???), Conchita (28 January). On the 8th of May,
Pertile sang in the Manzoni Requiem at Brescia and on the 3rd of
June, he repeated the Verdi work at Genoa. During March, Pertile
sang as Don José in Carmen at Padua (March ??). Pertile crossed the Atlantic
to Chile and Argentina. In Chile, he sang in Santiago (Manon Lescaut,
Un ballo in maschera, Cavalleria rusticana, Tzigana), Valparaiso
(Manon Lescaut, Cavalleria rusticana). Pertile made his debut in
Buenos Aires on 25th of October in Tosca at the Coliseo. During
his stay in Buenos Aires, Pertile sang in La traviata, Carmen, and
La Gioconda. He finished the year at the San Carlo in Naples singing
in Conchita.
Pertile staid in Naples at the beginning
of 1914 singing Madama Butterfly, and Carmen. He moved then to Palermo
(Salome, Conchita), Firenze (Lucia di Lammermoor), Padua (Andrea
Chénier), Genoa (La giavanese, Carmen, Cavalleria rusticana).
In January 1915, Pertile made
his debut at Turin's Regio in Francesca da Rimini (21st of
January with Linda Cannetti, Francesco Cigada, Emilio Venturini)
and in February he continued his engagement with L'amore dei
tre re (11th of February with Cannetti, Cigada, Nicoletti
Korman). Pertile then moved to Roma to sing at the Costanzi
in Francesca da Rimini (10th March with Rosa Raisa, Giuseppe
Danise, and Nardi), Aida (25th March with Raisa, Perini, Danise
and Walter), Una tragedia fiorentina (3rd April with Wroblenska,
Danise), and Abul (15th April with Raisa, Perini). Before
returning to Rome in December to sing in Boris Godunov (26th
with Giraldoni, Bettoni, Baldassarre, Tedeschi and Nardi),
Pertile went to Bologna to sing in La fanciulla del West,
Aida, and Francesca da Rimini.
Pertile began 1916 in Rome singing
in Madama Butterfly and Louise by Charpentier (1st of February
with Cervi Caroli and Giraldoni). On the 22nd of February, Pertile
made his debut at La Scala's singing in Francesca da Rimini
with Raisa, Danise and Paltinieri. After a quick stop in Rome
for Francesca da Rimini, Bologna for a concert, Brescia for
La Gioconda, Padua for Carmen, Bologna's Comunale welcomed
him as Cavaradossi on the 30th of November, in a cast that
included Tina Poli Randaccio and José Segura Tallien. To end
the year, Pertile traveled to Barcelona for Aida (December
with Nieto, Camozzi, Bonini, Masini Pieralli), Louise (December
with Vix and Bonini).
On the 11th of January 1917,
Pertile made his debut at Madrid in Aida with Cecilia Gagliardi,
Fanny Anitua, Segura Tallien, and Masini Pieralli. During
his stay in Madrid, Pertile sang in Tosca, Un ballo in maschera,
Madama Butterfly (with Storchio), Carmen. In June, Pertile
was back in Bologna singing in La Rondine (5th with Cannetti,
Dal Monte, Dominici and Mugnoz). For the rest of the year,
Pertile was in Genoa singing in Andrea Chénier, La rondine,
Aida and Un ballo in maschera.
In January 1918, Pertile was still in
Genoa for Manon Lescaut, Loreley, La bohème, Madama
Butterfly and La traviata. After a brief stop at the Teatro
Chiarella to sing La traviata and Fra Diavolo, Pertile spent
the rest of the year in South America. On the 2nd of June,
Pertile made his debut at Buenos Aires' Teatro Colón
in Carmen with Gabriella Besanzoni, Hina Spani, and Marcel
Journet. During the Colón season, Pertile sang in Pagliacci
(Vallin, Montesanto, Stabile), Aida (with Raisa, Besanzoni,
Rimini, Gaudio), Tucuman (with Spani, Stabile, Urizar), Jacquerie
(with Vallin, Besanzoni, Montesanto, Dentale), Un ballo in
maschera (with Raisa, Rimini), and Manon Lescaut (Dalla Rizza,
Montesanto). After that the company traveled to Brazil. The
first stop was in Rio de Janeiro for Un ballo in maschera,
Jacquerie, Carmen, and Aida. S. Paulo followed. There, Pertile
sang in Aida, Tosca, Pagliacci, Carmen and Rigoletto.
In 1919, Pertile sang in Fedora (30th
of January) at Turin, Manon Lescaut (13th of February) and
Mefistofele (24th of February) at Piacenza, Francesca da Rimini
(8th March) at Verona before returning to Buenos Aires in
June. At the Coliseo in Buenos Aires, Pertile sang in Mefistofele
(18th of June with Dalla Rizza, Carena and De Angelis), Madam
Butterfly (24th) and Mosé (20th of July with Carena,
Ottein, Stabile, De Angelis). From there, the company moved
to Rosario, where Pertile sang in Mefistofele, and Mosé.
Montevideo was the next of the tour. Pertile finished the
year in Italy. At the Chiarella in Turin, he sang in Lohengrin
(23rd of October), Carmen, and Andrea Chénier (29th of November
with Viganò and Segura Tallien). On December 12th,
Pertile made his debut at the Teatro Ponchielli of Cremona
in Mefistofele. The year ended at Cremona with Carmen, again
partnered by Zinetti.
In 1920, Pertile remained in Italy singing at Parma, Brescia,
Verona, Ferrara, Vicenza, Ravenna, Cesena, Trieste (2nd of
October), Bologna, Turin in Francesca Da Rimini, Mefistofele,
Carmen, Manon Lescaut, Aida, Lohengrin, Un ballo in maschera
and La traviata.
In 1921, Pertile in Milan at the Carcano on 29th of January
to sing in La traviata. During the first 5 months of the year,
Pertile sang in Italy at Bologna (Andrea Chénier), Firenze
(Andrea Chénier, Aida), Catania (Fedora, 5th of March, Carmen),
Venezia (Andrea Chénier, Il mistero (7th of May), Pagliacci).
After some debate Pertile had accepted a contract to appear
at the Metropolitan Opera. Before singing in New York, Pertile
sailed to Mexico, where he made his debut on 23rd of August
at Mexico City in Mefistofele. There, Pertile sang also in
Aida and Sansone e Dalila (8th of October with Anitua and
Ordonez). On the first of December, Pertile sang in Tosca
at the MET with Jeritza and Scotti. Unfortunately for Pertile,
it was also Jeritza's first Tosca at the Met, and the reviews
were all hers. His season was ultimately a disappointment.
Pertile finished the season at the MET singing in Manon Lescaut,
Cavalleria rusticana, Boris Godunov, Aida, Pagliacci and Louise.
In between, there was a stop in Philadelphia in Louise.
After a Louise on January 17th 1922 in Brooklyn, Pertile
left New York, never again to appear in the United States.
In the mean time, Arturo Toscanini had engaged Pertile to
sing at La Scala. On the 22nd of March, Pertile appeared for
the first time with the dictator, singing in Mefistofele with
Juanita Caracciolo, Iva Pacetti, and De Angelis. After performances
of Boris Godunov (23rd of April with Vanni Marcoux) at Milan,
Pertile sang Mefistofele in Genoa and Padua. A series of Lohengrin,
in Turin, Verona, Trieste, Milano, followed while Pertile
closed the year at the Scala by singing on the 26th of December
in Manon Lescaut, with Caracciolo and Badini.
Pertile spent the first part of 1923 in Italy
singing in Milan (Meistersinger (with Journet), Louise (with
Heldy and Journet), Boris Godunov (with Zalewski), and Lucia
di Lammermoor (with Dal Monte, Stracciari, Pinza). Then Pertile
left again for South America. In Buenos Aires on the 20th
of May, at the Colòn, he appeared in Aida with Muzio,
Flora Perini, Carlo Galeffi and Mansueto Gaudio. In Buenos
Aires, Pertile appeared in Un ballo in maschera (with Spani,
Dragoni, Bertana, Urizar), Lucia di Lammermoor (Dal Monte,
Segura Tallien), La traviata (with Muzio and Galeffi), Manon
Lescaut (with Muzio and Segura Tallien), Mefistofele (with
Cirino), and La leggenda di Sakuntala (5th of August with
Dahmen, Cirino and Gaudio). After which the company traveled
to Rosario, Rio de Janeiro, S. Paulo. On the 20th of November,
Pertile returned to La Scala where he sang in Aida (with Rinolli,
Besanzoni, Franci, and Pinza), La traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor,
Manon Lescaut and Iris (3oth of December with Viganò,
Badini and Walter).
Pertile started 1924 by singing at La Scala
in Lohengrin (18th of March), Die Meistersinger, before singing
on the first of May in the World Premiere of Boito's Nerone
with Raisa, Bertana, Galeffi, and Journet). In May, Pertile
returned to Florence for Lucia di Lammermoor (27th) with Ada
Sari, and Reali. During the summer, Pertile sang a series
of Lucia di Lammermoor in Bergamo (26th of August), Cesena,
Vicenza and Padua. After that run, Pertile turned again to
Nerone, singing it twelve times both at Bologna's Comunale
and La Scala. Pertile finished 1924 at Scala singing in Iris,
Mefistofele and La bohème.
1925 was spent in Italy: Milan (Andrea Chénier,
Aida, Il trovatore (30th of April with Raisa, Anitua, Franci
and Autori), Lohengrin, Un ballo in maschera, Die Meistersinger,
Madama Butterfly, Iris), Torino (Nerone), Firenze (La bohème),
Ferrara (Il trovatore, Lucia di Lammermoor) and Bologna (Lucia
di Lammermoor).
In 1926, Pertile sang in Italy for the first
three months of the year (Milan, Turin), before sailing to South
America. In Buenos Aires, Pertile opened the season on the
22nd of May in Nerone with Muzio, Bertana, Franci and Formichi.
Arangi Lombardi replaced Muzio for some performances. Pertile's
other operas were Iris (with Pampanini, Vanelli, Pasero),
Il trovatore (with Muzio, Anitua, Franci, Pasero), Pagliacci
(with Pampanini, Ruffo), Gaito's Ollantay, Madama Butterfly
and La bohème with Isabel Marengo and Ruffo. Giuseppe
de Luca sang Marcello in the last performance. In October
Pertile appeared as Edgardo at Trieste and as Manrico at Bologna
during November, before returning to La Scala where he sang
in Lohengrin (17th of November, with Nieto, Casazza and Galeffi).
On the 2nd of December, he sang in Andrea Chénier (with Cobelli
and Franci) and on the 19th of December, he sang in Pagliacci
(with Pampanini, Franci, Vanelli and Mascagni). After two
performances of Iris (29th of December, with Pampanini, Paci
and Walter), Pertile went to Turin.
In Turin, Pertile participated in revivals of Nerone (22nd of
Janaury 1927) and Aida (23rd of February, with Eva Turner, Minghini-Cattaneo
and Faticanti). The rest of 1927 was spent mostly in Italy (Milan,
Padua, Como, Vicenza, and Trieste), except for four appearances
in London. In June of 1927, Pertile made his debut at London's
Covent Garden in Aida 3rd of June (with Stueckgold, Onegin,
Schipper and Cotreuil). Il trovatore followed on the 14th with
Leider, Olczewska, Borgioli and Autori. On the 29th of December,
Pertile sang in Wolf-Ferrari's Sly with Llopart, Rossi Morelli,
and Badini under the direction of Panizza.
On the 18th of January 1928, Turin saw Pertile
in Pagliacci and in February he returned to La Scala for Edgardo
and the Duke of Mantua, after which he sang in Andrea Chénier
at Genoa's Carlo Felice. Before returning to London, Pertile
sang in Milan, and Naples. At La Scala, he sang in Tosca with
Gilda Dalla Rizza and Stabile, Andrea Chénier with Bruna Rasa
and Galeffi and La traviata with Dalla Rizza and Victor Damiani.
He was back in London. Pertile sang in Pagliacci (with Pampanini,
Inghilleri and Baracchi), Aida (with Dusolina Giannini, Irene
Minghini-Cattaneo, Armando Borgioli and Manfrini), and La
bohème (with Sheridan, Carosio, Inghillleri, Baracchi,
and Manfrini). Eva Turner sang in later performances of Aida.
In July, in the Piazza San Marco in Venice, Pertile sang in
Pagliacci with Pampanini and Galeffi. It was preceded by Cavalleria
Rusticana with Bruna Rasa and Antonio Melandri, with Mascagni
conducting both operas. In October he sang in Tosca with Bruna
Rasa and Giovanni Inghilleri at Forlì. Pertile finished the
year at La Scala with Sly, Tosca, Lucia di Lammermoor, and
Meistersinger.
During 1929, Pertile was very busy singing in
Milan, Nice, Genoa, Turin, Rome, Naples, Milan, Vienna (19th
of May in Lucia di Lammermoor with Dal Monte, Franci and Righetti),
Berlin (25th of May in Lucia di Lammermoor, Manon Lescaut
and Aida), London, Buenos Aires, Pisa, Ferrara, Trieste, Bologna
and Milano. During 1929, Pertile appeared more than 80 times
on stage. Toscanini had left La Scala and Italy after the
Manon Lescaut revival in May. Pertile stayed and remain a
very important part of the new picture, but he would never
again be its centerpiece, as he was when he was following
Toscaninis marching orders.
On the 12th of January 1930, Pertile sang in
Francesca da Rimini with Dalla Rizza and Mariano Stabile at
La Scala and then appeared as Manrico at Parma, with Spani,
Bruna Castagna, Giulio Fregosi and Tomei. At Turin he sang
in five performances of Andrea Chénier with Sheridan and Granforte
and in Gianni Schicchi with Sheridan and Badini. At Genoa's
Carlo Felice Pertile appeared as Lohengrin and Radames, and
at the Rome Opera he sang in Un ballo in maschera with Arangi
Lombardi, Pasini, Casazza and Montesanto. Later in March,
the Romans heard Pertile in La traviata with Muzio and Stabile.
At Naples, Aureliano appeared in Andrea Chénier, Madama Butterfly,
L'ultimo lord by Alfano and La forza del destino. In May Pertile
returned to Ravenna for Andrea Chénier with Bruna Rasa and
Franci. They joined in a benefit concert at the Alighieri
on the 17th. After which, Pertile appeared at Florences
Comunale in Lohengrin with Maria Laurenti, Stignani, Borgioli,
Nava and Vaghi. During October, Pertile sang Edgardo at Budrio
to the Lucia of Lina Pagliughi, Radames at Ferrara with Arangi
Lombardi, Dal Monte, Borgioli and Righetti. At year's end,
Pertile sang in Rome in Manon Lescaut with Pampanini.
In 1931 Rome saw Pertile in Un ballo in maschera, Aida and
Andrea Chénier, after which he sang Riccardo at Genoa. In
March Pertile returned to Rome for Adriana Lecouvreur (24th
with Cobelli, Gianna Pederzini, and Damiani). After Lucia
di Lammermoor and Un ballo in maschera in Naples, Pertile
appeared at La Scala in Marta. In June he returned to London
to sing in La forza del destino with Ponselle, Pederzini,
Franci, Pasero and in Tosca with Pacetti and Stabile. The
summer kept him busy with Radames at Udine, and Trieste. He
returned to the Donizetti of Bergamo in September for Adriana,
this time with Florica Cristoforeanu, Toini and Vanelli. In
October, he sang in La bohème with Mafalda Favero,
Vanelli, Baracchi and Lauri at Bologna. On the 26th of December
Pertile sang Pollione for the first time in a Scala production,
one that also starred Scacciati, Stignani and De Angelis.
During 1932, Pertile remained in Italy singing his repertoire
in Milan, Turin, Genoa, Naples, Verona, Bergamo, Ferrara and
Bologna.
In 1933 Pertile stayed mainly in Italy singing in Turin,
Milan, Trieste, Rome, Genoa, Verona, Ancona (4th of October
in Un ballo in maschera with Rasa, Velentino), Cento (31st
of October in a concert), and Parma. He ventured outside Italy
to Barcelona on the 13th of November to sing Aida with Jacobo,
Rossini and Morelli.
In 1934 Pertile started reducing his appearances. He sang
at La Scala for the only six times in his career as Fernando
in La favorita (18th of January with Stignani, Danise and
Pasero). One can wonder what happened to the high parts of the role
since Pertile had no high C. For the rest of the year, Pertile
sang at Rome, Palermo, Florence, Rimini and Modena. He sang
in Fra Diavolo, Aida, Lohengrin, Un ballo in maschera, La
forza del destino and Andrea Chénier.
In 1935 Pertile sang in another world premiere of Nerone
of Mascagni. On the 16th of January, Mascagni's Nerone was
presented for the first time with a cast including Rasa, Carosio,
Parmeggiani, Granforte and Pasero. Pertile sang during Nerone
during the year at Livorno, and Bologna. Besides that, Pertile
sang in Pagliacci (Milan), Fedora (Milan), Aida (Vienna, Modena)
and Un ballo in maschera (Modena).
1936 found the tenor at Trieste for Francesca da Rimini,
Bari for Aida, Andrea Chénier at Parma & Naples, Mefistofele
at La Scala, Il trovatore at Turin, and Nerone at Genoa, Naples
and Rome.
In 1937 Pertile curtailed even more his appearances. He sang
in Aida at Rome, Un ballo in maschera at Venice, La campana sommersa at Naples and additional performances of Nerone at
La Scala and Zürich. Pertile had another major assumption
to add to his repertory. At Malta in late 1937, Pertile sang
Otello with Scacciati and Guicciardi. Until 1945, Pertile
would sing Otello at Brescia, Parma, Padua, Turin, Trento,
Lecce, Vicenza, Ravenna, Bergamo, San Remo, Cairo, Alexandria,
Budapest, Milano, Firenze, Mantua, Reggio Emilia, Alessandria,
Trieste, Treviso, Bologna, Udine, Venice and Rome (Radio).
In 1938, Pertile sang Otello 22 times. During the rest of
the year Pertile sang in twice in Aida.
In 1939, Pertile sang Otello at least five times. The rest
of the year, Pertile sang in Il trovatore (twice), Andrea
Chénier (4), Pagliacci (1) and Poliuto for the Radio.
In 1940, Pertile sang Otello at least six times. The rest
of the year, he sang in Un ballo in maschera (3), Andrea Chénier
(2), Pagliacci (1) and Un ballo in maschera (1). He even made
guest appearances in Budapest.
In 1941 Pertile sang Otello (11), Il trovatore (2) and Un ballo in maschera (3).
In 1942 Pertile sang Otello (6), Fedora (2), Un ballo in
maschera (2), Andrea Chénier (3) and Nerone (twice for the
radio).
In 1943 Pertile sang Otello (9) and Un ballo in maschera
(6).
In 1944 Pertile sang Otello (4) and Un ballo in maschera
(9).
In 1945 Pertile sang Otello (2), Nerone (3) and La traviata
(2). In his final year before the public, Pertile sang Pagliacci
in Naples and Salerno. Pertile died in 1952 at the age of
sixty-six.
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