Ferrara's father had died when he was a child; his uncle became his mentor, encouraged him to have his voice trained, and after
initial lessons in Catania, Ferrara studied singing in Milan with Franco Mannucci.
He made his debut at the Teatro Alhambra in Taranto as Cavaradossi at age 23.
His first important success (missing from the below chronology) was a Bohème at the Teatro Gustavo Modena in
Genova in 1923 or 1924. Another booster for his career was his 1925 engagement in Egypt: he was singing Herodes in
Salome, but one evening, Hipólito Lázaro had to be replaced in Traviata, and Ferrara stepped in for him, although
conductor Pietro Mascagni had been reluctant to accept him. Ferrara rocked the house, it was a triumph.
During the next fifteen
years, he had great successes in Italian and foreign opera houses,
including Japan, China, Yugoslavia, and Egypt.
A few career steps taken from the Italian musical newspapers of the period:
1925 al-Qāhira (Cairo), al‑Iskandariyya (Alexandria)
1926 al‑Iskandariyya (Alexandria), al-Qāhira (Cairo), Port Said
1927 Catanzaro
1930 Piacenza
1931 Roma, Torino
1932 Palermo, Cagliari, Napoli, Roma, Torino
1933 Malta, Napoli, Venezia, Roma, Torino
1934 Genova, Cagliari, Roma, Torino, Trieste
1935 Salerno, Roma, Torino
1938 Adria
1939 Modena, Parma (Regio)
1950 Messina
He retired at the beginning of the war, not quite 39 years old, and went back to Francavilla.
His repertory included (Ferrara told his colleagues that his repertory consisted of 89 operas with many
unusual ones): Rodolfo, Herodes, des Grieux (Manon Lescaut), Dafni (Dafni by Mulè),
Ippolito (Fedra), Giovanni (Giovanni Gallurese), Azaele (Il figliuol prodigo), Rinuccio, Edgardo,
Ludovico (La baronessa di Carini by Mulè),
Vitaliano (Romanticismo by Robbiani), Florindo (I dispettosi amanti by Parelli),
Edoardo (Il grillo del focolare by Zandonai), Fazio (La leggenda delle sette torri by Gasco),
Osaka, Enzo, Federico (Germania), La Wally, Pedru (La monacella della fontana by Mulè),
Tedesco (Bacco in Toscana by Castelnuovo Tedesco), Baldo (Belfago by Respighi),
Pery, Bruno (Il mistero by Monleone), Turiddu, Alfredo, Folco (Fanfulla by Parelli),
Sir Oluf (Sir Oluf by Malatesta), Cavaliere (Il miracolo by Laccetti), Duca,
? (Al lupo by Mulè), ..
That Ferrara sang so many operas by Giuseppe Mulè was no coincidence: the two men were close friends.
Ferrara was, by the way, unusually tall for his time (1.87 meters). He had two children, Rita and Giuseppe Ferrara.
In 2007, the municipality of Francavilla named the refurbished Cinema Comunale Arturo Ferrara.
Reference: Kutsch & Riemens
Reference: Rodolfo Amodeo, Articolo scritto in occasione dell'inaugurazione del Cinema Comunale di Francavilla di Sicilia.
Reference 1
Reference 2
Reference 3
|
1925 |
|
|
|
| 12 |
al-Qāhira (Cairo) |
Kursaal Dalbagni |
BOHÈME (Rodolfo) |
| 12 |
al‑Iskandariyya/ Alexandria |
Mohamed Ali Theatre |
BOHÈME (Rodolfo) |
|
|
|
|
| 1926 |
|
|
|
| 01 |
al‑Iskandariyya/ Alexandria |
Mohamed Ali Theatre |
SALOME (Erode) |
| 01 |
al-Qāhira (Cairo) |
Kursaal Dalbagni |
SALOME (Erode) |
| 02 |
Porto Said |
Teatro Eldorado |
BOHÈME (Rodolfo) / SALOME
(Erode) |
|
|
|
|
| 1927 |
|
|
|
|
Catanzaro |
Teatro Comunale |
MANON LESCAUT (des Grieux) |
|
|
|
|
| 1930 |
|
|
|
| 12 |
Piacenza |
Politeama |
CONCERTO |
|
|
|
|
| 1931 |
|
|
|
|
Roma |
Eiar |
DAFNI di G. Mulè (Dafni) |
|
Torino |
Eiar |
FEDRA di I. Pizzetti
(Ippolito) / GIOVANNI GALLURESE di I. Montemezzi (Giovanni) / IL FIGLIUOL
PRODIGO di A. Ponchielli (Azaele) / MACBETH (Macduff) |
|
|
|
|
| 1932 |
|
|
|
| 02 |
Palermo |
Politeama Garibaldi |
BOHÈME (Rodolfo) |
| 04 |
Cagliari |
Teatro Civico |
GIANNI SCHICCHI (Rinuccio)
/ LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR (Edgardo) |
|
Napoli |
Teatro San Carlo |
DAFNI di G. Mulè (Dafni) |
|
Roma |
Eiar |
LA BARONESSA DI CARINI di
G. Mulè (Ludovico) |
|
Torino |
Teatro di Torino |
ROMANTICISMO di I. Robbiani
(Vitaliano) |
|
Torino |
Eiar |
I DISPETTOSI AMANTI di
A. Parelli (Florindo) / I VESPRI SICILIANI (Arrigo) / IL GRILLO DEL
FOCOLARE di R. Zandonai (Edoardo) / LA BARONESSA DI CARINI di G. Mulè
(Ludovico) / LA LEGGENDA DELLE SETTE TORRI di A. Gasco (Fazio) /
ROMANTICISMO di I. Robbiani (Vitaliano) |
|
|
|
|
| 1933 |
|
|
|
| 01 |
Malta |
Teatro Reale |
IRIS (Osaka) |
| 01 |
Napoli |
Teatro San Carlo |
IRIS (Osaka) |
| 01 |
Venezia |
Teatro La Fenice |
ROMANTICISMO di I. Robbiani
(Vitaliano) |
|
Roma |
Teatro Costanzi |
GIOCONDA (Enzo) |
|
Roma |
Eiar |
DAFNI di G. Mulè (Dafni) /
GERMANIA (Federico) |
|
Torino |
Eiar |
WALLY (Hagenbach) |
|
|
|
|
| 1934 |
|
|
|
| 01 |
Genova |
Teatro Carlo Felice |
LA MONACELLA DELLA FONTANA
di G. Mulè (Pedru) |
| 03 |
Cagliari |
Teatro Civico |
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA
(Turiddu) / LA MONACELLA DELLA FONTANA di G. Mulè (Pedru) / BOHÈME
(Rodolfo) |
|
Roma |
Eiar |
BACCO IN TOSCANA di
M. Castelnuovo Tedesco / BELFAGOR di O. Respighi (Baldo) / GUARANY (Pery) |
|
Torino |
Eiar |
IL MISTERO di D. Monleone
(Bruno) |
|
Trieste |
Teatro Verdi |
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA
(Turiddu) |
|
|
|
|
| 1935 |
|
|
|
| 02 |
Salerno |
Teatro Verdi |
BOHÈME (Rodolfo) |
|
Roma |
Eiar |
AL LUPO! di G. Mulè / IL
MIRACOLO di G. Laccetti (Cavaliere) / LA MONACELLA DELLA FONTANA di G. Mulè
(Pedru) / SIR OLUF di L. Malatesta (Sir Oluf) |
|
Torino |
Eiar |
FANFULLA di A. Parelli
(Folco) |
|
|
|
|
| 1938 |
|
|
|
|
Adria |
Teatro Comunale |
REQUIEM di G. Verdi |
|
|
|
|
| 1939 |
|
|
|
|
Modena |
Teatro Municipale |
IL MESSIA di G. F. Händel /
REQUIEM di G. Verdi |
|
Parma |
Teatro Regio |
IXa Sinfonia di L. van
Beethoveen |
|
|
|
|
| 1950 |
|
|
|
|
Messina |
Teatro Verdi |
TRAVIATA (Alfredo) |
