Spanish tenor Juan Oncina Espí was born in Barcelona on 15 April 1921. He spent his youth in Algiers. His father was a good baritone and
encouraged him to study singing first in Oran and later at the conservatory in Paris, where he studied with Jeanne Campredon. He was only 17
years old.
He returned to Barcelona for his military service and met the famous coloratura soprano Mercedes Capsir, who became his teacher and gave him
the opportunity to make his debut in Massenet's Manon in 1945, at the Teatro Municipal in Gerona, with Capsir in the title role. A tour
of several Spanish cities followed, adding to his repertory La sonnambula and Il barbiere di Siviglia. In 1946, he sang the role
of Paco in La vida breve by Manuel de Falla, both at the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) and Teatro Calderón (Madrid), also with
Capsir.
Capsir advised him to continue his studies in Milan with maestro Eduardo Fornarini, who formed a repertory adequate to his precious "tenore
leggero" voice.
In 1949, Oncina made his debut in Paris, singing Paolino in Il matrimonio segreto. The same year, he made his Italian debut during the
summer season at the Castel San Giusto in Trieste, stepping in for an ailing Ferruccio Tagliavini as Nemorino in Elisir d'amore. Norina
was sung by a soprano called Tatiana Menotti1 (the Musetta in Beniamino Gigli's famous recording of La
bohème). She later became his wife.
Juan Oncina had already won a reputation as a specialist of Mozart, Rossini and similar composers. During the season 1948/1949, he sang at the
Teatro San Carlo in Naples the role of Fenton in Verdi's Falstaff. He became a favourite at the Neapolitan theatre and sang there
during 13 seasons. In addition to Fenton, he sang Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola and Mozart in Mozart i Salieri (Rimskij-Korsakov)
in 1953/54; Florindo in Le donne curiose (Wolf-Ferrari) and a recital in 1954/55; Tamino in Die Zauberflöte in 1955/56. In
April 1956, he travelled with the troupe of the San Carlo to Paris, where he sang Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the
Théâtre des Champs-Elysèes; again Almaviva and the role of George in the new opera Vivì by Franco Mannino, with
the soprano Rosanna Carteri, in 1957/58; Ferrando in Così fan tutte in 1957/58; Lindoro in L'italiana in Algeri in 1958/59;
Marchetto in La granceola (Adriano Lualdi) in 1960/61; Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur in 1962/63; des Grieux in Manon in
1963/64; Roberto in Maria Stuarda (Donizetti) in 1968/69; Alfredo in La traviata in 1969/1970; and finally Cavaradossi in
Tosca in 1971/72.
He sang also for the RAI (Radio Televisione Italiana): in 1949 the role of Pedro in El retablo de Maese Pedro (Manuel de Falla), in 1951
the role of Edoardo in Un giorno di regno (Verdi); in 1954 the title role in Werther (Massenet); in 1955 the role of Don Ramiro in
La Cenerentola (Rossini); in 1957 the role of Ferrando in Così fan tutte (Mozart); in 1963 the role of Fernando in
Goyescas (Enrique Granados); in 1965 the role of Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea); and finally in 1970 the role of Teseo in
Edipo a Colono (Antonio Sacchini, revised by Gian Francesco Malipiero).
At the famous Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, he sang two seasons, 1954 and 1955, La Cenerentola and in 1957 he visited Japan with the Opera
di Roma company, singing in the operas Falstaff and L'elisir d'amore, as well as in Verdi's Messa da Requiem.
From 1952 to 1961 he was engaged at the Glyndebourne Festival: Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola (1952), Comte Ory in Le comte Ory
(1954 and revivals in 1956, 1957, and 1958). The same production was taken to the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt in Paris in 1958, with
enormous success. Other successful performances included: 1949, Don Carlos in L'osteria portoghese by Cherubini, and 1950, Rinaldo in
Armide by Lully, both at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence); 1956, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro La
Fenice (Venice); 1959, Orombello in Beatrice di Tenda by Bellini at the Teatro Massimo (Palermo); and 1965, as Percy in Anna Bolena
by Donizetti.
In addition to the already mentioned places, he sang in Switzerland, the USA and Denmark. He also sang at the famous festivals of
Aix-en-Provence, Holland and Edinburgh (Adriana Lecouvreur in 1962). At Strasbourg, he sang in L'amour des trois oranges by
Prokofyev. He visited South America only once, singing L'italiana in Algeri at the famous Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires in 1961.
He did not sing too much in Spain. In 1950, he sang Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo. He sang at the Liceu in
Barcelona in 1953 (Werther); 1961/62 (Don Giovanni); 1963/64 (Rigoletto) and 1969/1970 (Mefistofele).
During the 60's there was a change in his voice and, of course, in his repertory: Adriana Lecouvreur, Mefistofele, Roberto
Devereux, Un ballo in maschera, Luisa Miller, La forza del destino, Don Carlo and Carmen, among many
others, were added.
Oncina was very successful in Vienna (he sang there for ten seasons) and Hamburg during the 70's. Suffering from goiter, after singing Un
ballo in maschera in Vienna in 1977, he retired definitively from singing. In 1985, he went back to live in Barcelona, becoming a reputed
vocal teacher, and also owned a hotel in Palma de Mallorca.
He made several recordings, such as Un giorno di regno and La Cenerentola, but is better known for his recording of Don
Pasquale for Decca in 1965, with Fernando Corena and Graziella Sciutti.
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1 His beloved wife, Tatiana Menotti, died in Barcelona on 3 October 2001. She was born in Boston (USA) on 24 June
1909 and was the daughter of the well-known baritone Delfino Menotti.