Gigli, Benyamino

Gigli was born in the city of Recanati in the province of Macerata ( Marche region) in the family of a shoemaker Domenico Gigli and his wife Esther, the daughter of a school teacher.

1897 - was admitted to the city cathedral in the church choir. Benyamino works in parallel with the company of carpenters.

1900 - begins work as a tailor's apprentice.

1902 - after graduating from school, begins his career as an assistant pharmacist, where he works until 1907 , in his free time Benyamino plays the saxophone in a city orchestra.

1905 - first performs on stage, as a girl, in the Lauro Rossi Theater in Macerat, Gigli sings in the operetta “Flight of Angelica”, written by Alessandro Billy.

1907 - Gigli goes to Rome and works as a servant for Countess Spanokka. His first singing lesson was with Pietro di Stefano.

1908 - singing lessons with Agnese Bonucci (2 years), then military service in 82 infantry regiment, then a telephone operator in the command of the military district.

1911 - Gigli goes to the new teacher, Professor Martino, who is engaged in the staging of the voice. Agnese Bonucci sues Gigli, and he has to pay the old teacher 2500 lire. In parallel, he works in the photo archive under the Ministry of Culture of Italy. In the same year, Gigli met with Constance Cerroni, daughter of a Roman broker.

1912 - as an exception, Gigli receives a scholarship to study at the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome . During his studies at the academy, Benyamino Gigli performed at private concerts, since the students of the academy were not allowed to perform outside the academy and therefore Benyamino took a pseudonym.

1914 - ends his studies at the Academy, receiving the first prize among tenors at a competition in Parma among 32 contestants. October 15, the first stage performance in the role of Enzo in the "Gioconde" by Amilcar Ponchielli , at the Sochale Rovigo Theater. In Genoa, Gigli opens the season at the Carlo Felice Theater, where he sings the part of De Grieux in the opera Manon by Jules Massenet and Rosina Storkio.

1915 - The Massimo Theater in Palermo signs with Gigli a contract for the performance of the party of Cavaradossi in Puccini 's opera Tosca . In the same year, Gigli marries Constance Cerroni on May 9 in Rome. He begins to sing at the San Carlo Theater in Naples : the first part is Turrida in Rural Honor , led by composer Pietro Mascagni , and began a friendship with Mascagni.

1916 - Gigli gives birth to her first daughter Esther (Rina), Gigli makes her debut at the Kostanzi Theater in Rome in the part of Faust in Arrigo Boyto 's opera Mephistopheles .

1917 - first overseas tour ( Barcelona and Madrid ). Because of the figure of Gigli, the party of Ruggiero in Puccini ’s opera “The Swallow” in Bologna is denied, instead of Gigli, Tito Skipa sings.

1918 - the first gramophone recording of the singer in Milan . Gigli is honored to become a knight of the Italian crown. In the same year, the long-awaited debut in Milan “ La Scala ” in “Mephistopheles” under the musical direction of Arturo Toscanini . 1919 - contract with the Colon Theater in Buenos Aires .

1920 - the beginning of friendship with Umberto Giordano , the beginning of performances in the New York Metropolitan Opera, again at Mephistopheles.

1922 - the title of Honorary Officer of the New York City Police.

1924 - First performance in Germany at the Berlin State Opera .

1925 - First live radio appearance at a Christmas concert in the United States .

1926 - performance in Havana , at a concert dedicated to the wedding of the daughter of the President of Cuba.

1927 - The construction of a private villa in Recanati (60 rooms) is completed.

1929 - First performance at the Vienna Opera and the Arena in Verona.

1932 - during the time of the “Big Crisis” in the USA, Gigli refuses to voluntarily reduce her salary at the Metropolitan Opera by 25% in order to support the Opera in difficult times. By April 30, he will cancel the contract and return to Italy. Immediately participating in the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago.

1935 - the first film with his participation, shot in Berlin, followed by another 15 films, where Gigli performs in partnership with Magda Schneider .

1936 - His daughter Rina makes her debut as a singer on February 7 at a charity concert in Rome.

1938 - Return to the Metropolitan Opera.

1939 - The 25th anniversary on the stage of Gigli is celebrated in Rovigo, in the role of Edgar in the Donizetti 's Lucia di Lammermoor.

1940 - 1945 - performances, mainly in Italy, all this time Gigli was a favorite performer of the regime and personally Benito Mussolini .

1950 is a big European tour.

1951 - touring in South America, a number of concerts in South Africa, New Zealand, Japan, Scandinavia and Canada, for the entire period 1951-1955 more than 60 concerts.

1954 - The last opera performance - in Recanati, in the role of Canio in the opera Pagliacci by Leoncavallo . Gigli begins an extensive farewell tour around the world.

1955 - the last public concert on May 25, 1955 in Washington , DC.

1957 - Benyamino Gigli dies November 30 in Rome from pneumonia.

• 1936 - "Ave Maria" (Germany). Director - Johannes Riemann.
• 1936 - Do Not Forget Me (Great Britain). Director - Zoltan Korda.
• 1938 - "Only for you" (Germany - Italy). Director - Carmine Gallone .
• 1938 - "Giuseppe Verdi" (Italy). Director - Carmine Gallone. In Russian, the film is known as "The Story of a Life".
• 1939 - "Puppets" (Italy - Germany). Director - Carmine Gallone.
• 1939 - "Far House" (Italy - Germany). Director - Johannes Mayer.
• 1941 - "Mom" (Italy - Germany). Director - Guido Brignone .
• 1942 - "Broken Love" (Italy - Germany). Director - Guido Brignone.
• 1943 - "Laugh, clown!" (Italy - Germany). Director - Giuseppe Fatigati.
• 1950 - "Night taxi" (Italy - France). Director - Carmine Gallone.
• 1953 - Puccini (Italy - France). Director - Carmine Gallone.

• Photos
• Benyamino Gigli - in the cycle of M.Malkov "From the collection of rare records."