Tito Gobbi Opera Workshop

The collection

The publishing  project “Tito Gobbi Opera Workshop” gathers in a multimedia collection the Master Classes of operatic interpretation held by Tito Gobbi in Villa Schifanoia, Fiesole, from the early 70’es until 1981. The workshops provided a forum for Gobbi to share his dramatic and interpretative  insights and stage craft with a generation of singers which included Gösta Winberg, Hakan Haggegard, Marie Haywood, Ruth Falcon, Mani Mekler, James Stith and many others.

The Association has recuperated and digitalized the original tapes of those lessons to preserve and disseminate Gobbi’s artistic legacy, as he himself desired, amongst young singers and opera lovers:

"I think and I believe that it’s my duty to transfer to the young generations what I have been very lucky to learn in 40 years of career. I don’t think that the treasure of experiences that I have accumulated has to disappear with me".

The audio recordings of the workshop represent an extraordinary educational material that enables those who study opera professionally, or are lovers of it, to deepen their knowledge and to access the valuable learning acquired by Tito Gobbi in over 40 years of career as one of the greatest actors-singers of his century.

“My aim is to sharpen the wits of young singers and make interpreters out of them, the actors-singers that Verdi wanted. I teach leaving space for the development of the artistic personality of my students and for their own interpretation”

The project aims to produce a collection that can become a source of reference and a practical tool for  the study of the vocal as well as the interpretative aspects of a wide range of operas and roles. The collection is structured by opera titles and the two sets already published, "Rigoletto Live Master Classes" and "Don Giovanni Live Master Classes", will soon be joined by “Tosca Live Master Classes”, that will be released in October 2013 on occasion of the centenary of Tito Gobbi’s birth. Each title is formed by 2 or more CDs and a booklet containing the full transcripts of the lessons, as well as interviews and essays of Tito Gobbi.

The value of these Master Classes lies in the explanations and suggestions for the study of the different characters placed in the frame of their psychological and historical context, as well as in the exemplifications that make it easier to capture the subtlety of each word and the underlying intentions expressed by the music.

Indeed, these lessons, far from being theoretical, are very much like theatrical rehearsals in which each single element of the libretto and the music is studied in a way that allows to dig deep into the roles while gaining a thorough understanding of the singing and acting  technique, note by note, syllable by syllable.

The verbal teaching (mainly in English) is integrated by demonstrations of Gobbi who often lends himself to interpret and sing baritone and non-baritone roles (tenors and even sopranos) in individual arias, duets or within ensemble.

The editors of the collection are Cecilia Gobbi, President of the Association, Sister Maria Michele Armato, former director of the Tito Gobbi Opera Workshop di Gobbi in Villa Schifanoia, and Paul Hirsh, who personally did many of the original recordings of the Master Classes.