Forgotten conductors, Arturo Basile

 The Cetra 'Rigoletto' has always been considered of the best. Lina Paliughi is a soprano with a very 'little girl sound. She didn't make the career she migh have owing to her appearance which was more that of a 'patata' than a young girl.

Ferruccio Tagliavini was the peerless Duke and Giorgio Taddei the perfect Rigoletto. Smaller roles were cast from strength. If there is a greater Sparafucile than Giulio Neri I would like to know about it. His voice was the very epitome of 'black,' he died of a heart attack tragically young at the age of 48.

Another great artist involved in  this recording was the conductor Arturo Basile. He also was to die young at the age of 54, in a car accident. He was born in 1914 in Siracusa, Sicily. In 1946 he won a conducting competition of which Tulio Serafin was chairman of the jury. He was soon conducting in the world's major Opera houses with Callas, Tebaldi, Leontyne Price, Corelli, Tucker and di Stefano as soloists. He had been invited to fill the vacancy left by Franco Patane at the New York Metropolitan Opera who also had been killed in a car accident.  

Basile also recorded 'La Battaglia di Legnano,' 'Il trovatore' and 'Aida' by Verdi, 'Madame Butterfly,' 'La fanciulla del West' and 'Tosca' of Puccini. La Wally (Catalani), L'Amore dei tre re' (Montemezzi), 'L'Arlesiana' (Cilea), 'La figlia del Regimento,' (Donizetti) and 'Fra Diavolo' by Auber and no doubt others available from live performances.

Try them and you will be in the presence of an outstanding conductor who without doubt would gave gone on to even greater things.