Stabile, Mariano

views updated

Stabile, Mariano

Stabile, Mariano, prominent Italian baritone; b. Palermo, May 12, 1888; d. Milan, Jan. 11, 1968. He studied voice at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He made his operatic debut as Amonasro in Palermo (1909). For a number of seasons he sang in provincial opera houses in Italy. The turning point in his career came when he was engaged by Toscanini to sing Falstaff in Verdi’s opera at La Scala (Dec. 26, 1921). He triumphed and the role became his major success; he sang it more than 1,000 times. His guest engagements took him to London’s Covent Garden (1926–31), the Salzburg Festivals (1935–39), the Glyndebourne Festivals (1936–39), again in London (1946–49), and the Edinburgh Festival (1948). He retired in 1960. Among his other notable roles were Don Giovanni, Mozart’s and Rossini’s Figaro, Don Alfonso, Dr. Malatesta, lago, Rigoletto, and Scarpia.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

More From encyclopedia.com