Claudia Parada y Achille Braschi cantan "Pur ti riveggo" de "Aída" (1952)

DISCLAIMER:  The recordings from Verdi’s Aïda used here are in extremely poor condition.  In spite of the less than ideal sonic quality, I have included these rare recordings due to their importance…and due to the fact that they are among the tenor’s finest performances on disc.  I hope that the scratchiness, crackle and otherwise dreadful sonic quality will not detract from your enjoyment of Braschi’s remarkable vocalism. 

Not a great deal of information is available regarding the career of the Italian dramatic tenor Achille Braschi (1909-1983).  Born in Rome, he began studying with Manfredi Polverosi at the age of 21 and made his official debut in Bari as Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino in 1934.  He seems to have bounced around the Italian provinces for quite a number of years with appearances in Trieste, Naples, Palermo, Rome, Milan, Florence, Leghorn and Verona.  Braschi’s international career didn’t begin to build until after he passed the age of 40.   By the 1950s, he found himself in demand throughout the European continent, appearing in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nice, Marseille, Brussels, London, Vienna, Graz, Geneva, Madrid, Coruña and Barcelona.  His vast repertoire of over 50 roles included Radames in Aïda, Manrico in Il Trovatore, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Calaf in Turandot, Raoul in Les Huguenots, Arnoldo in Guillaume Tell, Eléazar in La Juive, Canio in Pagliacci, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, Osaka in Iris, Enzo in La Gioconda and the title roles in Andrea Chénier, Il Piccolo Marat and Otello. He also appeared successfully throughout his career in concert and recital.  Following his retirement from the stage in the late 1960s, he became a respected vocal coach in his native Rome, where he passed away in 1983.

By today’s standards (as well as the standards of Braschi’s day), the tenor’s rapid, machine-gun vibrato may seem like the product of a bygone era.  His interpretations might sound provincial and unsubtle.  There may be too little nuance in his singing for some tastes.  However, the fact remains that Achille Braschi possessed a massive instrument with ringing top notes that must have been absolutely thrilling in the theater.  He was an exciting and reliable singer (he frequently went on at short notice for indisposed colleagues) whose sturdy voice kept him before the public until he was almost 60.  Sadly, Braschi is nearly forgotten today.  Although he appeared at such major operatic venues as Naples’ Teatro San Carlo, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera, the Arena di Verona and the Opéra-Comique, Braschi’s was primarily a provincial career.  On top of that, his recordings are as scarce as hen’s teeth.  A complete Cavalleria Rusticana, a partial Aïda and an impossible to find album of arias for the obscure French label Orbis are the extent of Braschi’s recorded legacy.  In this recording, Braschi is joined by Chilean soprano Claudia Parada (1931-2016) for a truncated version of the Nile Scene from Verdi's Aïda, beginning with the duet "Pur ti riveggo, mia dolce Aïda".  This was recorded for the Allegro label in Florence in 1952.  Erasmo Ghiglia conducts the Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.