Titta Ruffo

A brief biography

As "the lion" of baritones, Ruffo should have been born in Venice. In fact, he first appeared as Ruffo Titta in Pisa on 9 June 1877, the son of an ironwright. He began in the same trade with substantial success, not beginning to study music and voice until he was nineteen. Two years later, he debuted as the herald in Lohengrin at the Teatro Constantino in Rome. Within four years, he was heard at Covent Garden as Rossini's Figaro and as Enrico in Lucia and soon thereafter throughout Europe and South America. His career was interrupted (1916-1919) for military service, but not until he had appeared in the U.S. and Canada. He sang at the Metropolitan from 1921 to 1929 while maintaining fame in Europe both through appearances at the great houses there and through recordings. His career ended in a 1935 concert and he retired to Rome until his death in 1953. His voice was said to have retained its beauty as late as 1951. His autobiography, "La mia parabola", was published in Milan in 1937; its translation with essential notes and a chronology by his son and a discography by William J. Moran was published by Baskerville in 1995. It is both comprehensive and enjoyable, and we are pleased to recommend it to all who find this disc of interest.

NOTE: The photo at the top of this page was taken in Turin shortly before Ruffo's passing. It is believed to be the last picture of the baritone and has not been published previously. Ruffo is seen contemplating his protrait in costume as Hamlet. A version suitable for full-page printing is provided here.

The voice

By all reports, the instrument was of immense size. The recordings capture much of its power and make comparison with Enrico Caruso inevitable. The color was somewhat darker than that of the tenor and the range, understandably, a bit lower. Both exude an authority on recording fully justifying and explaining their success in the theater. They sang together only rarely - a few appearances in South America in Pagliacci being the only known occasions. In part, that may be due to Caruso's residence at the Metropolitan until his death the year before Ruffo first appeared there, while Ruffo was heard in other houses of North America and principally in Europe. Judging from the recordings, Ruffo's lower notes did not have the power of his middle and upper ranges, where brilliance and ease were complemented by a dynamic range from ravishing pianissimo through stentorian fortissimo.

The recordings

Fortunately, Ruffo's voice, like Caruso's, was well captured by Gramophone's and especially Victor's engineers. The quantity and quality of their recordings from 1906 through 1933 provide an invaluable legacy. The early recordings from Pathé are less clear but still of substantial interest as are the Vitaphone audio discs, one of which was found only after the chronology was published. The recordings were collected by William Hogarth with assistance from other collectors, notably Thomas Hood. They were issued informally on eight CDs from which this disc was produced by Michael Richter with assistance from Messrs. Hogarth and Hood. The photograph and additional recordings were provided by Elwood McKee.

Largo al factotum

Ruffo recorded the largo five times, providing insight into the slight changes of his voice and the great changes in recording technology over two and a half decades. (A sixth recording from 1926 is suggested but not even a matrix number can be confirmed.) The selections here are from the 'easy-listening' transfers on both discs: moderately processed MP3s at 32 Kbps.