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Enrico Tamberlik (1820–1889)

Enrico Tamberlik

Italian tenor (b. 16 March 1820 in Rome; d. 13 March 1889 in Paris), also known as Enrico Tamberlick, Enrico Danieli, or Nikita Torma.

After studying in Rome and Naples, Tamberlik made his debut at the Teatro del Fondo in Naples in 1841. He was particularly associated with heroic roles in Italian and French operas, and sang regularly with the Italian Opera Company at the Mariinskii Theatre in Saint Petersburg from 1850 until 1863. According to Herman Laroche, Tamberlik's performances left an indelible impression on the young Tchaikovsky.

At his first performance in the Bol'shoi Theatre in Moscow as Manrico in Verdi's Il trovatore on 24 September/6 October 1870, Tamberlik was met with catcalls and hisses from the audience who were dissatisfied with his singing. A few days later Tchaikovsky wrote an open letter of support to Tamberlik (letter 208), signed by himself and ten other professors at the Moscow Conservatory. This letter appeared in the 3 October 1870 [O.S.] issue of the Moscow Register (Московские ведомости). The composer referred to this intervention on behalf of one of the singers he most revered in a letter to his brother Modest on 5/17 October: "Tamberlik was hissed off the stage here, and I wrote a [letter of] protest signed by all the professors of the Conservatory" [1].

Tchaikovsky's correspondence with Enrico Tamberlik:

• 1 letter from Tchaikovsky to Enrico Tamberlik has survived, dating from 1870.

Notes:

1. Letter 209 to Modest Tchaikovsky, 5/17 October 1870. See also: Дни и годы П. И. Чайковского. Летопись жизни и творчества (1940), p.72 [back]