Savino Monelli (9 May 1784 – 5 June 1836) was an Italian tenor prominent in the opera houses of Italy from 1806 until 1830. Amongst the numerous roles he created in world premieres were Giannetto in Rossini's La gazza ladra, Enrico in Donizetti's L'ajo nell'imbarazzo and Nadir in Pacini's La schiava in Bagdad. He was born in Fermo where he initially studied music. After leaving the stage, he retired to Fermo and died there five years later at the age of 52.
In the early years of his career, Monelli sang in several premieres at the Teatro Ducale in Parma and the Teatro San Moisè in Venice and went on to sing in Naples between 1811 and 1814 where he appeared at the Teatro San Carlo and the Teatro dei Fiorentini. He made his debut at La Scala in April 1816 as Tamino in the theatre's first production of The Magic Flute. Monelli remained at La Scala through the 1817 season where he appeared in the premieres of several operas, most notably as Giannetto in Rossini's La gazza ladra. In December 1817 he sang in another Rossini premiere as Adalberto in Adelaide di Borgogna, this time at the Teatro Argentina in Rome.[4]
From 1818 through 1819 Monelli was in Barcelona as a member of the Teatre de la Santa Creu's Italian opera company directed by Pietro Generali. His performances there included the leading tenor roles in three Rossini operas—La Cenerentola, Il barbiere di Siviglia, and La Gazza Ladra.[5] On his return to Italy in 1820 he created the role of Nadir in the world premiere of Pacini's La schiava in Bagdad at the Teatro Carignano in Turin. The 1821 season found him singing in Rome at the Teatro Argentina and the Teatro Apollo, and in 1822 he returned to the stage at La Scala where remained until 1823, again singing in several world premieres.[4]
Monelli's last major stage performances were in Bologna where he had been a member of the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna since 1813. From 1829 to 1830 he sang in four operas at the Teatro Comunale including La Cenerentola as Don Ramiro and L'italiana in Algeri as Lindoro. The following year he retired to Fermo where he remained active in the musical life of the city. According to an obituary published in Bologna shortly after his death, he had amassed a small fortune during his career as a singer which provided him with comfortable retirement. After a year of deteriorating health, Monelli died in Fermo in 1836 at the age of 52.[4][6]
Monelli had a high tenor voice, or tenore contraltino, which made him particularly suited to roles such as Giannetto in La Gazza ladra. Contemporary accounts described it variously as sweet but delicate, at times overwhelmed in large theatres, but flexible, refined and perfectly schooled.[7][8]
Roles created
Roles created by Monelli in world premieres include:[9]
Corradino in Il trionfo delle belle, ovvero Corradino cuor di ferro – composed by Stefano Pavesi, libretto by Gaetano Rossi; premiered Teatro San Moisè, Venice, 4 February 1809
^s.n. (1836). "Necrologia". Cenni storici intorno alle lettere, invenzioni, arti, commercio e spettacoli teatrali, Vol. 23, p. 141. Volpe al Sassi (in Italian).
