Giovanni Zenatello - Recordings

Recordings

Zenatello left an important musical legacy in the form of a considerable number of commercial recordings of his voice, made both acoustically and, after 1925, with the aid of microphone technology. His first discs were made in Italy by The Gramophone Company in 1903, followed by a long series for Fonotipia Records. Later, he recorded for the Columbia, Edison and HMV labels. These recordings of operatic arias, duets and ensembles, as well as of a few song titles, have been reissued on CD in recent years, most notably by the English firms Pearl and Symposium Records and on the Austrian Preiser label. They reflect the wide range of his repertoire and the best of them confirm the impressive power, thrust and ardency of his singing. Zenatello left recorded memoirs from the roles he created (including arias and duets from Siberia, Madame Butterly, and Figlio di Jorio).

A radio interview with an elderly Zenatello, recorded in 1947, includes a creditable (if transposed downwards, due to the singer's age) performance of the aria "Niun mi tema" from Otello. This interview was reissued in the 1960s and can be heard on CD.