We The Italians | Explorers, Emigrants, Citizens #6

Explorers, Emigrants, Citizens #6

Explorers, Emigrants, Citizens #6

  • WTI Magazine #6 Nov 21, 2013
  • 1868

WTI Magazine #6    2013 Nov, 22

Author : Paolo Battaglia      Translation by:

 

November 19, 1901 - Appointment of Edmondo Mayor des Planches as Italian Ambassador to the U.S.
At the peak of the great migration, one of the few diplomats who tried to understand the living conditions of Italians in the U.S. was Edmondo Mayor des Planches, Italian ambassador in Washington from 1901 to 1910. He intended "to encourage the diffusion, in the vast territory of the United States, of Italians who are gathering in the large eastern cities, . . . where they live mostly in Italian neighborhoods leading a morally and physically unhealthy life, and economically miserable."

November 20, 1883 - Birth of Tony Gaudio
Tony Gaudio was born Gaetano Antonio Gaudio on November 20, 1883, in Cosenza, Italy, to a professional photographer. After attended art school in Rome, he became an assistant to his father and elder brother, who were portrait photographers. He moved to California and became a photographer in the movie industy. In 1936 Tony Gaudio received the Academy Award for Best Photography for the movie "Anthony Adverse" ("Avorio Nero" in Italian).

November 21, 1964 - The Verrazano Bridge opens
The writer Gay Talese wrote: "The sun shone, the sky was cloudless; bands played, cannons echoed up and down the harbor, flags waved, and thousands of motorists yesterday became part of the first--and perhaps only-- blissful traffic jam on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The bridge, which took more than five years to build and which reaches like a rainbow over the Narrows between Brooklyn and Staten Island, was officially opened to traffic at 3 P.M.


"This latest addition to our city's great wealth of bridges represents a new summit of achievement," Mayor Wagner told the crowd assembled near the world's longest suspended span. "Surely we must see it not only as the biggest, but as the most beautiful of all, the most princely, and the most stately."


A young man in a rented tuxedo, driving a pale blue Cadillac convertible with flags flapping from the fenders, was the first man to cross the bridge and pay the 50-cent toll. He, together with his young companions (also in rented tuxedos), had parked all week behind the Staten Island toll gate to assure their official position as the first to cross".

November 23, 1903 - Caruso makes his debut at the Met
Caruso's debut at the Met was in a new production of Rigoletto on November 23, 1903. Enrico Caruso never became an American citizen, but he spent many years in the United States and, famous with the broader American public, was a symbol of pride for Italian Americans. "I heard all the great tenors of my time over and over again," said Metropolitan Opera director Giulio Gatti-Casazza. "Many of them were wonderful artists and had extraordinary voices. But in my opinion, not a single one of them ever sang an entire role with such vocal and artistic consistency as Caruso."


Born in Naples in 1873, Caruso started out as a street singer and performer at cafés. He formally debuted in the city in 1895, sang at La Scala in 1900, and in 1903 came to the Metropolitan. He was its leading tenor for eighteen seasons, giving 863 performances. In 1910 he appeared in the first public radio broadcast, live from the stage of the Met.


But Caruso was as notable for his recording career as for his live performances, singing on some 290 records, first for the Gramophone and Typewriter Company in Italy, and in the United States for the Victor Talking-Machine Company. His 1904 rendition of "Vesti la Giubba" from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci was the first recording of any kind to sell a million copies. He was one of the earliest singers to understand the importance of recordings for reaching a wider audience. All his work is still available today, when he remains emblematic of the art of opera.

November 24, 1859 - Adelina Patti's debut in New York
The diva of her day, soprano Adelina Patti sang for President Abraham Lincoln and earned a phenomenal $5,000 a performance—once, after a bidding war, she was paid $25,000 to sing. Charles Harris wrote "The Last Farewell" in her honor.


Adelina Patti made her operatic debut at age 16 on 24 November 1859 in the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor at the Academy of Music, New York.