Enrico Tamberlik

Enrico Tamberlik (Rome, 1820 – Paris, 1889) was one of the most celebrated Italian tenors of the second half of the nineteenth century, and his name is associated above all with the heroic repertoire of Romantic opera. Born in Rome, he completed his training in that city, in Naples and in Bologna.

His official debut took place in 1841 at the Teatro del Fondo in Naples, as Tebaldo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, under the surname Danieli. By 1843 he was already singing at the San Carlo under the name Tamberlik, in Nicolai's Il templario. His London appearance came in 1850, as Masaniello at Covent Garden, the theatre where he performed regularly until 1864 and from which a wide list of roles derives, ranging from Rossini's Otello to Gounod's Faust. He is reported to have given the British premieres of the versions of Benvenuto Cellini (1853) and Il trovatore (1855).

In St Petersburg he created the Don Álvaro in La forza del destino (1862), and he also sang in Buenos Aires, Paris, Madrid and Moscow. Already past sixty, in 1881, he toured the Spanish provinces with a repertoire that included Arturo, Poliuto and Manrico, among others.

His legacy is associated with a powerful voice, with brilliant high notes, although with a rapid vibrato, and with a notable stage presence that made him an outstanding interpreter of heroic roles.