Born in Prato, Tuscany, on April 11, 1937, the American-Italian tenor died in the same city on June 28. Coming from a large, modest family, Bartolini reached the final at the 1962 edition of the San Remo competition, under the pseudonym Rocco Montana (!). After his marriage in 1966, he emigrated to the United States and worked in mechanics in Philadelphia. His brother Lino, who practiced singing, died accidentally in 1967, which made Lando decide to resume musical studies. He wins the competition Mario Lanza since 1968. He benefits from the teaching of the bass Nicola Moscona and begins in Philadelphia in Il Weakness by Puccini. He sings regularly at the New York City Opera while having an international career, beginning in Iris by Pietro Mascagni at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in 1973. Despite his very Italian surname, he debuts late in the peninsula, succeeding Plácido Domingo for the last performances d’Ernani in December 1982. In 1983, he debuted at the Verona Arena with Aida. His career continued until the early 2000s (in 2004 he even made his debut (!) in Turin with The Dinner of Mockerya very rare work because it is considered a tomb for tenors with fragile chests). He performs all over the world, even in Alexandria (Otello), Sydney or even Beijing (1998) and Tokyo (2002) where he performed Turandot. Tenor pushedLando Bartolini offered a song virile and powerful, full of energy, passing without problem in the big halls like the Metropolitan of New York and of course at the Arènes. At this time of abundance, Bartolini was rather a second division singer, although some of the greatest conductors did not disdain his services (Muti, Mehta, Sinopoli): one would be very happy today to have such voices to defend the adequate repertoire. In Paris, one could hear him in Bohemian (a performance in 1986), Don Carlo (1987), The Tabarro (1987: the walls of the Salle Favart still tremble; my neighbor firmly believed that the singer was soundproofed!). Without seeking to be exhaustive, we will recall a few performances in the provinces. In Marseille, he sang The Troubadour (1987 et 1990), Aida (1991) et Andrea Chénier (1991). In Bordeaux, he gives Il Troubadour (1992) and the Requiem by Verdi the same year (that must have been something…). At the Chorégies d’Orange, he is part of the “historic” distribution of Simon Boccanegra (1985) alongside Piero Cappuccilli, Montserrat Caballé and Paul Plishka. Among his 49 roles, Lando Bartolini is said to have sung Radames 240 times, Calaf 179 and Manrico 160. He recorded little: let us point out Semirama by Respighi and a recital at Hungaroton. It can also be found in the first recording of Alfano’s complete finale for the Turandot by Puccini.
