Fernando Corena

Basso buffo Fernando Corena, heralded as the true successor to comic bass Salvatore Baccaloni, began his career singing non-comic roles just as did the imposing Baccaloni. A gift for buffoonery, however, cleared the way for his concentration on comic roles and there it was that he achieved his reputation. Although sturdy and of considerable volume, his voice was less flexible than Baccaloni's, less able to bend itself around the complexities of such arias as Bartolo's A un dottor or any of the other patter songs that populated his repertory. Still, his involvement with each of...