Raffaele Arié
Raffaele Arié was a Bulgarian bass, particularly associated with the Italian and Russian repertories.
Arié studied first in his native city with C. Brambaroff, making his stage debut at the Sofia Opera in 1945. He then left for Italy to further his studies, and was a pupil of Riccardo Stracciari, Apollo Granforte and Carlo Tagliabue.
The bass made his debut at La Scala in 1947, as the King of Clubs in The Love for Three Oranges, directed by Giorgio Strehler. He continued to appear at that theatre until 1973, in Boris Godunov, Prince Igor, The Rake's Progress, two works of Pizetti, Eugene Onegin, Guillaume Tell, Aida, Faust, Nabucco, Rigoletto, Maria Stuarda, Linda di Chamounix, and a concert of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 14.
He also appeared at the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Paris Opéra, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival.
While the basso never appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, he sang with the New York City Opera, in 1950 and 1951, in Turandot, Faust, La bohème, Don Giovanni, Aida, and Manon.
In 1953, he portrayed Raimondo Bidebent in Lucia di Lammermoor in Florence, opposite Maria Callas, Giacomo Lauri Volpi, and Bastianini, conducted by Franco Ghione. During the production, Arié participated in a recording of the same opera for EMI, with Callas, di Stefano, and Tito Gobbi, conducted by Tullio Serafin.
Also available from EMI, on DVD, is Arié's 1964 performance of the Verdi Requiem, conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini.
