Local Talent at the San Francisco Opera: Amerigo Frediani

Amerigo Frediani (image source: San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection)

Amerigo Frediani was another local artist who performed many smaller roles during the San Francisco Opera's early years. Born on January 2, 1898 in Lucca, Italy, his family emigrated to the United States in 1907 and settled in Sonoma County. He graduated from Healdsburg High School in 1914 and UC Berkeley in 1918. He also became a naturalized American citizen that year. 

In 1918 and 1919, during World War I, he served as a private in the 144th Machine Gun Battalion. After the war he went to work as a bank clerk, first in Berkeley and later in San Francisco. He showed a passion for opera and song performing frequently in recitals and operas in the Bay Area. Frediani starred as the “lyrical tenor” André Ferrier’s Gaîté Française theater from 1922 to 1924.

image source: San Francisco Opera Programs, Season 1925

He performed frequently with the Opera in its first seasons as a chorus member and in small credited roles in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (1923, 1924), Il Tabarro (1923), Gounod's Roméo et Juliette (1923), Vittadini's Anima Allegra (1925), Massenet's Manon (1925, 1934), Saint-Saëns' Samson and Dalila (1925, 1926), Puccini's Manon Lescaut (1926), Giordano's Fedora (1928), Montemezzi's L'Amore dei Tre Re (1928), Verdi's La Traviata (1933, 1934), Rimsky-Korsakov's Le Coq d'Or (1933), Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (1933), Puccini's La Rondine (1934), Delibes' Lakmé (1934), and Verdi's Otello (1934).

At this time he also sang with the newly formed Los Angeles Grand Opera Association. In 1927 Frediani received a scholarship to study with Giulio Silva at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He continued to participate in recitals and frequently performed live on Bay Area radio stations KPO (today’s KNBR) and KLX (today’s KNEW). From 1928 to 1933 he moved to New York where he studied with Claude Wanford and was coached by Antonio dell'Orefice. Little is known of his performance activity there except occasional listings in the New York Times of his performing as a soloist on WGBS (today's WINS). 

Amerigo Frediani (source: San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection)

He was known more for his musicality than for an excellent voice. A notice in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1927 described:

Frediani sings always with intelligent style. His diction is clear in English, French, Spanish and Italian, and there is a nice lyric flow to his readings. His voice is not broad of range or luscious in quality--the tone is inclined to be pallid and husky--but he handles it with musical finesse.

Alfred Metzger praised his voice for “its quality rather than its quantity.” A 1933 San Francisco Chronicle article remarked that: "Although his voice is not a lustrous virtuoso instrument, it is capable of fine expression. Frediani has sensibility and intelligence."

When he returned to San Francisco he returned to the radio, singing on KTAB (today's KSFO). He was recitalist and sang at local Bastille Day celebrations. In the late 1930s he also sang in concerts given by the Federal Music Project. By 1940, Frediani had moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a sales representative for a perfume company. Toward the end of his life he returned to the Bay Area and died on December 25, 1982 in Sonoma County.

Bibliography

"Amerigo Frediani," Music West December 1927.

"Amerigo Frediani is Scholarship Winner," San Francisco Chronicle November 13, 1927.

Bishop, Cardell. The Los Angeles Grand Opera Association, 1924-1934: A Short Career in A Big City ([Author], 1979].

"Chamber Opera Singers Start Season with Verdi's 'Falstaff'," San Francisco Chronicle September 22, 1933.

"Four Concerts Slated by Music Project," Oakland Tribune March 13, 1938.

“Four Features on KPO Today,” San Francisco Chronicle November 12, 1925.

"Frediani Appears in Program in New York," San Francisco Chronicle January 26, 1929.

"Frediani Gives Recital Here," San Francisco Chronicle October 25, 1933.

"Frediani to Give Recital in October," San Francisco Chronicle September 23, 1928.

"Frediani Returns Will Sing Soon," San Francisco Chronicle May 14, 1933.

"Frediani, S.F. Tenor, Encored," San Francisco Chronicle October 27, 1927.

“Frediani to Sing during Celebration,” San Francisco Chronicle July 10, 1927.

“French Comedy to Be Presented Here,” San Francisco Examiner November 17, 1922.

“La Gaite Francaise Enjoys Success,” Pacific Coast Musical Review January 21, 1922.

Metzger, Alfred, “Toti Dal Monte Creates Sensation in Title Role of ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’,” San Francisco Chronicle January 13, 1926.

Metzger, Alfred, "Amerigo Frediani Scores Again in Annual Concert," San Francisco Chronicle April 2, 1938.

“One Act Comic Opera at Theatre Gaite-Francaise,” San Francisco Chronicle November 14, 1926.

"Personal Notes," The California Alumni Fortnightly September 20, 1919.

"Personal Notes," The California Alumni Fortnightly June 5, 1920.

San Francisco Grand Opera. (Schwabacher-Frey Stationery Co., 1925-1927.

"Young Musicians in Evening Musicale," Berkeley Daily Gazette November 24, 1919.