Francisco Fernández Dominicis

Born in Havana is the tenor and singing pedagogue, the first Cuban singer who performed at the alla Scala theater in Milan, where he participated in several world premieres of important titles from the operatic repertoire —La cena delle beffe, by Giordano (1924); Turandot, by Puccini (1926); Sly, by Wolf Ferrari (1927), among others—, during six complete seasons (1921-1927) and under the direction of eminent maestros —Toscanini, Stravinsky, Richard Strauss—.

He also participated in the premiere of the Puccini title La rondine, in Monte Carlo (1918), and later in all the European local premieres of the same title.

He begins as an amateur in the well-known gatherings that are held monthly at the residence of the "dilettanti" Miguel Vieta, in Vedado. After participating as a chorus member in several zarzuelas organized at those gatherings, he takes singing and music classes with the bass Pablo Meroles, a Spanish professor based in Havana, simultaneously studies accounting and works as a paymaster at the Banco Habana which years later changes its name to National City Bank.

After completing four years of studies with professor Meroles, the latter presents him to the public in the "Conservatorio Peyrellade" hall on the afternoon of November 22, 1906 where the young singer performs the epilogue and romance from Arrigo Boito's opera Mefistófeles (1842-1918) and his performance is celebrated by specialized critics.

Weeks later he performs in that same hall in successive concerts accompanied at the piano by maestro Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes (1874-1944); furthermore, he sings accompanied by an orchestra conducted by maestro Arturo Bovi (1868-1953) at the Presidential Palace and at the "Centro Euskaro de Cuba" center.

In 1911 he hears and personally meets the great Spanish baritone Emilio Sagi-Barba (1875-1949) who debuts at the "Tacón" theater with his opera and zarzuela company; through the mediation of maestro Bovi, Sagi-Barba agrees to hear Dominicis in a private audition, and upon finishing, Dominicis expresses to Sagi-Barba his desire to sing the opera "Tosca" by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) with such a prestigious company to which the aforementioned Spanish singer responds: "I am not going to have you sing Tosca, what I am going to do is hire you for my company and I offer you a contract for two hundred fifty pesos monthly with a fifty percent increase every six months, for three years". Dominicis's parents oppose it and although Sagi-Barba insists on his purpose all is in vain, as they believe that their young son should continue in his secure employment at the bank; nevertheless, the name Dominicis continues to be mentioned in the Havana artistic circles for how much he promises as a "tenor of strength" and the professionalism that is developing in him as an artist.

That same year 1911, he integrates important roles with national artists and also becomes part of the Company of Alfredo Misa and Modesto Boceta which is composed of principal figures such as soprano Graziela Paret (1888-?) and tenor Paganelli. After the debut of the company at the "Payret" theater, Dominicis asks Mr. Misa to allow him to sing the complete "Tosca" at the end of the season and he agrees but wants the approval of the orchestra director, maestro Bovi, who upon hearing this calls Dominicis for an audition at the theater itself. Seated before the piano Bovi asks the tenor to sing the two tenor romances of the work; the next day at the same time and in the same place he has him sing the duet from the third act with soprano Pareto. Upon finishing, and the maestro being satisfied, he embraces the young tenor and says to him: "My boy, you will sing Tosca" and approves him, presenting the opera at the "Payret" on January 22, 1912 with the following cast: Francisco Dominicis ------- Tenor Esther Adalberto ---------- Soprano Roberto Scifoni ----------- Baritone Mario Spoto --------------- Bass with chorus and orchestra under the direction of maestro Bovi.

The triumph was complete and the well-known journalist Hermida publishes in the newspaper "La Discusión" the following note: "enthusiastic, spontaneous, sincere applause, listened to by the young tenor throughout the performance of the work... When the final curtain fell, there were so many outbursts of applause that I believe I am not exaggerating in affirming that Dominicis has been the most applauded artist in this opera season". The success obtained encourages a group of his friends and admirers and they prepare a banquet for him in the halls of the "Casino Español" on the night of February 5, 1912, attended by personalities from culture and politics; during the same a group of legislators with Vera Verdura leading, agree to draft and present a bill to the House of Representatives for the approval of a scholarship to Dominicis to study singing in Italy with charges to the Department of Public Instruction. With the project drafted, it goes to the studies commission where it sleeps the eternal sleep. Faced with such deception, Mrs. Josefina Romero at the head of a group of women from Havana's high society, organizes a benefit performance for Dominicis to raise funds and pay for his trip to Europe; the benefit takes place on March 13, 1912 and leaves a profit of $1,500.00.

On December 31 following, Dominicis sings in a year-end concert at the "Unión Club", where he is heard by the Mayor of Havana, Fernando Freyre de Andrade, who promises to help him with a scholarship but the same thing happens as with the other promise and the singer delays his project to travel to Europe to study.

Together with Spanish bass Agustín Calvo and pianist Ignacio Tellería, he begins a tour of the interior of the island that lasts the entire month of March 1913 and sings in the principal cities. The following month, he arrives in Havana and the company of Spanish bass Andrés Perello de Segurola debuts at the "Payret" and Dominicis is hired and sings the zarzuela El Dúo de la Africana by Manuel Fernández Caballero (1835-1906) with sopranos Lucrecia Bori (1889-1960), María Severini, Rosa Blanch, baritone Francisco Federici, bass Perello and with chorus and orchestra conducted by maestro Arturo Bovi; Dominicis sings this work four consecutive days to a full theater in the month of May, in which the company remains at the "Payret". He then sets sail for Mexico, but the young tenor stays in Havana awaiting what was promised regarding the scholarship. Finally it is approved by agreement of the Havana City Council but is vetoed by the Mayor himself for "Budget Leveling". Tired of so much politicking and the little desire of the authorities to resolve the scholarship matter, Dominicis publicly renounces the official aid and embarks on August 16, 1913 on his own account bound for Milan. Already in that city he contacts the famous soprano Graziela Pareto and her husband, composer Gabriel Sibella, whom he had met in Havana. With Sibella he studies for three months and learns the opera La Favorita by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848); time passes and the Cuban singer develops his abilities and is the object of congratulations from his professors, furthermore, the owner of the hotel where he lives, Mrs. Gina Bonini, introduces him to entrepreneurs Comoli and Galioli and they have him debut at the "Coccia" theater in Novara on January 3, 1914 singing La Favorita in the role of "Fernando", supported by the following cast: Enma Barranti ---------------------- "Leonor" Oddo Galeotti ---------------------- "Alfonso XI" Carlos Melogchi -------------------- "Baltasar" under the direction of Pietro Fabrini. The success is resounding and the triumphant Cuban tenor sings the work thirteen times in the season, although he becomes ill after singing the third performance and is replaced by tenor Paganelli and a South American tenor but these do not please the public and economic disruptions occur in the company. Now recovered, Dominicis pulls the company out of the chaos he involuntarily puts it in. One night after the thirteen unforgettable performances, a group of friends of the company give him a "Serenade of Honor" in which Dominicis sings Una Furtiva Lágrima by Donizetti and the City Council of the city distinguishes him with a gold medal.

Meanwhile, here in Havana Miguel González Gómez (1853-1920), an important musician and notable critic publishes two truly aggressive chronicles, and furthermore falsifies details of Dominicis's debut in Italy. Some friends of Dominicis protest and the "Old Musician", the pseudonym with which Gómez signed, rectifies in successive chronicles his errors, but the unease has already been provoked.

From the city of Novara our artist moves to Milan and debuts on March 23, 1914 in a concert organized by composer and entrepreneur Sibella at the "Sociedad del Giardino" in which soprano Emilia Gorsil also participates. In the month of May he sails to Madrid on a pleasure trip and visits some relatives. After a short stay in the capital of Spain his friend Gina Bonini informs him that the entrepreneur of the "San Carlos" theater in the city of Naples wishes to hear him; he returns to Milan, gives two private auditions on the scenic stage of "L'Scala" and is hired to sing the season from December 1914 to March 1915, which turns out to be successful.

From Milan the company moves to the important city of Treviglio where in several concerts he sings a duet with the incomparable Mexican soprano Fanny Anitúa (1887-?); then he moves to Venice and there sings Tosca at the "Rossini" theater with said soprano. In 1916, he sings in the city of Paseva the operas Manon by Jules Massenet (1842-1912) and The Barber of Seville, by Gioacchino Rossini (1702-1868) and on September 4 he travels to Paris and debuts at the "Opera Cómica" with the great soprano Graziela Pareto and tenor Stracciari and the orchestra conducted by maestro Rodesti.

From Paris he returns to Milan and sings the most unforgettable performance of his artistic career held at the "Carcano" theater on October 10, 1916. There he performs The Barber of Seville but following the original score with a mezzo soprano in the main female role and singing the character "Don Bartolo" the romance that was written by the composer for "A doctor of my fate" instead of the hackneyed "Manca foglio", which is always usually sung and which was not composed by Rossini, but by Pietro Romani (1791-1877). The cast of that memorable performance was as follows: Paco Dominicis --------------- Almaviva Fanny Anitúa ----------------- Rosina Ricardo Stracciari ----------- Figaro V. Bettoni ------------------- Basilio Pini-Corsi ------------------- Bartolo G. Tacciani ------------------ Officer Eduardo de Marco ------------- Piorello choruses and secondary parts under the direction of Luigi Mancinelli.

After a well-deserved rest at his friend Stracciari's country house, he travels to Monte Carlo and there he premieres on March 27, 1917 at the "Casino" theater Puccini's opera La Rondine, at the request of the composer himself who assigns him the role of "Prunier"; furthermore, the following figures of lyric art take part in the cast: Tito Schipa (1889-1965) "Ruggero"; Gilda Rizza, "Magda" and Inés María Ferrari, "Lisette", all directed by maestro Gino Marinuzzi, who tour the principal Italian cities singing this much applauded opera, ending the tour eleven months later at a theater in the city of Rome, with the attendance of the composer who gives Dominicis a score of the work with the following dedication: "To my first and only Prunier, in remembrance Giacomo Puccini".

In that year of 1918 he sings La Sonámbula, Les pêcheurs de perles by Georges Bizet (1838-1875), The Barber of Seville, The Daughter of the Regiment and La Bohème. On the feast day of Santa Agata in Catania, Dominicis and soprano María Perosio are invited and sing La Sonámbula accompanied at the piano at the home of some descendants of Bellini; they show him some personal objects of the composer and give him a manuscript with the sketch of the bass romance from La Sonámbula, a document that we saw in 1963 in the archives of musicologist José Luis Vidaurreta (1912-1975).

Three years later, he makes a tour of several cities in Italy in which he performs Wolf-Ferrari's opera I quattro rusteghi (The Four Ruffians) six times, interpreting like no other tenor the role of "Filipetto" according to the composer, who in turn conducts the orchestra. The entrepreneur Seandiani of the "L'Scala" theater in Milan, calls the Cuban tenor to join his company, Dominicis accepts and makes his debut at said theater on December 26, 1921 in the role of "Doctor Cajus" of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Falstaff (1813-1901) with a formidable artistic cast and the orchestra conducted by maestro Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957); he later sings with the same cast and orchestra Modest Mussorgsky's opera Borís Godunov (1839-1881) and Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger (1813-1883). While residing in said city he meets young ballerina Ana Mariani Rago (1891-1967) with whom he marries on December 20, 1923 and two years later returns to Havana accompanied by his wife to enjoy a well-deserved vacation.

Three months later he returns to Milan and rejoins the company and with it travels to Paris, London and makes a tour of the interior of Italy, until 1926 when he leaves the "L'Scala" theater company, after singing with it and at said theater five consecutive years, being the only Cuban who has sung at said theater as an official member of the company that governs it.

After giving some concerts accompanied by orchestras in the cities of Turin, Rome and Nice, maestro Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) calls him to Venice so that on the 19th, 22nd and 24th days of July 1928, he performs the role of "Harlequin" from Ruggiero Leoncavallo's opera I Pagliacci (1858-1919) in an original stage production in St. Mark's Square in that beautiful city. The artistic cast that shares with him this "special production" are tenor Aureliano Pertile and soprano Rosetta Pampanini, with a chorus of one hundred eighty voices and the orchestra conducted by maestro Mascagni. A year later, he is called again by the "L'Scala" theater company and travels with it to the city of Berlin, then returns to Milan and agrees with his wife to travel to Havana where they arrive on May 24, 1930 and establish their residence here.

After making some presentations in theaters and concert halls, on September 30 of that year the Havana City Council agrees to grant him the Medal of the City according to what the corresponding minutes state "...for his great merits as an opera singer who had performed in the greatest theaters and with the most renowned artists, bringing great honor to the name of Cuba". The well-deserved medal and its corresponding diploma were not delivered and Dominicis is forced to wait fourteen months, that is, November 22, 1932 to receive it within the framework of a concert at the "Auditorium", after listening to the speech by Ruy de Lugo Viña (1833-1937), a Cuban intellectual who qualifies Dominicis as "glory of Cuba, and honor of the homeland"; but twenty-three days after the speech, Dominicis is dismissed "for economy" from his position as singing professor at the Municipal Conservatory.

On November 2, 1930 he sings the fourth act of the opera La Traviata at the "Auditorium", with soprano Edelmira de Zayas (1897-1973); two months later, and after intensive preparatory work, he begins to direct the radio program "Los Cantantes Unidos" which is broadcast every Wednesday evening through the C.M.W. station owned by the newspaper "Diario de la Marina". That small studio in a few days becomes a meeting place for an audience eager to see and hear singers of the artistic caliber of Dominicis, Luisa María Morales (1910-1973), Alice Dana (1903-1988) and Tomasita Núñez (?-1980), among others, who are accompanied by a small orchestra organized by maestro Amadeo Roldán (1900-1939) and composed of a group of professors from the Philharmonic Orchestra of Havana. The program is sponsored by a tobacco company that after six months no longer buys the space from the station and it immediately withdraws the program from the air despite the radio audience that the program enjoyed; then maestro Alberto Falcón (1873-1961), director of the Municipal Conservatory of Havana, appoints Dominicis singing professor at that prestigious educational institution again with date March 31, 1931.

Two months later the Pan American Union of Washington organizes a concert at the "Nacional" theater in Havana in honor of the delegates of the International Chamber of Commerce, in the same the principal figures are soprano Zoila Gálvez (1902-?) accompanied by the orchestra conducted by maestro Gonzalo Roíg (1890-1970).

On December 13, 1936 he is honored at the "Auditorium" theater for the 30th Anniversary of his artistic career. The concert organized for this purpose features his students only and two years later, the National Academy of Arts and Letters makes available its halls for the constitutional act of the Dominicis-Mariani Artistic Society. In the cultural act that the Academy organizes in cooperation, Isaac Nicola (1916-1995), Margarita Horreutiner (1910), Casimiro Zertucha (1880-1950) and Joaquín Rodríguez (1883-1974) perform. 1938-39 is the best year of the Opera Nacional company founded by Juan Bonich and Gonzalo Roig and maestro Dominicis is appointed stage director of the same; said company is formed solely by Cuban artistic talent, which in its brief institutional life, offers magnificent and important performances in the "Auditorium" and "Nacional" theaters.

On February 1, 1941 Dominicis publishes a well-documented work in the magazine "Cubamena" titled "Puccini and his opera Turandot", on the occasion of the premiere in Cuba, on record, of that work; in July of forty-two, our tireless tenor and pedagogue, organizes at the "Principal de la Comedia" theater the Cuban premiere of Puccini's opera La Rondine, in which figures such as Margarita Hourruitiner, Amalia Romero, Oscar Lombardo, Roberto Nieto and José María Paz participate, accompanied by the orchestra conducted by maestro Manuel Duchesne Morillas (1902-?) and the opening remarks are delivered by musicologist Orlando Martínez (1916-1988). Four years later, the Havana society celebrates him in the halls of the "Casa Cultural" in a tribute for his forty years of artistic life and his students perform arias from operas and the first act of The Barber of Seville. On April 8, 1955 tenor Francisco Fernández Dominicis is decorated by the government with the order "Carlos Manuel de Céspedes", in the grade of official.

In 1967 and at the "Liceum" Society, the tenor receives a well-deserved tribute from said society for his sixty years of work in pursuit of culture in Cuba and his student Margarita Hourruitiner delivers some words on behalf of the former students and they put together a program with opera arias and zarzuela romances; by then the famous Cuban tenor is retired and very ill, his home always full of friends and former students in constant visits that seek to brighten the solitude in which the venerable old man lives but on the morning of February 3, 1968 Dominicis dies surrounded by the love and affection of friends; but a rare coincidence of life occurred that morning when with a difference of barely one hour maestro Tullio Serafin (?-1968), friend and great support of Dominicis in Italy, dies in the city of Rome.

The artistic file and pedagogical activity of the great singer can be summarized as follows: nine operas premiered, La Rondine in 1917 and Turandot in 1926, both by Puccini; El Genio Alegre in 1926 by Vitadini, La Cena de las Burlas in 1926 by Umberto Giordano (1867-1948); Madonna Imperio in 1927, by Francisco Alfano (1876-1954); Sly in 1927, by Pick-Mangiagalli; La Pata Materba in 1927 by Vittorio Gui (1885-1944) and El Rey in 1929 by Giordano. His repertoire consisted of more than forty operas and he obtained nine prize medals in Italy. He was a singing professor in the following conservatories: "Escuela Nacional de Música" (1931-1949); "Conservatorio Falcón" (1939-1953); "Conservatorio Roig-Cartaya" (1940-1957) and at the "Conservatorio Lorie" (1947-1959). Weeks after his death and upon reviewing his archive, the originals of his artistic autobiography that he had begun to write in 1957 with the significant title "What I Have Done There and What They Have Done to Me Here" are found among his documents.

Upon his return to his homeland, in 1930, he organized and directed several opera seasons with Cuban artists, among them, Opera Nacional, of which maestro Roig was musical director (1938-39).

He also dedicated himself to teaching singing, until shortly before his death.

A most notable Cuban tenor who has had a brilliant career in Italy, being for a long time among the principal singers of the Scala of Milan. He performed in the role of the comic opera "I quattro rusteghi" (The Four Ruffians) by Maestro Wolf-Ferrari which Fernández Dominicis premiered at the Scala, later making a two-month tour through the principal theaters of Italy, in the company of the author Wolf-Ferrari.