Stephen De Maio was instrumental in the founding of The Giulio Gari Foundation. We are forever indebted to our friend and inspiration. Below we share excerpts from an article that expresses the impact of this wonderful man.
How Stephen De Maio helps fledgling careers take flight by BRIAN KELLOW
Reprinted from Opera News. Visit the original article here: Opera News Stephen De Maio
De Maio was born in Newark, New Jersey. His father was an avid clarinetist, and he saw to it that his son received extensive instruction in both piano and piccolo. Young De Maio studied music and drama at New York University, Kean College and Fordham and was briefly a chorus boy in summer musicals at Pennsylvania’s famed Bucks County Playhouse. In the 1960s, he was introduced to Licia Albanese backstage, after one of her Met performances as Cio-Cio-San. “Eventually, Licia’s husband, JOSEPH A. GIMMA, said, ‘You’re going to be with us. You’re going to do everything with Licia,'” says De Maio. When Albanese inaugurated the Puccini Foundation in 1974, he came aboard as her assistant.
Our gratitude to Lou Barella for all the marvelous work on this fitting tribute to Stephen De Maio.
“Licia’s wish for the Puccini, apart from helping young singers, was that they have a concert bringing back the great stars that the Met had never honored, or had not honored enough,” De Maio recalls. At the annual autumn gala, VIRGINIA ZEANI, LEYLA GENCER, INGE BORKH, JON VICKERS, GIORGIO TOZZI, EVELYN LEAR, TERESA STRATAS, BRENDA LEWIS, THOMAS STEWART and many others stepped out onstage to electrifying ovations from the audience. Many of them were past the time when they cared to sing in public, but many others still possessed a vocal security and authority that was often revelatory. I recall LUCINE AMARA offering Marietta’s Lied from Die Tote Stadt, legato beautifully intact; eighty-three-year-old MARTA EGGERTH’s unforgettable “Wien, Wien, Nur Du Allein”; JAMES KING offering a superb account of “Winterstürme”; FEDORA BARBIERI bringing half the audience to its feet with one vocalized line — “Reverenza,” from Falstaff. Albanese was also a great lover of pop music, and she brought back some of the biggies, including ANN BLYTH, JANE POWELL, KATHRYN GRAYSON and MARGARET WHITING. For years, the concert began with Albanese herself leading “The Star-Spangled Banner” with immense patriotic conviction (waving her hand over her head as she sang, “And our flag was-a still-a ‘der!”).
He is deeply proud of his foundations’ role in developing the careers of talents such as ISABEL LEONARD, MICHAEL FABIANO, BRYAN HYMEL and ANGELA MEADE. “I thought from the beginning that they all had the stuff,” he says. “And they’re all Americans, which makes it wonderful. I think they all have a God-given talent. Now, you can work with what you have, but they have really worked more than most people. I feel that there is still a golden age out there, and that it will continue. JOYCE DIDONATO is certainly a reminder of the golden age. ANNA NETREBKO, in her own way — she does little things that are not right, but she’s something to reckon with. We have to adapt to the changing color of things. We may not have another MARIO DEL MONACO, but we have JONAS KAUFMANN.”