Aurio Tomicich was born on 12 February 1947 in Trieste, Italy and died 17 December 2009 in Rome, Italy. With the Dublin Grand Opera Society, he sang 24 Roles in 33 Productions – a total of 146 Performances.
Aurio Tomicich had made his DGOS debut as Jacopo Fiesco in that season’s “Simon Boccanegra” [Spring 1974], having been auditioned earlier in Rome by Maestro Annovazzi. It was a big and demanding role for a young bass of twenty-six years – Samuel Ramey had put off singing it until his late thirties. Tomicich, who hailed from Trieste and studied at the Palermo Conservatory, was strongly built with a well-focused bass voice, dark in colour and of rich tonal quality. A bright future was predicted for him by Maestro Annovazzi who liked nothing better than to see his predictions come true. During my visit to Rome in April 1998, I found that Aurio Tomicich hadn’t changed from his Dublin days – he last sang with the DGOS in 1990 – and it seemed to afford him pleasure to reminisce about the past. He speaks good English, is articulate and self-effacing and has a ready sense of humour. When he arrived in Dublin for the first time he says everything was strikingly different compared to Italy: the houses, the bars, the streets. But he liked the place from the beginning and gradually felt at home. He was warmly welcomed by Colonel O’Kelly and the chorus, and although they were an amateur chorus, he could see at the rehearsals of “Boccanegra” that they were well coached and heroic in the way they unselfishly gave of their time to the society. He was, though, surprised to be told that none of them got paid for all their work and dedication. Looking back, he says that Dublin fulfilled an important purpose as it afforded him an opportunity to take on principal roles and develop them musically and dramatically. In Italy he would, for instance, have to wait for some time befbre being given a part like Fiesco but singing these roles early in his career gave him confidence and belief in himself. ‘I don’t think Maestro Annovazzi would have asked me to sing Fiesco if he didn’t think I could sing it. He was encouraging to me and I learned a lot from him musically. He knew his operas and the characters in them and how these parts should be sung. Dublin was very good to me in that way and I increased my repertoire in a short time.’ During that ’74 spring season, he also sang Raimondo in “Lucia di Lammermoor” and his voice seemed well suited to bel canto roles. He soon learned that the fees paid by the society were small but he wasn’t worried. He saw himself as a young singer trying to gain experience and he knew he was singing with some very good artists. And he liked the friendly atmosphere around the place and from his early days regarded the Gaiety Theatre a his spiritual home. He believes Colonel O’Kelly managed the society wisely and as long as you gave of your best he was happy. He was intrigued by the way the Colonel used to sit in the wings and watch everything closely on stage. ‘He imposed his own kind of discipline,’ Tomicich said, ‘and I didn’t see anything wrong with that. Every opera company does the same to varying degrees and as long as it is fair you accept it. I was young and eager and didn’t take much notice. I came to love the Gaiety audiences and their enthusiasm; a young singer appreciates that kind of thing and applause can get to him. I could see that singers enjoyed coming to Ireland and spoke to their friends in Italy about the country, its people and its opera. I counted myself lucky to he invited back so often.’ He is still singing and his large repertoire embraces a good deal of contemporary opera. I liked his parting words, ‘I would like again to go back to my old spiritual home and sing for my Irish friends.’
(Extracted from “Love and Music: The Glorious History of the Dublin Grand Opera Society” by Gus Smith, 1998)
APPEARANCES BY AURIO TOMICICH WITH THE DGOS:
| Spring 1974 | Simon Boccanegra | Fiesco |
| Spring 1974 | Lucia di Lammermoor | Raimondo |
| Winter 1974 | Don Giovanni | Leporello |
| Winter 1974 | Samson et Dalila | Old Hebrew |
| Spring 1975 | Un Ballo in Maschera | Samuel |
| Spring 1975 | I Puritani | Giorgio |
| Spring 1976 | La Boheme | Marcello |
| Spring 1976 | L’Elisir d’Amore | Dulcamara |
| Spring 1977 | Il Barbiere di Siviglia | Basilio |
| Spring 1977 | Nabucco | Zaccaria |
| Winter 1977 | Lucia di Lammermoor | Raimondo |
| Winter 1977 | Tannhauser | Hermann |
| Spring 1978 | Rigoletto | Sparafucile |
| Spring 1978 | Ernani | Silva |
| Spring 1978 | L’Italiana in Algeri | Mustafa |
| Winter 1978 | Don Giovanni | Leporello |
| Winter 1978 | Don Carlo | Filippo |
| Spring 1979 | La Cenerentola | Don Magnifico |
| Spring 1979 | Macbeth | Banquo |
| Spring 1980 | Il Trovatore | Ferrando |
| Spring 1980 | La Gioconda | Alvise |
| Spring 1982 | La Favorita | Baldassare |
| Spring 1982 | Nabucco | Zaccaria |
| Winter 1982 | Il Trovatore | Ferrando |
| Winter 1982 | Martha | Tristram |
| Winter 1983 | Cosi fan Tutte | Alfonso |
| Winter 1983 | Lohengrin | Henry |
| Spring 1984 | Aida | Ramfis |
| Spring 1984 | La Boheme | Colline |
| Spring 1984 | La Gioconda | Alvise |
| Winter 1984 | Cosi fan Tutte | Alfonso |
| Winter 1985 | Il Barbiere di Siviglia | Basilio |
| Spring 1986 | Nabucco | Zaccaria |
Aurio Tomicich was to sing one final time in Dublin – as a guest of the Dublin Opera Circle in 2009, shortly before his death
Opera in Ireland 