Considerations XIX: 1
With an exact y F “ in their charts, it is not at all surprising that both tenors did very well financially: at the peak of his popularity Gigli was the highest paid singer in the world, while Melchior received the highest salary given by the Met. Both were heavy men. Melchior with y angular was 6’ 3” tall, weighed nearly three hundred pounds, had an 18-inch collar and wore size 13 shoes. I don’t have similar details for Gigli. As befits his g Ascendant, Melchior was a great practical joker and he loved hunting and fishing. Shortly before his death in 1973, he explained that there were two major disappointments in his life. One was his rejection by Bing in 1951. The other was that, despite his enormous success elsewhere, he had never been popular in his native Denmark— his 4th ruler, r, is weak by sign and a retrograde i is positioned in his 4th house—his joking with the local media had invariably misfired. Gigli, who was idolized in his native Italy, had t at the IC in c, a sign in which t is always comfortable by virtue of its trine to a. It is informative to see how the exact r F t in these two charts—this aspect is very important in explaining the nature of their identical occupations— manifested in these two contrary ways when the different ends of the aspect are related to the respective ICs. The tenor is the highest non-falsetto adult male voice. There are two types of tenor: the lyrical tenor, with the highest and lightest tone (Gigli), and the tenore robusto (German, Heldentenor, “heroic tenor”) with dramatic vigor and pathos (Melchior). Because they were born within a few hours of each other on the same day and achieved immense success in the same specialized field—they were the two greatest tenors of their generation—it is tempting to suggest their two charts contain the astrological archetype of the successful operatic tenor. In both charts r trines an angle: the Ascendant for Melchior, the IC for Gigli. There are also two sets of tight sextiles, which are more easily seen in Gigli’s chart. There we have l G u G i to the east of the meridian, and t G y G r G “ mainly to the west. e at Gigli’s Descendant forms a mundane T-square with the t S “ on the meridian, and its sesquiquadrature to i forms a bridge between the eastern and western sets of planets.
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