Our cafe is named after: Maestro Giacomo Aragall
Our café was named after the Spanish tenor Giacomo "Jaime" Aragall from Barcelona. As the owner of the Boutique Hotel am Stephansplatz is a great admirer of the art of Maestro Giacomo Aragall, he dedicated the café to him and named it after him. Interestingly, Mr. Aragall himself visits the Boutique Hotel am Stephansplatz once a year. Giacomo Aragall was born on June 6, 1939, in Barcelona. He studied singing in Barcelona under Jaime Francisco Puig, who also taught Josep Carreras, and at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Milan. There, he continued his studies with Vladimir Badiali and developed his global career as Giacomo Aragall.
In 1963, he won the Verdi competition in Busseto and made his debut in "I Lombardi alla prima crociata" at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice in the same year. He went on to perform in "L’amico" in 1963, as well as the Cavalier in Paul Hindemith's "Cardillac," and as Rodolfo in "La Bohème" in 1964. From the following season, Aragall performed in all the major opera houses around the world. In 1966, he sang Romeo in a remarkable production of Bellini's "I Capuleti e i Montecchi" at La Scala in Milan with Renata Scotto and the young Luciano Pavarotti. Another significant role was the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's "Rigoletto," which led him to the Arena di Verona in 1965, the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera in 1968, and the San Francisco Opera in 1973.
Aragall achieved his greatest successes in "Lucia di Lammermoor," "Madama Butterfly," "La traviata," "Werther," "Faust," "Tosca," "Manon," "Don Carlos," "Un ballo in maschera," and "Simon Boccanegra." Giacomo Aragall received numerous awards and honors, such as the title of Kammersänger at the Vienna State Opera. On June 24, 2015, he was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, 1st Class, by the director of the Vienna State Opera, Dominique Meyer, in the Teesalon of the Vienna State Opera. It is always a great honor for us to welcome such a renowned artist at the Boutique Hotel am Stephansplatz.
