Giuseppe De Luca

Giuseppe De Luca (December 25 1876 – August 26 1950), was an Italian baritone.

De Luca was born in Rome, Italy. His debut was at Piacenza in 1897, singing Valentin in Gounod's "Faust".

He sang at La Scala from 1902 to 1910, and made his Covent Garden debut in 1907. He moved to America where he became the leading baritone at the New York Metropolitan Opera for twenty years, from 1915 to 1935; he returned to the house in 1939-1940. After his retirement he taught voice at the Juilliard School. He died in New York.

De Luca is notable for creating two Puccini roles: Sharpless in "Madama Butterfly" (La Scala, 1904) and the title role in "Gianni Schicchi" (Metropolitan, 1918). He also created the Marquess in Massenet's "Grisélidis", Michonnet in Cilea’s "Adriana Lecouvreur", Gleby in Giordano’s "Siberia" (1903), and Sancho Panza in Massenet’s "Don Quichotte" opposite Feodor Chaliapin.

Toscanini is said to have called De Luca, "absolutely the best baritone I ever heard" [http://www.opera-gems.com/reflections/giuseppe%20de%20luca.htm] . He was praised in a wide range of roles, from buffo to bel canto to Verdi, with some early forays into Wagner in his days at La Scala. He sang only in Italian and French. His career is well-documented in recordings, many with such other great singers of the Met's golden age as Enrico Caruso and Rosa Ponselle.

References

"The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music," ed. Michael Kennedy, 3rd. edition, 1980