Libero de Luca

Libero de Luca (1913-1998) is a Swiss lyric tenor, particularly associated with the French repertory.

Life and career

De Luca was born in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, and studied voice at the Zurich Coservatory with Alfredo Cairati. After winning a first prize at an international voice competition in Geneva, in 1941, he made his professional debut the following year at the Solothurn Municipal Theatre.

After one season at the Bern Municipal Theatre, he became first tenor at the Zurich Opera in 1943 until 1949. During that period, he also appeared regularly to great acclaim at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Royal Opera House in London, at La Monnaie in Brussels, and at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.

In 1949, he made his debut at both the Opéra-Comique and the Palais Garnier, where he became first tenor in the French repertoire.

Being Swiss, Libero de Luca was fluent in German, French and Italian, and excelled in all three repertories in lyric roles. He retired from the stage in 1961, and became a full-time voice teacher in Horn, Switzerland, near Lake Constance.

De Luca made several recordings, notably in "Mignon" and "Manon", opposite Janine Micheau, "Lakmé", opposite Mado Robin, and "Carmen", opposite Suzanne Juyol.

Sources

* Alain Pâris, "Dictionnaire des interprètes", Robert Laffont, 1989. ISBN 2-221-06660-X
* Paul Gruber, "The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera", W.W. Norton & Company, 1993. ISBN 0-393-03444-5