- Luigi Infantino
Luigi Infantino (
April 24 ,1921 ,Racalmuto –June 22 ,1991 ,Rome ) was an Italian operatictenor , particularly associated with the lyric Italian and French repertories.Luigi Infantino made his debut in 1943, at the Teatro Regio in Parma, as Rodolfo in "
La bohème ", which was also his debut role at theTeatro San Carlo in Naples, in 1945. With that company, he appeared in London as the Duke in "Rigoletto ", and Rodolfo.In 1948, he made his debut at the
Teatro alla Scala in Milan, as Nadir in "Les pêcheurs de perles ", later singing Ramiro in "La cenerentola ", which he also sang that same year at theVerona Arena .The tenor sang regularly in Naples and Bologna, and made guest appearances at the
New York City Opera in 1947: "La traviata" (withEnzo Mascherini as Giorgio), "Rigoletto" (oppositeGiuseppe Valdengo andVirginia MacWatters ), "Madama Butterfly", "La bohème", "Il barbiere di Siviglia" (conducted byJulius Rudel ) and "Don Giovanni". In 1949, the tenor went on a concert-tour of England and Australia.In 1954, at the Teatro Fenice in Venice, Infantino sang Edgardo to the Lucia of
Maria Callas , in "Lucia di Lammermoor". At theTeatro dell'Opera di Roma , he created "Amleto", by Mario Zefred, in 1961, and "La stirpe di Davide" by Franco Mannino, in 1962.In 1964 Infantino reprised his role of Edgardo at the Bombay Opera in India, with soprano Celia Baptista as his Lucia.
He was also active throughout his career singing on Italian Radio (
RAI ), where he gave his last performance in 1973, in Mannino's "Il diavolo in giardino".A stylish lyric tenor with an attractive voice, Infantino can be heard in complete recordings of "
La traviata " (EMI , 1946) and "Il barbiere di Siviglia " (Cetra , 1950, oppositeGiuseppe Taddei andGiulietta Simionato ). There is also a live recording of "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg ", sung in Italian (Melodram, 1962).ources
* [http://www.operissimo.com Operissimo.com]
External links
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwpsQ94JY6A] YouTube: Luigi Infantino in an excerpt from "L'arlesiana" (audio only).
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