Campanini, Italo
Campanini, Italo
Campanini, Italo, famous Italian tenor, brother of Cleofonte Campanini; b. Parma, June 30, 1845; d. Corcagno, near Parma, Nov. 22, 1896. In his early years he was an apprentice in his father’s blacksmith shop. He joined Garibaldi’s army and was wounded in the Italian struggle for unification. Subsequently, he studied with Griffini and Lamperti, then appeared at Bologna in Lohengrin (Nov. 1, 1871), which started him on the road to fame. He made his London debut as Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia (May 4, 1872), and his American debut, also as Gennaro, at the N.Y. Academy of Music (Oct. 1, 1873). He appeared in Faust at the opening of the Metropolitan Opera (Oct. 22, 1883); was on its roster until 1894. He was briefly active as an impresario; brought over his brother Cleofonte Campanini to conduct the American premiere of Verdi’s Otello at the N.Y. Academy of Music (April 16, 1888).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire