Lauri-Volpi, Giacomo

Lauri-Volpi, Giacomo, famous Italian tenor; b. Lanuvio, near Rome, Dec. 11, 1892; d. Valencia, March 17, 1979. He received training in law before turning to vocal studies with Antonio Cotogni at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome; he completed his vocal training with Enrico Rosati. In 1919 he made his operatic debut under the name Giacomo Rubini in Viterbo as Arturo in I PuritanL He sang for the first time under his real name in Rome in 1920 as Des Grieux in Manon. In 1922 he made his debut at Milan’s La Scala as the Duke of Mantua, and continued to sing there as a great favorite until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. On Jan. 26, 1923, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as the Duke of Mantua, and subsequently was one of the principal members on its roster until 1933. While at the Metropolitan, he sang Calaf in the U.S. premiere of Turandot on Nov. 16, 1926, and also had notable success in such roles as Cavaradossi, Radames, Pollione, Alfredo, Canio, Faust, and Rodolfo. In 1925 and in 1936 he was a guest artist at London’s Covent Garden. On Feb. 28, 1928, he appeared as Boito’s Nerone at the opening of the new Teatro Reale dell’Opera in Rome. He sang Arnold in the centenary staging of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell at La Scala in 1929, and also appeared at the Paris Opera and Opera-Comique that same year. He settled in Burjasot, near Valencia. After World War II ended, he resumed singing in Italy, as well as in Spain. In 1959 he retired from public performances. However, in 1972, when he was in his 80th year, he astounded an audience at a gala performance at Barcelona’s Teatro Liceo when he sang Nessun dorma from Turandot. At the apex of his career, Lauri-Volpi was hailed as one of the foremost lyrico-dramatic tenors of his era. The range and flexibility of his voice, his command of declamation, and his glorious legato, were memorable. He publ. the books L’equivoco (Milan, 1938), Cristalli viventi (Rome, 1948), A viso aperto (Milan, 1953), Voci parallele (Milan, 1955), and Misteri della voce umana (Milan, 1957).

Bibliography

J. Menéndez, G. L.-V. (Madrid, 1990).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire