Muro, Bernardo de
Muro, Bernardo de
Muro, Bernardo de, Italian tenor; b. Tempio Pau-sanio, Sardinia, Nov. 3, 1881; d. Rome, Oct. 27, 1955. He studied at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome and with Alfredo Martinio. He made his operatic debut as Turiddu at Rome’s Teatro Costanzi in 1910; in 1911 he appeared at Milan’s La Scala as Folco in Mascagni’s Isabeau and returned there in the title role of Don Carlos in 1912. He then sang in various Italian music centers, winning admiration for his portrayal of Otello, and also appeared in Europe and South America. After marrying the American soprano Barbara Wait, he toured in the U.S. with minor opera companies; following his retirement from the stage (1943), he devoted himself to teaching. He never became a star in the operatic firmament, yet knowledgeable critics regarded him as worthy of comparison with Caruso, both in the carrying force of his natural voice and in emotional appeal. He wrote an autobiographical vol., Quandro ero Folco (Milan, 1956).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire