Famous Italian Opera Singers

Opera is a part of Western classical music tradition, that started in the 16th century; where singers and musicians perform a dramatic work, which includes a text and musical score. Opera comprises of many elements of spoken theater; such as, acting, scenery, costumes and even dance, played along with an orchestra or a small musical ensemble. Mozart was one of the most well-known figure in Italian Opera, who started seria,the most esteemed form of Italian opera. Later, he became popular for his Italian comic operas like, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte and The Magic Flute. Rossini, Bellini, Verdi and Puccini were some of the most famous opera composers. Some of the famous Italian opera singers are:

Adelina Patti
Adelina Patti was born on February 10, 1843 in Madrid, Spain. Born as Adela Juana Maria Patti, she was the last child of Caterina Barili-Patti and Salvatore Patti. Due to her pleasant voice and the unsurpassed quality of her bel canto technique, she was considered one of the best opera singers, and a famous sopranos in history. Patti belonged to a singing family and sang professionally from childhood.

At the age of 19, she made her debut in opera in the role of, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, at the Academy of Music, New York. She was invited to Convent Garden, to perform the soprano role of Amina in Bellini's La Sonnambula in 1861. Patti transcended in soubrette roles like, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Rosina in The Barber of Seville; coloratura parts like, Lucia di Lammermoor and La Sonnambula, as well as lyric roles in Gounod's Faust and Romeo et Juliette. She was a proficient actress in lyric roles, that required deep emotions like, Gilda in Rigoletto, Leonora in Il trovatore, Semiramide, and Violetta in La traviata. In her peak career years, Patti was highly paid and used to demand $5000 per performance.

Patti married thrice; her first marriage was with Henri de Roger de Cahusac, marquess of Caux. The marriage collapsed, and they divorced in 1885. Then, she married tenor Ernesto Nicolini in 1886; the marriage lasted until his death. Patti's last marriage was with Baron Rolf Cederstrom, a Swedish aristocrat. She had no children; and settled with Baron in Swansea valley in south Wales, after her retirement, where she purchased, Craig-y-Nos Castle. There she made some of her recordings and had her own theater. She financed the significant station building at Craig y Nos / Penwyllt on the Neath and Brecon Railway. She gifted the Winter Garden building from her Craig-y-Nos estate to the city of Swansea, which was reestablished and renamed as, the Patti Pavilion. Patti died on September 27, 1919 at Craig-y-Nos, and was buried near her father at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Enrico Caruso
Enrico Caruso was born on February 25, 1873, in a poor Neapolitan family, and baptized in the Roman Catholic Church of San Giovanni e Paolo. He was an Italian opera tenor and a significant singer . As a boy, he sang in church choirs, cafes and even on streets, to earn cash. His enormous record sales, striking voice and a musical career of 25 years (1895 - 1920), made him one of the best male operatic star of his era.

Caruso sang at most of the world's opera houses, including La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House, Convent Garden in London and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. He was the leading tenor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City for 17 consecutive years. Caruso made his professional debut on March 15, 1895, at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples, in an opera by Domenico Morelli. In 1898, he received his first major role as, Loris in Giordano's Fedora, at the Teatro Lirico in Milan. Caruso was absorbed by the Gramophone and Typewriter Company, where he made his first recording, that brought fame and recognition.

On May 14, 1902, he made a successful London debut, at Covent Garden's Royal Opera House and a year later, he debuted in a new production of Verdi's Rigoletto, at the Metropolitan Opera as the Duke of Mantua. In 1904, Caruso made lifelong professional commitment with the Victor Talking-Machine Company. In April 1906, Caruso and other members of the Metropolitan Opera company gave a series of performances at the Tivoli Opera House in San Francisco. In 1917, he became an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (the national fraternity for men involved in music, by the fraternity's Alpha chapter at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston).

In 1918, Caruso married 25 year old Dorothy Park Benjamin, and a year later, they had a daughter named Gloria Caruso. Before his marriage, he was romantically linked to an Italian soprano, Ada Giachetti. Caruso recorded many discs in September 1920, for Victor at Camden's Trinity Church, that included sacred music by Rossini; these were his last recordings. On December 11, 1920 , while performing on L'elisir d'amore, by Donizetti, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Caruso suffered a throat haemorrhage. After that, he gave only three performances at the Met, the final was in the role of Eleazar in Halevy's La Juive. On August 2, 1921, he died in Naples due to peritonitis arising from a burst abscess. His funeral was elaborate, and his body was conserved in a glass coffin for his fans to view. After few years, his remains were sealed in an adorned stone tomb at a Naples cemetery. In 1987, Caruso was awarded Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a 22 cent postal stamp was issued in his honor by the United States Postal Service.

Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti was born on October 12, 1935, in the outskirts of Modena in northern Italy. His father Fernando Pavarotti, was a baker and amateur tenor, and mother Adele Venturi was a worker in a cigar factory. At the age of 19, he started studying music with Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in Modena. In 1955, he accomplished his first singing success as a member of the Choral Rossini, a male choir from Modena, and won first prize at the International Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales. During this time, he met Adua Veroni, whom he married in 1961.

Pavarotti started his career in small Italian opera houses as a tenor, and made his debut as, Rodolfo in La boheme, at the Teatro Municipale in Reggio Emilia. In Februray 1965, he made his American debut with Greater Miami Opera, singing in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, opposite Joan Sutherland on the stage of the Miami-Dade County Auditorium in Miami. His biggest breakthrough in the United States was under the production of La fille du regiment, at New York's Metropolitan Opera, where he drove the crowd crazy with his nine effortless high Cs in the signature aria.

Pavarotti was felicitated with many Grammy awards, platinum and gold discs for his performances. In 1980, he opened a Pavarotti International Voice Competition for young singers, and performed with the winners in his concerts. In 1990, he became popular, when his rendition of Giacomo Puccini's aria, 'Nessun Dorma' from Turandot, was used as the theme song of BBC's TV coverage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. Following this, on the eve of World Cup final, Pavarotti performed at the Three Tenors concert, held at the ancient Baths of Caracalla in Rome with his fellow tenors, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and conductor Zubin Mehta. He was the first opera singer to perform with Vanessa L. Williams, on Saturday Night Live. Pavarotti was also presented with other awards and honors like, Kennedy Center Honors, two Guinness World Records; one for receiving the most curtain calls, and other, for the bestseller classical album (The Concert by Three Tenor). In 2003, he released Ti Adoro, which was his final compilation and first crossover album.

He married his former personal assistant Nicoletta Mantovani on December 13, 2003. On March 13, 2004, he gave his last performance, at the New York Metropolitan Opera, where he received a standing ovation for his role as, the painter Mario Cavaradossi in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. He announced his 40-city farewell tour on December 1, 2004, and during the tour, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Before he died, he received the sacrament of Penance and Anointing of the Sick, from the Roman Catholic Church. Luciano Pavarotti died on September 6, 2007, and his funeral was held in Modena Cathedral. He is survived by four daughters; Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana with first wife, and Alice with second wife. The ultimate collection CD of 20 popular arias of Pavarotti, was released soon after his death, as a tribute to him, entitled 'Pavarotti Forever'.

Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli was born on September 22, 1958 in Lajatico, Tuscany, Italy. He grew up with his parents Alessandro and Edi Bocelli, on the family farm. From his birth, he had problems with his sight, and was later diagnosed with glaucoma. At the age of 12, he lost his sight completely, due to an accident in a soccer game. He had a great passion for music; and at the age of 14, he won his first song competition, the Margherita d'Oro in Viareggio with O sole mio. Bocelli graduated as a Doctor of Law, but practiced only for a short span of time, and took music as his career.

In February 1994, he entered the main San Remo Festival competition with II mare calmo della sera song, and won the 'Newcomers' section with a record score. He released his debut album, II mare calmo della sera, named after the song in the same year. The album became very popular and entered the Italian Top Ten. In September 1994, he made his debut in an opera, as Macduff in Verdi's Macbeth, at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa. His second and third album, Bocelli and Viaggio Italiano respectively, were released in 1995, and made double platinum sales in Italy.

In 1997, Bocelli released his first international album, Romanza, which made him popular world-wide, and gave huge success. Since then, he has released many albums like Aria, The Opera Album (1997), Hymn for the World (1997), Sogno (1999), Sacred Arias (1999), Verdi (2000), Requiem (Verdi) (2001), Cieli di Toscana (2001), Sentimento (2002), Andrea (2004), Amore (2006), The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere (2007) and Incanto (2008). Andrea Bocelli was a classical solist, and sold up to 65 million albums. Bocelli has recorded seven operas namely, La boheme, Tosca, II Trovatore, Werther, Pagliacci, Cavalleria rusticana and Carmen. He has also received many awards like, Echo music awards, Italian Music Awards, American Music Awards ,World Music Awards, etc.

Bocelli is 6'2'' tall. The People Magazine listed him among 50 Most Beautiful People in 1998. While singing at piano bars early in his career, he met his wife Enrica, whom he married in 1992, but they separated later. Presently, he is living with his fiancée, Veronica Berti, in Forte dei Marmi, a 19th century villa on a beach. His ex-wife and two sons reside in the couple's previous residence in the same comune near Pisa.

Italian opera singers have given a new dimension to Opera. Their talent, work and achievements are commendable. Many opera houses exist today, and hold performances on regular basis.