ANGELO MASINI opera Tenor original Bergamasco cabinet photograph as Almaviva

Description

Original Bergamasco lacquer type cabinet photograph of the legendary Italian tenor as Almaviva in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia".  Bergamasco blind emboss bottom left on the floor of the photograph
Angelo Masini
(1844 - 1926 ) Italian tenor
He studied in Forli with soprano Gilda Minguzzi, making his debut in 1867 as Pollione in Norma in Finale Emilia near Modena. He was hired in short order to sing in Rome, Bologna, Modena and several opera houses in Spain.  In 1874 Giuseppe Verdi premiered the Manzoni Requiem in Milan with tenor Giuseppe Caponi.  Capponi then sung the part again at La Scala three days later.  When Verdi took the Requiem on the road to London, Paris, Venice and Vienna, he chose Angelo Masini for the tour. Verdi said about Masini's voice,
"It is the most divine voice I have never heard: like velvet"
.
The tenor made his Moscow debut in 1876 at the Bolshoi and became a favorite of Tsar Alexander III and thereafter sung at both Imperial Theatres, Bolshoi and the Mariinsky each year, 16 seasons in Moscow and 27 seasons in St. Petersburg.
He retired in 1905 with a final performance as Almaviva in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia".
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