Alessandro Bonci was an Italian lyric tenor known internationally for his association with the bel canto repertoire.
14 Facts About Alessandro Bonci
2.
Alessandro Bonci sang at many famous theatres, including New York's Metropolitan Opera, Milan's La Scala and London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
3.
Alessandro Bonci secured a music scholarship to the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro, working for five years with Carlo Pedrotti and then Felice Coen.
4.
Alessandro Bonci had private singing lessons in Paris with the retired baritone Enrico Delle Sedie.
5.
Alessandro Bonci made his debut in Parma in 1896, singing the role of Fenton in Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff at the Teatro Regio.
6.
On December 3,1906, Alessandro Bonci made his American debut with the Manhattan Opera Company in New York City; again the opera was I Puritani.
7.
Alessandro Bonci stayed two seasons with the company, becoming a popular competitor to Enrico Caruso, who was the rival Metropolitan Opera's major drawcard.
8.
Alessandro Bonci himself joined the Metropolitan Opera in 1908 and, in 1914, the Chicago Opera.
9.
Alessandro Bonci served in the Italian army during World War I, returning to America to tour for three seasons after the end of the conflict.
10.
Alessandro Bonci still sang occasionally in public as late as 1935.
11.
Alessandro Bonci died in Viserba, Rimini, in 1940, at the age of 70.
12.
Alessandro Bonci's artistry was captured on disc by the Fonotipia, Edison and Columbia companies.
13.
Alessandro Bonci is heard to best advantage in operatic arias by Bellini, Rossini, Donizetti and Gluck, but he was renowned in Europe and the United States for his Rodolfo in Puccini's La boheme, his Riccardo in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera and his Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto.
14.
Alessandro Bonci was a demure man and his voice was not overly large.