52 Facts About Antonio Paoli

Antonio Paoli performed in Moscow, Paris, London, Madrid, New York, Buenos Aires, Havana, Santiago, Milan, Rome, Naples, Barcelona, and Vienna.

When World War I forced the closure of all European opera houses, Antonio Paoli made his living as a professional boxer.

Antonio Paoli performed in Europe, North and South America, and finally settled with his sister Amalia in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where she had opened a singing school.

Antonio Paoli spent the last 20 years of his life teaching voice and singing in San Juan, while working for the establishment of a music conservatory in that city.

Antonio Paoli was buried in San Juan, but his remains were later transferred to a mausoleum at Panteon Nacional Roman Baldorioty de Castro in his birth city of Ponce.

Antonio Paoli was the son of Amalia Marcano Intriago, of Spanish ancestry, who was born on the island of Margarita, Venezuela, and of Domingo Paoli Marcatentti, a Corsican immigrant.

Antonio Paoli's parents met in Caracas, and immediately fell in love.

At that moment, Antonio Paoli decided what he wanted to become.

Antonio Paoli's parents were very supportive of his ambition and guided him on this route during his youth, enrolling him in a school of "voice" directed by Ramon Marin.

Antonio Paoli's sister Amalia was a soprano who performed at La Perla in Emilio Arrieta's opera, Marina.

In 1883, when Antonio Paoli was only 12 years old, both his parents died.

Antonio Paoli traveled to Spain to live with his sister Amalia and study music and opera.

Antonio Paoli was under the patronage of Isabel de Borbon, Princess of Asturias and sister of the King of Spain, Alfonso XII, In 1884, Amalia helped Paoli to obtain two scholarships from her Majesty Queen Maria Cristina, Queen Regent of Spain.

Antonio Paoli started his studies at the Royal Monastery of El Escorial.

Antonio Paoli entered Toledo's Military Academy and in 1892 graduated with honors.

Antonio Paoli was assigned to the Queen's escort and named personal custodian and guard of the child King Alfonso XIII.

Antonio Paoli wanted to continue singing and in 1897 went to study at the Academia de Canto La Scala in Milan, Italy.

Between 1900 and 1914, Antonio Paoli performed in Europe, America, Africa, and Asia.

Antonio Paoli performed in Italy, Luxembourg and in the United Kingdom, with performances in London, Scotland, Edinburgh, and Brighton, closing the year with concerts in Corsica and Turkey.

From 1901 to 1902, Antonio Paoli performed in the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the United States.

Paoli purchased a villa in Porto Cereso, Lugano, Italy, where his son Antonio Arnaldo was born.

In 1905, Antonio Paoli performed at the Grand Theatre du Conservatoire in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

On 5 September 1907, Antonio Paoli held a private recital for Pope Pius X at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.

Antonio Paoli was the first operatic artist to record an entire opera when he participated in a performance of Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo in Milan, Italy.

Antonio Paoli was selected in 1907 as the First Tenor in the main character, by a team of engineers and musicians which included Leoncavallo.

The recording was arranged in the following manner; the musicians were placed at the end of the recording room and the back-up singers in a semi-arc in front of the gramophone, while Antonio Paoli stood alone 20 feet away from the gramophone.

Antonio Paoli continued to perform around the world: in Greece, Palestine, Poland, Egypt, Spain and Italy, where he established his permanent residence.

Antonio Paoli received a contract to inaugurate Teatro Colon, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he sang Otello and Di quella pira.

Antonio Paoli performed in Russia, Poland, Egypt, Hungary, Belgium, Cuba, Chile, Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Canada, and the United States.

Antonio Paoli moved to Spain, a neutral country in the conflict, leaving his Italian properties unattended.

Antonio Paoli broke his right wrist on his sixth challenge, which ended his boxing career.

Antonio Paoli sold his properties in Italy and acquired a small country house in Spain.

Antonio Paoli stayed for a few months with his brother Carlos in the Philippines.

Antonio Paoli was medically treating his vocal cords, but observers believed that his opera career was over.

Antonio Paoli continued his singing exercises with his sister Amalia, who had moved into his house in Spain.

In January 1917, Antonio Paoli returned to the stage and performed the opera Samson and Delilah at the Constanzi Theater in Rome.

People were there to see him fail; I saw some guys with tomatoes and rotten eggs, ready to throw them as soon as Antonio Paoli made his first mistake.

Antonio Paoli's voice sounded like one of those trumpets that you expect to hear in the day of the final judgment.

Antonio Paoli had to repeat twice every single aria that he performed that night, because the public furiously demanded it.

Antonio Paoli performed for seven consecutive nights with the theater at its maximum capacity.

Antonio Paoli kept busy performing in Italy, South America, and the United States.

At the time, his sister Amalia Antonio Paoli was residing in San Juan where she was running a singing school.

Antonio Paoli conducted a few performances around the island and departed to sing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Manhattan Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia.

Antonio Paoli had wanted to sing in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, but apparently his competitor Enrico Caruso opposed this.

Antonio Paoli helped produce Othello at the Municipal Theater in San Juan.

Antonio Paoli gave his last singing performance in 1942, while commemorating the one-year anniversary of the death of his sister, Amalia Paoli.

Antonio Paoli died of prostate cancer, in San Juan on 24 August 1946, and was buried in the Puerto Rico Memorial Cemetery in Carolina, Puerto Rico.

On 13 April 2005, Antonio Paoli's remains, and those of his wife Adina Bonini were exhumed and reinterred in Ponce's Roman Baldorioty de Castro National Pantheon and buried by the base of his statue.

Antonio Paoli was the first Puerto Rican to gain international recognition in the performing arts.

Antonio Paoli gave 1,725 performances between 1888 and 1942, and interpreted Verdi's Otello 575 times.

Originally designated to recognize the outstanding achievements of Puerto Ricans, the Antonio Paoli Award has branched out internationally, and since 1992 it includes Hispanics and Latin Americans from around the world.

Antonio Paoli has been the subject of many books written about his life and influence.