Giuseppe De Luca
De Luca in 1929
Born	(1876-12-25)25 December 1876 Rome,Kingdom of Italy
Died	26 August 1950(1950-08-26) (aged 73) Manhattan,New York City. U.S.

Giuseppe De Luca (25 December 1876 – 26 August 1950), was an Italianbaritone who achieved his greatest triumphs at theMetropolitan Opera inNew York City. He notably created roles in the world premieres of two operas byGiacomo Puccini: Sharpless inMadama Butterfly (atLa Scala, Milan, 1904) and the title role inGianni Schicchi (Metropolitan Opera, 1918).

De Luca was born onChristmas Day, 25 December 1876 in Rome, the son of a blacksmith. He sang in church choirs as a boy. After his voice broke, a wealthy patron paid for him to have singing lessons at the Rome Conservatory, where he studied with two top-class pedagogues, Venceslao Persichini (who also taught De Luca's fellow baritone starsMattia Battistini andTitta Ruffo) andAntonio Cotogni. He made his operatic debut atPiacenza in 1897, singing Valentin inGounod'sFaust. His debut proved a success and he was invited to sing at a string of more important venues.^{[citation needed]}

De Luca was renowned as a master of lyric, smooth-tonedlegato singing and his recordings confirm his excellence in this regard. A small man, De Luca lacked a voice of huge dimensions; but his voice was immaculately used and had ample carrying power in even the largest theatres. During De Luca's best years his voice also possessed exceptional beauty of tone, in the middle register particularly. He was a clever and versatile actor, too, and was considered to be especially memorable in ebullient comic roles.^{[citation needed]}

He appeared at Italy's foremost opera house,La Scala, Milan, from 1902 to 1910, and made his London debut at theRoyal Opera House,Covent Garden, in 1907. Subsequently, De Luca moved to America where he became a leading baritone at the Metropolitan Opera for 20 years, from 1915 to 1935. (He returned briefly to the Met in 1939–1940.) His first appearance at that house was on 25 November 1915, as Figaro inThe Barber of Seville withFrieda Hempel as Rosina and Giacomo Damacco as Count Almaviva, withGaetano Bavagnoli conducting.^{[citation needed]}

After his retirement, he taught voice at theJuilliard School. He died atColumbus Hospital inNew York City on 26 August 1950 at the age of 73.^[1]

De Luca was the grandfather of sopranoNicoletta Panni.^[2]

De Luca is notable for creating two importantPuccini roles: Sharpless inMadama Butterfly (La Scala, 1904) and the title role inGianni Schicchi (Metropolitan Opera, 1918). He also created the Marquess inMassenet'sGrisélidis, Michonnet inCilea'sAdriana Lecouvreur, and Gleby inGiordano'sSiberia (1903).^{[citation needed]}

The illustrious conductorArturo Toscanini is reputed to have once called De Luca "absolutely the best baritone I ever heard".^[3] Certainly, he was praised by critics and audiences alike in a wide range of operatic roles, ranging frombuffo andbel canto parts through to the coreVerdi andPuccini characters. He even made some early forays intoWagner during his days at La Scala (Like several Italian singers of that era, he eschewed the German language, singing only in Italian and French).

External audio
De Luca performing inErmanno Wolf-Ferrari's operaI gioielli della Madonna with the flautistNicholas Laucella and theMetropolitan Opera Orchestra conducted byGiulio Setti in 1930

De Luca's elegant vocalism is preserved on numerous recordings which he made for theGramophone,Fonotipia andVictor companies in Italy and America from the early 1900s through to the 1920s and '30s. On some of them, he is partnered by other great singers of the Metropolitan Opera's golden age, includingEnrico Caruso,Giovanni Martinelli,Beniamino Gigli,Amelita Galli-Curci,Elisabeth Rethberg,Rosa Ponselle andEzio Pinza. CD reissues of his recordings are widely available today. Film clips of him performing also exist.^[4]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toGiuseppe de Luca.

• Michael Kennedy, ed. (1980).The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (3rd ed.). London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Scott, Michael (1977).The Record of Singing. London.ISBN 9780684155289.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Steane, J.B. (1974).The Grand Tradition: 70 years of Singing on Record. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

• 1876 births
• 1950 deaths
• Musicians from Rome
• Italian operatic baritones
• Italian tenors
• Juilliard School faculty
• Italian emigrants to the United States
• Fonotipia Records artists
• Victor Records artists
• 20th-century Italian male opera singers
• 19th-century Italian male opera singers

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