Giacomo Lauri-Volpi

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Giacomo Lauri-Volpi (December 11, 1892–March 17, 1979) was an Italian tenor who performed throughout Europe and the Americas in a career that spanned forty years.

Born in Lanuvio, Italy, he was orphaned at age eleven. After completing his secondary education at the seminary at Albano and graduating from the University of Rome La Sapienza, he began vocal studies under the baritone Antonio Cotogni at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He made a successful operatic debut as Arturo in Bellini’s I Puritani in Viterbo, Italy, on September 2, 1919, performing under the name Giacomo Rubini, after Bellini’s favorite tenor, Giovanni Battista Rubini. Four months later, on January 3, 1920, he scored another success, at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, this time performing under his own name opposite Rosina Storchio and Ezio Pinza in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut.

He was widely acclaimed for his performance as Arnoldo in La Scala’s centenary production of Rossini’s Guglielmo Tell in 1929.

A leading tenor at the Metropolitan Opera throughout the 1920s, he sang opposite Maria Jeritza in the American premiere of Puccini’s Turandot and opposite Rosa Ponselle in the Met premiere of Verdi’s Luisa Miller. His last public performance was as Manrico in Verdi’s Il Trovatore in Rome in 1959. In 1974, at the age of 81, he released a recital recording of operatic arias.

Lauri-Volpi's voice was bright, flexible and ringing in tone, with a characteristic shimmering vibrato and astonishing high notes. He sang roles as diverse as Arturo ( in Bellini's I Puritani) and Otello.

He died in Burjasot, near Valencia, at the age of 86.