V1638. ANTONIO PAOLI: Arias from Guillaume Tell, Le Cid, Les Huguenots, Robert le Diable, Le Prophète, La Gioconda, Déjanire, Iris, Poliuto, Andrea Chénier, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore & Otello – recorded 1907-11; Paoli, Huguet, Cigada, Badini, Gætano Pini-Corsi, etc.: PAGLIACCI (Supervised by the Composer), recorded 1907. (France) 2–Malibran 726. - 7600003777263

CRITIC REVIEW:

“Born in Puerto Rico, Antonio Paoli studied in Spain, and made his operatic début in Bari in 1895. In 1902-1903 he belonged to an opera troupe assembled by Mascagni that toured the USA and Canada. He frequently toured South America and in 1920 spent a season in Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia. He eventually returned to Puerto Rico to teach.

Paoli was known at the height of his fame as ‘The King of Tenors and The Tenor of Kings’. He is considered to be the first Puerto Rican to reach international fame in the musical arts. Paoli has been recognized as ‘one of the most outstanding opera singers of all time’, and as one who had ‘one of the most lyric and powerful voices...superior even to his contemporary rival, Enrico Caruso’.

Paoli was also the first operatic artist to record an entire opera when he participated in a performance of PAGLIACCI in Milan, in 1907.

Paoli continued to perform around the world with performances in Greece, Palestine, Poland, Egypt, Spain and Italy, where he established his permanent residence. In 1910, the singer was signed as the First Tenor by La Scala, the most prestigious opera company in the world at the time. Paoli received a contract to inaugurate Teatro Colón, in Buenos Aires, where he sang Otello. He also performed in Russia, Poland, Egypt, Hungary, Belgium, Cuba, Chile, Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Canada, and the United States.”