Francesco Carrino

Born near Brindisi, he grew up on the far end of the peninsula, in Trieste (not even part of Italy before 1918!). He made his vocal studies at the conservatory of Trieste, and in Milano with Alfredo Cecchi. His debut took place at the Teatro Coccia in Novara in 1935, as Pinkerton. He went on to sing in Alessandria, Bari, Venice, Genova, Milano (Canio in 1945, with the troupe of La Scala at the Teatro Lirico) and Pesaro. But the center of his career was always Trieste, where he sang at three theaters (Teatro Verdi, Teatro Reich, Teatro Rossetti), and was a big favorite with the interested public. Towards the end of his career, following a Trovatore in Antwerp in 1950, he sang a lot in the Netherlands.

His repertory further included Turiddu, Don José, Don Alvaro, Cavaradossi or Dick Johnson.

Already in Trieste, he started to work as a voice teacher; after retiring, he moved to Düsseldorf, where he taught very successfully. Many well-known singers were among his students: Carlo Bergonzi, Timo Callio, Heikki Siukola, William Holley, Hugh Beresford, Ulrich Dünnebach, Rachel Yakar, Hildegard Hillebrecht, Ute Vinzing, Frangiskos Voutsinos, Randolph Symonette...

Carrino never recorded commercially; his voice is only preserved on private discs.

Reference: Kutsch & Riemens

Many, many thanks to Alberto Trincucci for identifying the titles of the two folk songs that Carrino recorded in the recondite dialect of Brindisi.