Francesco Conti
1874 Palermo – ?
Conti graduated as an accountant. He studied singing with maestro Cantelli.
In 1900, he made his debut as baritone. However his ease with high notes convinced him he was a tenor.
He made his tenor debut in 1902 as Pollione at the Apollo in Lugano without any rehearsal.
In 1921, when he was at Palermo for the season at the Politeama Garibaldi, he was with a woman when her husband,
the tenor Matteo Bruno, discovered them and shot his wife dead.
His tenor career evolved as follows:
1902 Lugano, Biella, Este, Malta
1903 Malta
1904 Palermo, Biella, Catania, Zadar
1905 Parma (Regio), Catania, Belém
1908 Savona
1909 Savona, Bologna, Porto, Reggio Emilia
1910 Reggio Emilia, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo
1911 Casale Monferrato
1912 Marsala
1913 Ferrara, Santa Maria Capua Vetere
1914 Bologna
1917 Corfu
1921 Palermo
1923 Roma (Guillaume Tell, Teatro Adriano, 13 October 1923, with Colasanti, Beuf, Zaccarini, Ferrari)
Selected performances
Otello
1903, in January La Valletta/Malta – Teatro Reale (sharing with Carlo Mariani), with Ernestina Tebro, Francesco Cigada
1905, in May Belém – Teatro da Paz, with Laura Silva, Salvatore Vinci
1908, in December Savona – Teatro Chiabrera, with Emma Tacchi, Pio Del Grillo
1909, in March Bologna – Teatro del Corso, with Emilia Corsi, Bartolomeo Dadone
1910, in March Reggio Emilia – Teatro Municipale, with Jole Massa, Iginio Bozzoli
1910, in June Rio de Janeiro – Teatro Lirico, with Emma Tacchi/Tina Poli-Randaccio, Eugenio Giraldoni
1910, in July São Paulo – Politeama, with Emma Tacchi, Domenico Viglione Borghese
1911, in October Casale Monferrato – Teatro Sociale, with Herminia De Silva, Mino Zuffo
1912, in February Marsala – Teatro Garibaldi, with Elena Corneri, Galileo Parigi
1913, in May Santa Maria Capua Vetere – Teatro Comunale, with Maria Rossini, Giuseppe Viggiani
1923, in June Roma – Teatro Adriano, with Thea Carugati/Antonietta Di Pisa, Augusto Beuf
Tosca
1909, in February Savona – Teatro Chiabrera (sharing with Galileo Gasparri), with Berta Cutti, Pio Del Grillo
Il trovatore
1903, in July Biella – Teatro Sociale, with Barbera Lina, Badini Maria, Aldobrandi Filippo, Paer Alessandro
1905, in June Belém – Teatro da Paz, with Tina Poli Randaccio, Emma Longhi, Salvatore Vinci, Michele Fiore
1909, in November Porto – Teatro Prince Real, with Araclil, Linda Monti Brunner, Mattia Morro/Gaetano Rebonato, Mansueto Gaudio
1910, in June São Paulo – Politeama, with Tina Poli-Randaccio, Anna Gramegna, Domenico Viglione Borghese, José Torres de Luna
1914, in January Bologna – Teatro del Corso, with Maria Baldini, Anna Gramegna, Mino Zuffo
Pagliacci
1902, in August Biella – Teatro Sociale, with Marina Calvi, Filippo Aldobrandi, Antonio Negrini, Vittorio Font
1904, in Apri Palermo – Teatro Massimo, with Armanda Degli Abbati/Giuseppina Grassi Gargiulo, Giovanni Polese/Pasquale Amato/Marino Aineto, Osvaldo Di Gennaro, Ernesto Cecchi
1904, in July Catania – Politeama Pacini, with Luisa Ardizzoni Tosi/Carolina Garagnani/Fernanda Rapisardi, Giorgio Schottler/Umberto Tudisco,
Ercole Omodei/Bruno
1905, in May Belém – Teatro da Paz, with Sofia Aifos, Salvatore Vinci, Arturo Cerratelli, Primo Maini
1910, in August São Paulo – Politeama, with Elisa Allegri, Eugenio Giraldoni, Francesco Federici, Angelo Algos
| Francesco Conti sings | Andrea Chénier: Vicino a te, with Bianca Besalù
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| Francesco Conti sings | La Gioconda: Enzo Grimaldo, with Ernesto Badini
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Chronology
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1902 |
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05 |
Lugano |
Teatro Apollo |
NORMA (Pollione) |
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07/08 |
Biella |
Teatro Sociale |
ANDREA CHÉNIER (Chénier) / PAGLIACCI (Canio) |
|
09 |
Este |
Teatro Sociale |
ANDREA CHÉNIER (Chénier) |
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11/12 |
Malta |
Teatro Reale |
GUARANY (Pery) / RUY BLAS (Ruy Blas) / ERNANI (Ernani) |
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1903 |
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01 |
Malta |
Teatro Reale |
AIDA (Radames) / OTELLO (Otello) |
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1904 |
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04 |
Palermo |
Teatro Massimo |
PAGLIACCI (Canio) / ARETUSA di R. Casalaina (Alfeo) / NEL SEMPIONE di
L. Costantino (Piero) |
|
07 |
Biella |
Teatro Sociale |
TROVATORE (Manrico) |
|
07 |
Catania |
Politeama Pacini |
PAGLIACCI (Canio) / RIGOLETTO (Duca) |
|
10 |
Zadar |
Teatro Comunale |
GERMANIA (Federico) |
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1905 |
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01 |
Parma |
Teatro Regio |
GERMANIA (Federico) |
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01 |
Catania |
Teatro Bellini |
AIDA (Radames) |
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05/06 |
Belém |
Teatro da Paz |
AIDA (Radames) / GUARANY (Pery) / OTELLO (Otello) / PAGLIACCI (Canio) /
FORZA DEL DESTINO (Don Alvaro) / MOEMA di A. Pacheco (Paolo) / SANSONE E
DALIDA (Sansone) / TROVATORE (Manrico) |
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1908 |
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12 |
Savona |
Teatro Chiabrera |
OTELLO (Otello) |
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1909 |
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01/02 |
Savona |
Teatro Chiabrera |
TOSCA (Cavaradossi) |
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03 |
Bologna |
Teatro Del Corso |
OTELLO (Otello) |
|
11 |
Porto |
Teatro Prince Real |
AIDA (Radames) / TROVATORE (Manrico) |
|
12 |
Reggio Emilia |
Teatro Municipale |
OTELLO (Otello) |
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1910 |
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01 |
Reggio Emilia |
Teatro Municipale |
MARIA DI ROHAN (Riccardo) |
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06 |
Rio de Janeiro |
Teatro Lirico |
OTELLO (Otello) |
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07 |
São Paulo |
Politeama |
AIDA (Radames) / GERMANIA (Federico) |
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1911 |
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10 |
Casale Monferrato |
Teatro Sociale |
OTELLO (Otello) |
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1912 |
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02 |
Marsala |
Teatro Garibaldi |
OTELLO (Otello) |
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1913 |
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03 |
Ferrara |
Teatro Comunale |
AIDA (Radames) |
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05 |
Santa Maria Capua Vetere |
Teatro Garibaldi |
OTELLO (Otello) |
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1914 |
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01/02 |
Bologna |
Teatro Del Corso |
TROVATORE (Manrico) / AIDA (Radames) |
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1917 |
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01 |
Corfù |
Teatro Nuovo |
AIDA (Radames) |
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1923 |
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05 |
Roma |
Teatro Adriano |
GUGLIELMO TELL (Arnoldo) / OTELLO (Otello) |
Discography
Gramophone, Milano, 21 November 1910
900ah Aida (Verdi): Pur ti riveggo (w. Fanny Lotti) 54461
901ah Aida (Verdi): Si fuggiam (w. Fanny Lotti) 54462
203ai Aida (Verdi): Morir, sì pura e bella (w. Fanny Lotti) 054309
204ai Aida (Verdi): O terra, addio (w. Fanny Lotti) 054310
Gramophone, Milano, 24 November 1910
905ah Gioconda (Ponchielli): Enzo Grimaldo (w. Ernesto Badini) 54438, R3323, Vic 45033
906ah Gioconda (Ponchielli): O grido di quest'anima (w. Ernesto Badini) 54439, R3323
910ah Otello (Verdi): Già nella notte densa (w. Fanny Lotti) 54437, R3481
212ai Otello (Verdi): Quando narravi (w. Fanny Lotti) 054301, S3478
213ai Otello (Verdi): Venga la morte (w. Fanny Lotti) 054308, S3478
Gramophone, Milano, 10 December 1910
947ah Andrea Chénier (Giordano): Vicino a te (w. Bianca Besalù) 54468
Gramophone, Milano, 16 December 1910
970ah Samson et Dalila (Saint-Saëns): Spezza i ceppi (w. chorus) 2-52798, R3575
246ai Aida (Verdi): Nume, custode e vindice (w. Amleto Galli & chorus) 054302
Gramophone, Milano, 17 December 1910
248ai Otello (Verdi): Uragano (w. Ermanno Pezzuti, Ernesto Badini & chorus) 05430
Source for the chronology, picture, recordings and discography the extraordinary website of Roberto Marcocci.
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