Silvio Costa Lo Giudice

Silvio Lo Giudice was a younger brother of Franco Lo Giudice (there were ten more siblings), born in Paternò (Sicily) on October 5th, 1895. Like his brother, he studied voice near his home town, in Catania, with Matteo Adernò. Silvio Lo Giudice's original intention was to become an operetta singer, and he made his debut as such in 1919 at the Teatro Olympia in Catania. He proved very successful in this genre, and got a contract with the well-known Lombardo-Caramba operetta company as their first tenor. With that company, he ventured as far as Buenos Aires (Teatro Coliseo, 1924, his partner was Ines Lidelba).

In order not to be confused with his already successful "operatic" brother, he chose "Arturo Masi" as his pseudonym in those early years. It was Franco who convinced Silvio to try his voice in opera, in 1925.

Silvio would do it under his real name, but adding their mother's last name, thus becoming Silvio Costa Lo Giudice. His operatic debut took place in Monza in Manon Lescaut. His career was by no means less successful than his brother's. His repertory ranged from Elvino in Sonnambula to Calaf in Turandot, which is a quite extraordinary range indeed. He was married to soprano Maria Laurenti.

He made his debut in 1923 as Alfredo in Traviata at the Teatro Mastroieni in Messina. Information about the early stage of his career is otherwise scarce; only from late 1925, we have a relatively complete picture of his activity.

1925:
- Teatro Regio, Torino, in December: Manon Lescaut (replacing Lauri-Volpi)

1926:
- Genova, Politeama Genovese, in May: Cavalleria rusticana and Madama Butterfly
- Bologna, Arena: Traviata
- Monza, Politeama: Manon Lescaut
- Roma, Teatro Argentina: Manon Lescaut
- Trieste: Traviata
- Teatro Dal Verme, Milano: Anima allegra (by Vittadini) and Madama Butterfly

1927:
- Schio, Teatro Civico, in June: Turandot (as Calaf)
- Genova, Politeama Genovese, in August: Traviata
- Casalmaggiore, Teatro Sociale: Manon Lescaut
- Ferrara, Teatro Comunale: Turandot
- Firenze, Politeama Fiorentino: Turandot

1928:
- Parma, Teatro Regio, in January: Tosca
- Brescia, Teatro Grande, January as well: Bohème
- Prato, Politeama Banchino, in April: Manon Lescaut
- Genova, Teatro Carlo Felice, in May: Bohème and Rigoletto
- Bergamo, Teatro Donizetti, in September: Manon Lescaut
- Milano, Teatro Dal Verme, in September: Traviata and Turandot
- Bologna, Teatro Comunale, in November: Resurrezione (by Alfano)
- Como: Resurrezione and Manon Lescaut
- Rimini, Teatro Vittorio Emanuele: Manon Lescaut

1929:
- Parma, Teatro Regio, in January: Manon Lescaut
- Firenze, Teatro Comunale, in April: Resurrezione
- Venezia, Teatro La Fenice, in June: Madama Butterfly
- Milano, Teatro Dal Verme, in September: Rigoletto
- Como, Teatro Sociale: Manon Lescaut and Resurrezione

1930:
- Firenze, Teatro Comunale, April and May: Fidelio (as Florestan), Madama Butterfly and Traviata
- al-Qāhira (Cairo), Khedivial Opera House: Manon Lescaut and Traviata
- Milano, Teatro Dal Verme: Anima allegra
- Zadar (Croatia): Sonnambula
- Trieste: Turandot
- Verona, Arena: Boris Godunov (as Grigorij)

1931:
- Novara, Teatro Coccia, January: I pittori fiamminghi (by Smareglia)
- Genova, Teatro Carlo Felice, March: La vedova scaltra (by Wolf-Ferrari)
- Ravenna, Teatro Alighieri, May: Bohème
- Torino, open air performances, August: Bohème
- Bolzano/Bozen, Teatro Civico: Traviata
- Firenze, Teatro Verdi: Manon Lescaut
- Torino, EIAR: Maggiolata veneziana by Selvaggi
- Zürich, Stadttheater: La vedova scaltra
- La Scala, Milano: Boris Godunov (with Shaljapin)

1932:
- Reggio Emilia, Politeama Ariosto, in January: Tosca
- Modena, Teatro Municipale, in January: Tosca
- Venezia, Teatro Malibran, in March: Bohème
- Mulhouse, Théâtre de la Sinne, March: spring season
- Lausanne, Salle Métropole, March as well: Tosca
- Bern, Stadttheater, April: Tosca
- Forlì, Teatro Comunale: Traviata
- Torino, Teatro Vittorio Emanuele, September: Madama Butterfly
- Torino, EIAR: Le villi and Maggiolata veneziana
- Modena, Teatro Municipale, December: Boris Godunov

1933:
- Novara, Teatro Coccia, January: Bohème
- Palermo, Politeama Garibaldi, March and April: Rigoletto and Cavalleria rusticana
- Catania, Anfiteatro Gangi, April: Rigoletto
- Catania, Teatro Bellini, April: La farsa amorosa (by Zandonai)
- Badia Polesine, Politeama Piana, May: Lucia di Lammermoor
- Noto, Teatro Littoriale, August: Gioconda
- Lisboa, Coliseo dos Recreios, October: Bohème, Rigoletto and Tosca
- Roma, Teatro Argentina, October: Pinotta (by Mascagni), a great success for Costa Lo Giudice
- Torino, EIAR: Maggiolata veneziana
- Trento, Teatro Sociale: La farsa amorosa
- Parma, Teatro Regio, December: Gioconda

1934:
- Bari, Teatro Petruzzelli, January: Andrea Chénier
- Venezia, Teatro La Fenice, January and February: Mefistofele and Boris Godunov
- Pistoia, Teatro Manzoni, April: Andrea Chénier
- La Scala, Milano: Il dibuk (by Rocca)
- Ascoli Piceno, Teatro Ventidio Basso, November: Andrea Chénier

1935:
- Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo: Paolo e Virginia (by Gianandrea Gavazzeni, better known as a conductor than as a composer) – world premiere (with Maria Laurenti)
- Schio, Teatro Civico, June: Lucia di Lammermoor
- Ferrara, Cathedral, October: La trasfigurazione di Cristo (by Perosi)
- Ferrara, Teatro Comunale, October: Cavalleria rusticana and Marfisa (by Ratta)
- Pistoia, Teatro Manzoni, October: Turandot
- Roma, EIAR: Anna Karenina (by Robbiani) and Ave Maria (by Allegra)
- Piacenza, Teatro Municipale, December: Turandot

1936:
- Piacenza, Teatro Municipale, January: Cavalleria rusticana
- Genova, Teatro Carlo Felice, January: Manon Lescaut
- Roma, Teatro dell'Opera, February: Manon Lescaut
- Pisa, Teatro Verdi, March: La farsa amorosa
- Milano, Scala, April: Gioconda
- Teatro Regio, Torino: Turandot
- Montecatini, Teatro Trianon, September: Manon Lescaut
- Fiorenzuola d'Arda, Teatro Verdi, October: Andrea Chénier
- Milano, Teatro Lirico, November: Il piccolo Marat

1937:
- Genova, Teatro Carlo Felice, February: Fidelio
- Milano, La Scala, April: Moïse et Pharaon, in Italian (as Éliézer)
- Trieste, Teatro Verdi: Il dibuk

1938:
- Milano, La Scala, January: Madama Butterfly
- Napoli, Teatro San Carlo, March: Madama Butterfly
- Pavia, Castello Visconteo, July: Andrea Chénier
- Milano, Castello Sforzesco, August: Maristella (by Pietri)
- Cagliari, Teatro Civico, November: Madama Butterfly

1939:
- Novara, Teatro Coccia, January: Notturno romantico (by Pick Mangiagalli)
- Pisa, Teatro Verdi, March: Turandot
- Napoli, Teatro San Carlo: Il malato immaginario (by Jacopo Napoli)
- Milano, Castello Sforzesco, September: Madama Butterfly
- Viterbo, Teatro Unione, September: Madama Butterfly

1940:
- Genova, Teatro Carlo Felice, February: Manon Lescaut
- Catania, Teatro Bellini, March: La vedova scaltra and Tosca
- Milano, Teatro Lirico, August: Madama Butterfly
- Genova, Politeama Genovese, October: Traviata

1941:
- Bari, Teatro Petruzzelli, April and May: spring season with Bohème, L'amore dei tre re (by Montemezzi), Mefistofele and Tosca

1942:
- Trieste, Teatro Verdi: Madama Butterfly

1944:
- Trieste, Teatro Verdi: Mefistofele

1946:
- Catania, Arena Argentina, August: Bohème

1947:
- Messina, Cine-Teatro della Fiera, July: Tosca
- Catania, Arena Argentina, August: Tosca and Pagliacci (as Canio)

1952:
- Genova, Teatro Augustus in September: Tempo di carnevale (by Farina)

1954:
- Genova, Teatro Augustus: Cavalleria rusticana (his final public appearance)

Later he lived in Palermo, then in Rome, where he died on October 10th, 1982.

He was definitely more elegant and a less veristic singer than his brother. He made records in the 1930s for Columbia.

Reference 1
Reference 2: Le voci dell'Etna, Edizioni TimaClub
Reference 3: the extraordinary website of Roberto Marcocci