BENIAMINO GIGLI - PROGRAM SIGNED 1946 CO-SIGNED BY: ANNA MAGNONI, RINA GIGLI, PAOLO SILVERI - HFSID 148388

BENIAMINO GIGLI, RINA GIGLI, PAOLO SILVERI and IOLANDA MAGNONI
The Italian opera performers signs on this production program for La Boheme
Program Signed: "Beniamino Gigli/1946", "Rina Gigli" and "Iolanda Magnoni" on front cover and "Paolo/Silveri" on back cover, 4p, 5½x9. Covent Garden, London, 1946 November 8. The C.M.F. San Carlo Opera Company's production of La Boheme. BENIAMINO GIGLI (1890-1957) was the foremost Italian tenor from the 1920s through the 1940s. He made his professional debut as Enzo in La Gioconda at Rovigo in the fall of 1914 and his Rome Opera debut Faust in Mefistofele in 1916. Gigli, who began his extensive recording career at the end of WWI, debuted at La Scala in 1918 and first appeared in the U.S. the following year. Noted for his performances in the lyrical and romantic roles previously sung by Enrico Caruso, Gigli made his debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1920 (as Faust) in November 1920 and sang every season there until 1932, appearing in 28 roles. His last public appearance was in Washington, D.C. in May 1955. Over his 41-year career, the opera star and popular singer of traditional Neapolitan songs also appeared in nearly 20 Italian and British films. Soprano RINA GIGLI (1916-2000), the tenor's daughter, who had first accompanied her father on the piano, made her official singing debut in 1943 in the Reggio Theatre of Parma. Like her father, she sang in many opera houses throughout the world, including the Roman Opera, La Scala, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. Rina, whose repertoire consisted of 35 roles, retired in 1971 (after 35 years on the stage), giving her final performance as Nedda in Pagliacci with Naples' San Carlo Opera Company, the company that staged this production. She can be heard on a several of her father's studio recordings. PAOLO SILVERI  (born in 1913), who had a potent voice and an electric stage presence, began his career as a bass, but, on the advice of Gigli, switched to baritone. Silveri, who began his career in 1944, sang primarily a Verdi repertoire and would play the major opera houses in Europe and the U.S., including New York's Metropolitan Opera (debuting there in November 1950, he would sing 13 different roles at the Met over the next few years). Silveri, who retired in 1967, also appeared on a number of recordings and taught opera. Iolandi Magnoni was a member of the company. Lightly creased and soiled. Otherwise, fine condition.