Clementine de Vere Sapio (Soprano) (Paris 14. 12. 1864 † New York 19. 1. 1954)

She made her debut in Florence, and also sang in France and Germany. Her extensive American career included a period from 1895 to 1900 when she appeared regularly at the New York Met. Her roles there included Verdi (Violetta, Gilda); Bizet (Micaëla); Wagner (Elsa) and Halévy (Rachel). She had an extensive career in Britain, particularly as leading soprano with the Moody-Manners company. This included several tours to Scotland in which her repertoire included Verdi (Aïda), Wagner (Elisabeth, Elsa), Meyerbeer (Valentine), Halévy (Rachel), Puccini (Mimì) and Gounod (Marguerite). She appeared as Thirza in the British stage premiere of Ethel Smyth's Wreckers, conducted by Beecham (Her Majesty's, London, 1909). In Scotland she also sang extensively in concert (Israel in Egypt in Kirkcaldy 1906) and concert performances of opera (‘’Tannhäuser’’ and ‘’Lohengrin’’ in Perth). She was married to the pianist-conductor Romualdo Sapio.

Chronology of some appearances

1880 Florence Teatro Comunale Mignon (Philine)

1880 Paris Grand Opéra Huguenots (Marguerite de Valois)

1881 Paris Grand Opéra Wilhelm Tell (Mathilde)

1897 London Covent Garden Nozze di Figaro (Susanna)

1897 New York Metropolitan Opera Hamlet (Ophélie)

1900 London Covent Garden Aida (Aida)

RECORDINGS FOR SALE 

Edison, New York
Coeur et la Main (Lecocq): Bolero 82057 3030
Grand Mogol (Audran): Valse des serpents 82057 3066

Angelo Bada (Tenor) (Novara, Italia 27. 5. 1876 - Novara, Italia 23. 3. 1941)

He studied singing in his native city with Cecilio Manfredi. He made his professional opera debut in January 1900 as the "messenger" in Giuseppe Verdi's ‘’Aida’’. He spent the next eight years performing mainly comprimario roles in major opera houses in Italy, including La Scala in Milan and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. He also made appearances at the Royal Opera House in London. He  joined the roster of singers at the Metropolitan Opera in the fall of 1908. He made his debut with the company on 16 November 1908. He remained with the company for 30 season, giving his last appearance with the company on 9 April 1938. During those years he also appeared as a guest artist in operas, recitals, and concerts in Europe, South America, Australia, and Africa. At the Met he sang in the world premieres of several operas, including Giacomo Puccini's  ‘’La Fanciulla del West’’ (1910), Umberto Giordano's ‘’Madame Sans-Gêne’’ (1915), Charles Wakefield Cadman's ‘’Shanewis’’ (1918), Puccini's ‘’Il tabarro’’ (1918), Puccini's ‘'Gianni Schicchi’’ (1918), Albert Wolff's ‘’L'oiseau bleu’’ (1919), and Deems Taylor's ‘’Peter Ibbetson’’ (1931). After retiring from the Met, he returned to Novara where he built a large home and lived quietly. He died after a brief illness three years later in his native city. He is buried in the Novara Cemetery.

Chronology of some appearances

1906 Napoli Teatro San Carlo Madama Butterfly (Goro)

1906 Napoli Teatro San Carlo  Mignon  (Laerte)

1914 Metropolitan Opera House L'amore dei tre re (Flaminio)

1914 Metropolitan Opera House Madeleine (Beppe-Arlecchino)

1914 Brooklyn Academy of Music (Beppe-Arlecchino)

1915 Metropolitan Opera House  Madame Sans-Gêne (Despréaux)

1920 Metropolitan Opera House Zaza (Malardot)

RECORDING FOR SALE

Victor

Otello (Verdi): Inaffia l'ugola with Amato & Setti 88338 C11284

Carlo Zampighi (Tenor) (Forlì, Italia 1927 - Forli, Italia 1997)

                                                                  De Grieux

First he studied singing under Baldoni in Forli, then at school of Marchesa Cavalli-Foschi in Rome. Later he perfected his vocal at the Centro Lirico in Firenze. In 1951 Magda Oliviero provided his stage debut at the Teatro Duse in Bologna. In 1951 he had a huge success at the Teatro Margherita in Genua. In 1958 he sang at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Firenze in G. Rossini’s ‘’La Donna del lago’’. In the 1956-1959 seasons he appeared with great success in the USA, where among other things at the Dallas Opera he sang the part of Almaviva in ‘’Il Barbiere di Siviglia’’ opposite Maria Callas. He made guest appearances in Egypt, Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao, Seville, Oviedo), Zurich, Berlin (State Opera), Belgium (Brussels, Ghent), Buenos Aires (Teatro Colon),  New York, Cincinnati, New Orleans and London. In 1966 he retired from the stage and taught singing.

Chronology of some appearances

1951 Bologna Teatro Duse

1958 Firenze Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

RECORDING FOR SALE

Live recording

Werther (Massenet): Ah! non mi ridestar 

Petros Epitropakis (Tenor) (Athens, Greece 22. 12. 1894 - ? 10. 04. 1977)

                                                                     De Grieux

First he studied singing with N. Kokkinos and Tim Xathnopoulos. From  1918 to 1920 he continued his education under Nina Foka at the Athens Conservatory. He made his debut as Cavaradossi in ''Tosca'' at Attikon in Piraeus. He continued his studies in Milan under Giuseppe Borghi (1920-1924). In Italy he appeared with great success in famous operatic stages. After his return in Greece (1924), he appeared as Duke in ‘’Rigoletto’’ opposite Yiannis Angelopoulos. In the interwar period he sang in performances of the Elliniko Melodrama (Greek Melodrama): ‘’The Mother’s Ring’’ (1928, 1931), ‘’O protomastoras’’ (1930), ‘’Il barbiere di Siviglia’’ (1930, as a partner of Elvira de Hidalgo), ‘’Don Pasquale’’ (1931) etc. From 1941 to 1959 he was a principal tenor of the Greek National Opera. His repertoire included Almaviva in ‘’Il Barbiere di Siviglia’’, Alfredo  in ‘’La Traviata’’, De Grieux in ‘’Manon’’,  Edgardo in ‘’Lucia di Lammermoor’’, Ernesto in ‘’Don Pasqaule’’ etc. 

Chronology of some appearances

1919 Piraeus Attikon Tosca (Cavaradossi)
1920 Marsala Teatro Municipale Faust (Faust)
1924 Athens National Opera Rigoletto (Duke)

RECORDINGS FOR SALE

HMV, Athens 1924
Rigoletto (Verdi): Questa o quella AO-187 BJ 207

HMV, Athens 1926?
Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini): Se il mio nome AO-188  BJ 302 I
Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini):Oh sorte! già veggo AO-188 BJ 342 I