Roberto Rotondo (Tenor)

He made his debut in Italy, then went to USA. In 1921 he appeared at the Aeolian Hall in New York opposite Riccardo Stracciari, Giulia Grilli and Margita De Re. In 1922 he sang as tenor in Paramount Pictures. In 1924 he performed at the Teatro San Carlo in Napoli in ‘’Traviata’’ and ‘’Tosca’’ . Probably he had a short career. He made recordings/songs for Vocalion, Victor, Columbia and Pathé.

Chronology of some appearances

1924 Napoli Teatro San Carlo Traviata (Alfredo)

1924 Napoli Teatro San Carlo Tosca (Cavaradossi)

Ugo Cantelmo (Tenor) (Lecce, Italy 01 Apr 1904 - 13 Dec 1980 Milan, Italy)

First he received his education at the University of Rome

He studied singing under Emilio Piccoli in Milan

In 1929 he made his stage debut at the Teatro Adriano in Rome as Turiddu in ‘’Cavalleria Rusticana’’

He retired from the stage in 1941

He recorded opera arias and songs for Disco Grammofono

Chronology of some appearances

1929 Roma Teatro Adriano Cavalleria Rusticana (Turiddu)

1931 Roma Teatro Adriano Barbiere di Siviglia (Almaviva)

1932 Macerata Teatro Lauro Rossi Boheme (Rodolfo)

1932 Macerata Teatro Lauro Rossi Cavalleria Rusticana (Turiddu)

1932  Genova Teatro Margherita Rigoletto (Duca)

1932 Genova Teatro Paganini Rigoletto (Duca)

1932 Genova Teatro Paganini Traviata (Alfredo)

1932 Genova Teatro Margherita Tosca (Cavaradossi)

1932 Genova Teatro Margherita Traviata (Alfredo)

1932 Genova Teatro Modena Tosca (Cavaradossi)

1932 Genova Teatro Modena Traviata (Alfredo)

1932 Genova Teatro Paganini Tosca (Cavaradossi)

1933 Forlì Teatro Comunale Boheme (Rodolfo)

1933 Forlì Teatro Comunale Cavalleria Rusticana (Turiddu)

1938 Busto Arsizio Spazio Nuova Piscina Comunale Barbiere di Siviglia (Almaviva)

1940 Messina Teatro Savoia Rigoletto (Duca)

1941 Palermo Teatro Biondo Don Pasquale (Ernesto)

Paul Schwarz (Tenor) (Vienna, Austria 1887, 30/6 – Hamburg, Germany 1980, 24/12)

He made his debut at the Stadttheater in Bialitz in 1909, went on to the Vienna Volksoper, and in 1912 joined the Hamburg Opera, where he remained until 1933. In  Hamburg he appeared in over 4000 performances of 145 roles. Although he sang such leading roles as Manrico in Il Trovatore and Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, he was extensively utilized as a comprimario. He specialized in such roles as David in Die Meistersinger, Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Seraglio, and Don Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro. Although his center was Hamburg, he also frequently sang in Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Paris. In addition, he also had great success as an operetta singer. Because of the Nazis, he was forced to leave the Hamburg Opera in 1933 and emigrated to the United States. At the end of the War, he returned to Hamburg and in 1949 appeared again at the Opera as Basilio. Schwarz died in Hamburg in 1980, at the age of 93.

Felix Senius (Tenor) (Konigsberg, Germany 19-09-1868 - Konigsberg, Germany 01-10-1913)

In 1872 his father became director of the Azov Commercial Bank in St. Petersburg, where the artist spent his youth. He entered his father's bank, but already in 1895 gave charity concerts in St. Petersburg. After studying singing with Ippolit Pryanishnikov in St. Petersburg (1900), he gave his first recitals in the Russian metropolis and sang the tenor solo in a performance of the "Messiah" by Handel. Glittering concerts took place in the big cities in Russia, Germany, Sweden and Finland. He moved to Berlin and became one of the most important concert tenors of his time; One saw in him the successor of Gustav Walter. In the 1905-1911 seasons he performed in concerts in Vienna. In 1906 he appeared in Brno, in 1911 he sang in Prague. In England he was admired mainly in "L'Enfant prodigue" by Debussy and "The Dream of Gerontius" by E. Elgar. In 1910 he participated in the world premiere of the 8th Symphony ("Symphony of the Thousand") by Gustav Mahler in Munich. He died after being poisoned by fish at a banquet given by the city of Königsberg. He was married to the soprano Clara Senius-Erler, who later worked as a lecturer at the Conservatory of Leipzig and still appeared in concerts in 1918. His brother, Rudolf Senius (1865-1924), worked as an operetta singer and as a director. 

Miklos Gafni (Tenor) (Tiszacsege, Hungary 1923. 05. 28 – Queens, New York City 1981. 03. 08)

When the Nazis took over Hungary, Gafni was put into a concentration camp and condemned to death. He and others in the  camp similarly awaitng death engaged in musical activities, and Gafni studied voice with one of his fellow-prisoners. The commandant of the camp was a music lover, and hearing Gafni sing, introduced him to German Lieder. He also spared Gafni from his ultimate fate, allowing him to survive the War. Still young, he returned home after the War and money was raised to send him to Italy to study. His teachers were Riccardo Stracciari and Aureliano Pertile, two of the finest singers of pre-War Italy. Gafni also received encouragement from Beniamino Gigli, and began to concertize in Italy. He then received concert engagements in England, Australia, and South Africa. He finally came to the United States, where he made his debut at Town Hall with great success, receiving the common accolade, "the young Caruso". His greatest claim to fame was in recording the first complete La Juive by Halevy, sponsored by a Jewish-American organization. Because of a limited operatic repertoire and technical deficiencies in his singing, he was not offered a contract with any major opera company, and returned to Hungary about 1960, where he is believed to have continued his vocal career.