Pio Scopinich

Scopinich had a short career, but a quite good one; he sang Filipeto in the Italian premiere of I quattro rusteghi (Milano, Teatro Lirico, 2 June 1914 – the world premiere had been in Munich in 1906, in German translation), repeated the role at various Italian theaters with prominent casts, and also his few other engagements were on a certain level of excellence (the Torino Madame Sans-Gêne, for instance, featured Riccardo Stracciari, Maria Farneti, Luigi Rossi Morelli, Vittorio Salbego and Luigi Cilla, and conductor Hector Panizza).

About his biography beyond the scarce career facts, no information is readily available; but I think I've figured it out. Scopinich is a name that can only come from Trieste and its surroundings, and it's a rare name. In the Italian army in the First World War, there was an artillery lieutenant called Pio Scopinich, born 17 October 1891 Trieste – and killed in action in Piacenza on 14 December 1917. I'm 99 percent sure that this is "our" Pio Scopinich; his last appearance was in Piacenza, after all, and not in opera but in concert: he must have been deployed to Piacenza already in 1916, and only have been granted a leave for a concert, not for operatic performances. His name is also on a war monument in Trieste.

Reference 1: Eliana Stracciari Nappi/Adriano Orlandini: Riccardo e Luigi Stracciari. Percorsi d'arte nel melodramma del primo Novecento, Rome 2013, p. 261; reference 2: Giorgio Tasso: La sacra falange dei Giuliani, Trieste 1929, p. 173; reference 3: Bollettino ufficiale delle nomine, promozioni e destinazioni negli uffiziali del reale esercito italiano e nel personale dell'amministrazione militare, Rome 1919, p. 395; reference 4

Chronology

1913	
12	Genova		Teatro Margherita	MATRIMONIO SEGRETO (Paolino)

1914		
06	Milano		Teatro Lirico		I QUATTRO RUSTEGHI (Filipeto)
06	Firenze		Teatro Verdi			I QUATTRO RUSTEGHI (Filipeto)
06	Treviso		Teatro Sociale		I QUATTRO RUSTEGHI (Filipeto)
06	Venezia		Teatro La Fenice		I QUATTRO RUSTEGHI (Filipeto)
06	Verona		Teatro Filarmonico	I QUATTRO RUSTEGHI (Filipeto)
06	Ferrara		Teatro Verdi			I QUATTRO RUSTEGHI (Filipeto)
12	Venezia		Teatro La Fenice		DON PASQUALE (Ernesto)

1915
02	Torino		Teatro Regio		MADAME SANS-GÊNE di U. Giordano (Despréaux)

1916			
08	Piacenza 	Politeama			CONCERTO

Discography

Columbia/Cigale Record 
	LE DONNE CURIOSE (Wolf Ferrari): Ah! Non sapete ancora
 	 	 
Odeon/Fonotipia  
Mo 1178	LE DONNE CURIOSE (Wolf Ferrari): Adesso quattro salti (w. Ines Cesari & Luigi Manfrini)		A83102
Mo 1179	LE DONNE CURIOSE (Wolf Ferrari): Il cor contento (w. Ines Cesari)				A83102
xM 1822	IL MATRIMONIO SEGRETO (Cimarosa): Pria che spunti in ciel					110393

Many thanks to Armin Mairhofer for the recording and the label scan.

Source for the chronology: the fantastic website of Roberto Marcocci.