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.

1926: Teatro Regio, Torino: Manon Lescaut (replacing Lauri-Volpi)

         Trieste: Traviata

         Teatro Dal Verme, Milano: Anima allegra (by Vittadini)

1928: Bologna: Resurrezione (by Alfano)

         Como: Resurrezione and Manon Lescaut

1930: Zadar (Croatia): Sonnambula

         Trieste: Turandot

         Arena, Verona: Boris Godunov

1931: La Scala, Milano: Boris Godunov (with Chaliapine)

1933: Teatro Bellini, Catania: La farsa amorosa (by Zandonai)

         Teatro Sociale, Trento: La farsa amorosa

         Teatro Argentina, Rome: Pinotta (by Mascagni), a great success for Costa Lo Giudice

1934: La Scala, Milano: Dibuk (by Rocca)

1935: Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo: Paolo e Virginia (by Gianandrea Gavazzeni, better known as a conductor than as a composer) – world premiere (with Maria Laurenti)

1936: Teatro Verdi, Pisa: La farsa amorosa

         Teatro Regio, Torino: Turandot

         La Scala, Milano: Gioconda

1937: La Scala, Milano: Mosé

1938: La Scala, Milano: Madama Butterfly

         Castello Sforzesco, Milano: Maristella (by Pietri)

1939: Teatro San Carlo, Naples: Malato immaginario (by Jacopo Napoli)

         Castello Sforzesco, Milano: Madama Butterfly

1940: Teatro Bellini, Catania: La vedova scaltra (by Wolf-Ferrari)

After World War II, he sang in Mefistofele and in Madama Butterfly in Trieste. His last performance took place in 1954 (Cavalleria rusticana in Genova). Later he lived in Palermo, then in Rome, where he died on October 10, 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

Discography

Columbia
B1559	Manon Lescaut: Donna non vidi mai     D5827	DQ268
B1762	Rigoletto: La donna e mobile          D5827	DQ269
B2708	Rigoletto: Ella mi fu rapita          D6093	DQ272
B2709	Rigoletto: Parmi veder                D6093	DQ272
B2702	Manon Lescaut: Tra voi belle          D6109	Q273
B2647	Turandot: Non piangere, Liù           D6109	D6120	DQ268
B2696	Tosca: Recondita armonia              D6120	DQ269	DQ271   D11564
B3724	Fedora: Amor ti vieta                 CQ356	DQ271
B3720	La Gioconda: Cielo e mar              CQ356	DQ272

I wish to thank Robert Schlesinger for the biographical notes.

I wish to thank Vladimir Efimenko for the picture (right).

Source for the chronology the extraordinary website of Roberto Marcocci.

I would like to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the recording (Tra voi belle).

I wish to thank Roberto Marcocci for his additions to the discography.