After studying voice in Palermo and Milano, he made his debut in 1894 at the Teatro
Epicarmo in Noto. He spent his first years primarily at small opera theaters throughout Italy, but sang also at the Regio in
Parma as early as 1896.
In 1899, he was abroad for the first time (Uruguay, Argentina) and made his debut at the Carlo
Felice in Genova. In 1900, he arrived at the Dal Verme in Milano, in 1901 at the Fenice in Venice, the San Carlo in
Naples and the Massimo in Palermo. He went to South America every summer now, and sang also in Madrid at the Teatro Real in
1901. 1902 had him at the Costanzi in Rome for the first time, 1903 at the Bellini in Catania. In 1904 and 1906, he was in St.
Petersburg, the second time also in Moscow and Bucarest. Over that entire period, he was continuously very busy all over
Italy, also in small and middle-sized theaters. He went to Istanbul and Cairo (1907 and 1908, respectively).
From fall 1908,
he was abroad for more than a year: Marseille, Ghent (at secondary theaters in both cities), Luxembourg, Paris
(Gaîté-Lyrique), Le Havre, Amsterdam, Hull, London (Coronet Theatre and Drury Lane), Warsaw. In 1910, he was
mostly in South America (but also in Rome and Catania).
From 1911, he was mostly in Italy, and reduced the number of his
appearances; a few excursions abroad follwed (London Hippodrome 1912, Bilbao 1914, Alexandria 1915 and 1916.
He retired in
1920, and opened a school of singing. He died from a heart attack when standing in line for tickets for a Milano concert of
one of his pupils, Aldo Sinnone.
His son was an appreciated comprimario tenor at the Met (1936 to 1948) and in Chicago under the stage name Lodovico
Oliviero.
Reference and source for the top picture: the excellent website of Roberto Marcocci.
