Pedro Unanue

Born in a small town in the Basque Country, Unanue began studying music and voice at an early age with a local organist. In 1831, he intended to travel to South America, but got stuck en route in Santander, where he soon sang in the cathedral choir. In 1834, he went to Madrid, but wasn't accepted into the conservatory because its director thought his voice was too powerful. (Our 21st century is not the first one to prefer small-time singers over singers with real voices.)

The impresario of the Teatro de la Cruz, Ramón Carnicer, accepted Unanue into his choir, while the young singer perfected his technique with the retired army officer turned voice teacher José María Reart de Copons, who would later also teach Manuel Carrion. In March 1836, Carnicer allowed him to sing his first main role, Pollione. His first major success came exactly three years later, in La straniera. Carnicer's troupe, Unanue included, also toured Spain, and appeared particularly in Cádiz, Sevilla and Málaga; Unanue's repertory was focused on Donizetti and Rossini, but included also some of the first Spanish operas. Other than with Carnicer's troupe, he also appeared at the Teatro del Principe in Madrid.

In 1842, he got a contract in Granada; he was now undisputedly Spain's greatest tenor. He spent 1844 in St. Petersburg at the Mariinskij, where he was hugely successful, and became a protégé of Rubini. In 1845, he was first tenor in Bergamo, and in winter 1845/46 in Trieste. For the next season, he had a contract at the Théâtre des Italiens in Paris, when he fell ill and died in Trieste, at age 31.

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