Giorgos Chatziloukas
or Giorgio Lucà
1876–1919
Giorgos Chatziloukas (also transliterated as Yorgos and as Hatziloukas, respectively) was one of the first internationally known
Greek tenors after the famous Giovanni Apostolou. During his Italian career
(1901–1908), he used the stage name Giorgio Lucà.
He was born in Athens in 1876 and died in 1919. He made his debut as Rodolfo in La bohème on 13 April 1900 in the Ellinikon
Melodrama (Greek Melodrama or Greek Opera, the very early opera company of Athens, organized and directed by the Greek composer
Dionysios Lavrangas). After his debut in Athens, he was chosen to create the role of Kostas in the world premiere of Dyo adelfoi
(Two brothers), an opera by Dionysios Lavrangas. Later he sang La favorite and Rigoletto in Piraeus.
Unfortunately for Chatziloukas, in 1901, the tenor Nikos Moraïtis (1880–1938)
obtained the main tenor roles at the Ellinikon Melodrama.
Chatziloukas went to Italy and in April 1901 made his debut at the Teatro Carignano of Turin, as Alfredo in La traviata. He
sang at the Politeama Genovese in 1902 as the Duke in Rigoletto. He sang later in Oneglia, Milan, Naples, Genova, Parma, Varese,
Perugia, Savona and other Italian cities. However he never sang at the great Italian theaters, such as La Scala (Milan), Costanzi
(Rome), San Carlo (Naples), La Fenice (Venice) or Regio (Parma).
In 1908, Chatziloukas returned to Greece and continued singing in Athens, Thessaloniki, Cyprus and other places until 1918.
On 19 April 1909 in Athens, he created the role of Aeneas in Dionysios Lavrangas' opera Dido.
He died from a very bad case of influenza (or according to other sources, from Dengue fever),
on 16 January 1919 in Athens, at only 42 years old.
| Giorgos Chatziloukas sings | To oneiron (Papageorgiou)
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CHRONOLOGY
1900
Athens, Municipal Theater (Ellinikon Melodrama)
La bohème
14 April
Dyo adelfoi (Two brothers) (Dionysios Lavrangas) (world premiere):
Kostas Vakarellis (bar), Mihalis Vlachopoulos (bass)
24 April
Piraeus, Municipal Theater
La favorite: Athena Rousaki (ms), Kostas Vakarellis (bar)
3 December
Rigoletto: Maria Taddolini (s), Kostas Vakarellis (bar)
7 December
1901
Torino, Teatro Carignano
La traviata
April
1902
Genova, Politeama Genovese
Rigoletto
November
Oneglia, Teatro Umberto I°
Faust
29 December
1903
Oneglia, Teatro Umberto I°
Cavalleria rusticana
January
Varese, Teatro Sociale
L'elisir d'amore
September
I puritani
September
Cittadella, Teatro Sociale
Rigoletto
October
Milano, Società Luce e Ombra
I travolti (Amato) (world premiere): Elisa Leveroni (s), Antonietta
Benci (s), Alessandro Niccolini (bass)
November
This was a wildly weird enterprise: The Società Luce e Ombra (Light and Shadow Club) was an association of spiritists of
a rather more extreme variety, and two of them, the Amato brothers, claimed to have been the vehicles for ghosts writing an opera
libretto and the respective partition. The libretto was, as the president of the association proudly announced, better than anything
by Boito or Illica, and the music was quite up to it. What a pity that this stroke of genius, sorry: of spirit, is completely
forgotten and most probably even lost!
Reference: Luce e Ombra. Rivista mensile illustrata di scienze spiritualiste, no. 10 and 11/1903
1904
Perugia, Teatro Morlacchi
I puritani
27 (or 28) July
Savona
August
1905
Athens, Municipal Theater
Concert (arias included Che gelida manina, O soave fanciulla)
25 September
1906
Smyrna, Cocoli Theater
Titles unknown
June
Faliro, New Greece Theater
Rigoletto
August
Athens, Olympia Theater
La traviata
La bohème
Il barbiere di Siviglia
October
İstanbul, International Theater
La traviata
October
1908
Athens, Odeon (Conservatory of Athens)
Concert (arias from Mefistofele, Fedora, I puritani, Tosca, Pêcheurs de perles)
(with Miss Lymberopoulou, Mrs. Georgantopoulou and Mr. Ioannis Tzoumanis)
25 September
Athens, Municipal Theater (Ellinikon Melodrama)
La bohème: Anderson (s)
30 December
1909
Athens, Municipal Theater (Ellinikon Melodrama)
La bohème
3 April
Athens, Municipal Theater (Ellinikon Melodrama)
Dido (Dionysios Lavrangas) (world premiere)
19 April
1913
Athens, Municipal Theatre (Ellinikon Melodrama)
La bohème: Eleni Vlachopoulos (s), Giannis Angelopoulos (bar), Mihalis
Vlachopoulos (bs), Herc. Oikonomides (bar)
29 October
Athens, Municipal Theatre (Ellinikon Melodrama)
Faust: Paschalides (bs)
31 October
1914
Cyprus (Larnaka and Nikosia)
Recitals (with Giannis Konstantinides, piano)
May
1916
Athens, unknown venue
Concert (with Miss Giannarou, soprano and Timotheos Xanthopoulos, piano)
3 March
Athens, Olympia Theater (Ellinikon Melodrama)
Il barbiere di Siviglia: Giannis Angelopoulos (bar), Mihalis Vlachopoulos (bs)
11 June
1918
Thessaloniki, unknown venue (Ellinikon Melodrama)
Il barbiere di Siviglia: Lela Perpinia (s), Giannis Angelopoulos (bar),
Mihalis Vlachopoulos (bs)
3 May
Faust
22 May
Rigoletto
23 May
La favorite: Dolores Frau (ms)
24 May
Il barbiere di Siviglia: Lela Perpinia (s), Giannis Angelopoulos (bar),
Mihalis Vlachopoulos (bs)
10 June
NOTE:
For many years it was thought that Giorgio Lucà had sung at the Metropolitan Opera
in New York during the 1907/1908 season, under the name of George Lucas. It has been
demonstrated that the singer who sang at the Metropolitan was a French tenor, according to
the New York Times of 19 November 1907: "George Lucas who will make his debut in the small
role of the Abbé de Chazeuil, is a French tenor who made his debut at Geneva in 1898,
and he has sung at Paris, Bordeaux, Nice, Lyon, Marseille, Antwerp, and New Orleans."
Born 1868, Lucas sang at the Paris Opéra, with his wife Julia Lucas, in 1899/1900. Most of their careers took
place in France. Suddenly Lucas was singing minor roles in New York (Met) and Philadelphia. After that, both
of them seem to have disappeared.
Therefore, the Greek tenor Giorgio Lucà never sang in the United States.
The author gratefully acknowledges Dr. Nicholas A. Peppas, Greek researcher, who kindly revised the draft of this work
and made corrections and generously provided very important information concerning this now forgotten Greek tenor.
Juan Dzazópulos
November 2011
DISCOGRAPHY
Fonotipia, Milano, 26 March 1906
xPh1730 To oneiron (Papageorgiou) 39580
xPh1731 Ela pame eis ta xena (Kokkinos) 39596
Fonotipia, Milano, 27 March 1906
xPh1732 Pes mou ti eho stin kardia (Rodios) 39581
xPh1733 Pembasmos (Rodios) unpublished
xPh1734 Markos Botsaris (Carrer): O gero dimos 39582
xPh1735 To tsobanopoulo (Kokkinos) 39583
xPh1736 Petalouda (Kokkinos) 39584
xPh1737 Epistepsa (Lambelet) 39585
xPh1738 Matia pou den vlepoun (Papageorgiou) 39586
xPh1739 To magemena tis filia (Papageorgiou) 39587
Fonotipia, Milano, 14 November 1907
xPh2873 Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini): Ecco ridente in cielo unpublished
xPh2874 Giati? (Xanthopoulos) 62146
xPh2875 Anamnisis tis Smyrnis (Xanthopoulos) 62145
xPh2876 Sta xena (Leonardos) 62144
xPh2877 Agrypia (Kokkinos) 62293
xPh2878 Tin ora ti stegni (Milanakis) 62189
xPh2879 Efyges (Maurogenis) 62147
Fonotipia, Milano, 14 December 1907
xPh3018 Son la villa solitaria (Tilasi) unpublished
Fonotipia, Milano, 18 December 1907
xPh3036 Apohorismos (Lambelet) 62292
xPh3037 L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti): Una furtiva lagrima 62297
xPh3042 Mefistofele (Boito): Dai campi, dai prati 62296
xPh3043 I puritani (Bellini): A te, o cara unpublished
Source for the discography: Gesellschaft für historische Tonträger, Wien
Photo (left): courtesy of Stathis Arfanis
Photo (right): Roberto Marcocci's website
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