His family emigrated to the United States when he was 14 years old. He studied singing in Boston, but returned to Italy
during World War I and made his debut in Savona in 1918 in Lucia di Lammermoor.
His career lasted into the 1940s, it took him to many important Italian theaters like the Teatro Regio in Torino or the Teatro
Carlo Felice in Genova. He was with the Italian Opera in the Netherlands in 1929/30, and joined the Imperial Opera Company for a
tour of Australia in 1932. His most important parts were Elvino, Almaviva, Edgardo and Duca, but he sang also a lot of Puccini.
In 1928, he married the famous primadonna Lina Pagliughi (1907–80); from then on, they often sang together. They never
separated. After retiring from the stage, they opened a singing school in Milano.
Reference 1: Kutsch & Riemens; reference 2: Fernando Battaglia, L'arte del canto in Romagna. I cantanti lirici
romagnoli dell'Ottocente e del Novecento, Bologna 1979
