Antonio Salvarezza

Originally a farm worker in his native Piedmont, he emigrated to Argentina at age 23, and found a job at the brickworks.

He had always loved to sing; in Argentina, he was lucky to make the acquaintance of the impresario Pasquale Morabito, and the industrialist Giuseppe Roncati (the latter also became his father-in-law). Morabito and Roncati became his patrons, and made him – at age 26 – study voice with a certain Filippo Florio in Buenos Aires.

In 1937, Salvarezza was ready to make his debut as Duca in Rio de Janeiro, where he also sang Edgardo, Rodolfo, Pinkerton and Grigorij (until 1939). He also appeared at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Back to Italy, he sang in Rome 1938–41 (Cavaradossi, Edgardo, Dimitri in Alfano's Risurrezione, Rodolfo, Pinkerton, Colombello in Giordano's Il re, Rinuccio), and for the 1941/42 season, he was in Milano at La Scala, singing Pinkerton, Arturo and Colombello.

He returned to those two theaters again and again, as well as appearing in Parma, Piacenza, Pisa, Naples, Genova, Palermo, Venice. Abroad, he sang at the Vienna Staatsoper in 1943, in Chicago and Philadelphia in 1946, in London 1946–48 (Cambridge Theater), at the Teatre del Liceu, in Madrid, Geneva, Rotterdam or Cairo. He also sang at the important Italian opera festivals: Arena di Verona, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Terme di Caracalla.

His farewell performance was as Cavaradossi in Rome in 1959.

Reference 1; reference 2: Kutsch & Riemens