He took his first voice lessons in his native Alcoy and then studied at the conservatories of Valencia (with Lamberto Alonso y Torres, who
also taught Lucrezia Bori), of the City of Barcelona, and of La Scala in Milano. He started his career in Italy in 1918, as a comprimario.
From 1920, he was successful in operatic main roles in Spain, at the theaters Tívoli, Bosque and
Círculo de Sanz in Barcelona. Then he joined the Fionti-Viñas Company, with which he toured Spain. In 1924, Marcos Redondo hired
him for his Gran Compañía de Ópera Italiana. With that troupe, Sirvent was particularly successful at the Teatro
Victoria Eugenia in San Sebastián, where the Spanish royal family heard him.
In 1926, he was in Italy, singing Fernand (his most important role) at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milano; not at La Scala, as you'll read on
several websites. He also appeared in Monza and Palermo. Back in Spain, he joined the company headed by composer Jaume Pahissa. He scored
triumphs in Valencia and Alicante.
Then he went to Milano again, this time for further vocal studies. In 1928, he sang and recorded in Berlin, in 1929 at the San Carlo in Naples,
where he got vocal problems that forced him to stop singing for a few months. He made his comeback in Valencia with the Fionti-Viñas
Company. Next, he was hired by the Gorgé-Saga Company, with which he came to South America for the first time in 1930.
In 1931 and back in Spain, he founded his own troupe and staged zarzuela in Madrid. He switched now entirely to zarzuela. In 1932, he sang in
the company of composer José Serrano, in 1933 in another Marcos Redondo troupe; with the latter, he premiered La isla de las perlas
by Sorozábal at the Coliseum in Madrid.
One Ezequiel Endériz transformed La favorite into a zarzuela, La favorita del rey, written especially for Sirvent (1934,
Teatro Principal, Valencia). In Madrid, he was celebrated for his performances of El caserío under the guidance of composer
Jesús Guridi.
The Spanish Civil War made him go into voluntary exile: he left Spain in 1937 with a touring company, never to return. They appeared in Buenos
Aires at the Colón, the Teatro del Principe and the Teatro Avenida, with great success. Sirvent continued to tour South America for
many years, and finally settled in Caracas in 1948.
Reference 1, reference 2
Picture source
