Amerigo Stampanoni

Stampanoni's whereabouts are anything but clear – not quite surprising since not even his first name is beyond doubt, it exists in three variants: Amerigo, Americo and Almerico. Stampanoni would point to Switzerland (that name is super-rare anywhere but in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland), yet our tenor is normally classified as Italian, and sometimes as a Spanish speaker.

His career was that of a standard Italian tenor around 1900, complete with the usual excursions into Russia, South America, and Spain. It's certainly far from being completely documented, but the following appearances have been traced so far:

1890
Asti, Teatro Alfieri (in January): La favorite, Linda di Chamounix

1894
Teramo, Teatro Comunale (in January): Faust
Asti, Politeama (in November): Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo)

season 1894/95
Modena, Teatro Comunale: Lucia di Lammermoor, Falstaff

1895
Napoli, Teatro San Carlo (in April): La favorite

1896
Warszawa, Teatr Wielki (January to June): Faust, La favorite, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, Il barbiere di Siviglia, I puritani, La traviata

season 1896/97
Madrid, Teatro Real (October to January): Der fliegende Holländer (Steuermann), Il barbiere di Siviglia, Dinorah, La sonnambula, Faust

1897
Milano, Teatro Dal Verme: Il barbiere di Siviglia
Buenos Aires, Teatro Ópera (in May): La favorite

1899
Odesa, Teatr Opery (in February): Manon
Rovigo, Teatro Sociale (in October/November): La favorite, Il barbiere di Siviglia

1900
Genova, Teatro Carlo Felice: Rigoletto
Torino, Teatro Regio (in March): Il barbiere di Siviglia
Cagliari, Politeama Regina Margherita (in October/November): La sonnambula, Il barbiere di Siviglia

1901
Bologna, Teatro Duse (in January): Il barbiere di Siviglia
Como, Teatro Cressoni (in October): Lucia di Lammermoor, Il barbiere di Siviglia
Forlì, Teatro Comunale (in December): Il barbiere di Siviglia

1902
Forlì, Teatro Comunale (in January): Maria di Rohan, Rigoletto, La traviata
Amsterdam, Paleis voor Volksvlijt (in March): Rigoletto
Faenza, Teatro Comunale (in June): La traviata

1907
Torino, Teatro Vittorio Emanuele (in February): La favorite
He must also have sung in France in 1907, or he wouldn't have recorded for APGA in March of that year.

And yet the theory that he was a Spanish speaker seems plausible. First indication: his Italian pronunciation. It's idiosyncratic at times: the way he rolls his "r" (he always announces himself) – for instance in "Carrrrrrrmen"; the way he sings "e non ho amato mai tanto la vita", which seems pretty much like "e non ho amado mai tanto la vida". But on the other hand, dialects can be weird at times, and Swiss-Italian dialects can be particularly weird.

And yet, second indication: around 1920, the budding soprano (Italian-born, naturalized Urugayan) Rina Massardi took voice lessons in Montevideo – with a blind musician called Amerigo Stampanoni. So with all due caution, my guess is that he was Uruguayan (probably of Italian or Swiss-Italian descent), spent his career primarily in Europe (but note the considerable gaps in the above chronology), and lived again in Uruguay in later years, when he had become blind.

Reference 1: the fantastic website of Roberto Marcocci; reference 2: Kutsch & Riemens; reference 3; reference 4; reference 5

I wish to thank Richard J Venezia for the recording.