Aureliano Pertile

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Aureliano Pertile (born November 9, 1885; died January 11, 1952) was one of the twentieth century's most important tenors. He was born in Montagnana, Italy, only eighteen days following the birth of another celebrated tenor, Giovanni Martinelli, in the same town. Pertile made his operatic debut as Lyonel in Martha, in 1911, in Vicenza. Five years later, he first sang at the Teatro alla Scala, in Francesca da Rimini, opposite Rosa Raisa. He made several appearances at the Teatro Colón (including Manon Lescaut with Gilda dalla Rizza), and made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Tosca (opposite Maria Jeritza), in 1921. That season found him there in Manon Lescaut, Cavalleria rusticana, Boris Godounov (as Grigori, with Feodor Chaliapin), Aïda, Pagliacci (opposite Florence Easton) and Louise (with Geraldine Farrar), as well. He also participated in Met performances of Louise in Philadelphia and Brooklyn.

He returned to Italy, however, for Mefistofele at La Scala, under the bâton of Arturo Toscanini. Regarded as the Maestro's favorite tenor (despite his having an "ugly" voice), he was to have a great career at that theatre, singing there in Lohengrin, Manon Lescaut, Die Meistersinger, Louise, Boris Godounov, Lucia di Lammermoor (with Toti Dal Monte), Aïda, La traviata, Iris, Boito's Nerone (posthumous world-premiere), La bohème, Andrea Chénier, Il trovatore, Un ballo in maschera, Madama Butterfly, Pagliacci, Tosca (with Claudia Muzio), Sly, Rigoletto, La campana sommersa, La forza del destino, Martha, Norma, Fedora, Werther, Adriana Lecouvreur, La favorite (with the young Magda Olivero as Inès), Fra Diavolo, and the world premiere of Mascagni's Nerone.

Pertile also sang in London (including La forza del destino, with Rosa Ponselle), Vienna and Berlin. His final performances were in 1946, in Pagliacci. He died in Milan, where he was teaching at the Conservatory, in 1952.

In 1995, all of his recordings (made from 1922 to 1942, the final discs being excerpts from Otello with Gina Cigna) were issued in an album (with the accompanying monograph, La voce e l'arte di Aureliano Pertile) from TIMAClub, excepting his three complete operas: Aïda (with Dusolina Giannini, 1928), Il trovatore (1930) and Carmen (in Italian translation, 1932).