Casa Paoli

Casa Paoli
Main facade, in July 2009
Location 14 Mayor Street (2648 Mayor St.), Ponce, Puerto Rico
Coordinates 18°00′35″N 66°36′46″W / 18.00965°N 66.61273°W / 18.00965; -66.61273Coordinates: 18°00′35″N 66°36′46″W / 18.00965°N 66.61273°W / 18.00965; -66.61273
Area <1 acre (0.40 ha)[1]
Built by 1864
Architect Manuel V. Domenech (1914 intervention)
Architectural style neoclassical
NRHP Reference # 09000769[2][3]
Added to NRHP October 1, 2009[2]
Museo Casa Paoli
Established 1987
Location Ponce, Puerto Rico
Type Museum
Director Nestor Murray[4]
Owner Private:
Centro de Investigaciones Folklóricas de Puerto Rico, Inc.
Website Official site

Casa Paoli (English: Paoli House) on 2648 Mayor Street,[5] barrio Cuarto, Ponce, Puerto Rico, is nationally significant as the birthplace of Antonio Emilio Paoli y Marcano (1871–1946), a tenor who was the "first Puerto Rican to reach international recognition in the performing arts" and one of the most outstanding opera singers of all times.[6] Paoli was introduced to art and opera at this house during his formative years. Casa Paoli is currently used as a museum to honor the career of Antonio Paoli. The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on October 1, 2009.[1][3][7] The listing was announced as the featured listing in the National Park Service's weekly list of October 9, 2009.[8]

The house had been a wedding gift for Paoli's parents, who married at the Ponce Cathedral after the birth of the first five of their eight children. Antonio, their seventh child, was born in the house, as were two of his siblings.[1] The house is located in barrio Tercero.

Significance

The house is significant as it is the birthplace of one of the greatest opera singers of all times.[9] It was the house Paoli occupied during his formative years. Just a few blocks from Teatro La Perla, Casa Paoli provided easy access for Poli to Ponce's single most important theatrical arts venue. For his powerful and lyric voice, Antonio Paoli was considered the King of the Tenors. As he sang for numerous kings around the world, Paoli is also known as the Tenor of the Kings.[10]

Architecture

Interior showing wooden ceiling

The front facade of the residence consists of eye-catching peach and white brick masonry and stucco front porch with a main arched balcony crowned by a female face. A second, smaller, arched entrance is the main entryway into the porch and house. Early 1900s ironworks gracefully separate the front porch from the front street sidewalk. The front doors of the house are wooden louvered characteristic of the middle-to-late 19th century. A circular front wall wind hole with decorative molding accentuates the porch; another smaller circular opening decorates high above the archway into the porch. The interior consists of nine rooms, a long, sunny, lateral hallway with multiple wooden veneer shutters, and an external cobble-stone foyer leading to the back courtyard.[11]

Construction

Interior courtyard

The architectural style is described as Neoclassical, with other 20th century elements.[12] The house was built as a wooden structure before 1864, when it was acquired by Domingo Paoli, the father of Antonio Paoli. By 1870, the house had been upgraded into a wood and brick masonry residence. In 1914 it was upgraded into the current brick and stucco structure by the prominent local architect and civil engineer Manuel V. Domenech.[12]

Antonio Paoli

Early years

He was born in this house on April 14, 1871. From a young age, he would accompany his parents to opera performances at the La Perla Theater, some six blocks from this house. An inspiring performance there by the Italian tenor, Pietro Baccei helped him decide what he wanted to be “when he grew up”. His parents nurtured his ambition by enrolling him in a voice training school. When Antonio was just 12 years old his parents died. Antonio moved to Spain to live with his sister, Amalia, who was also a singer. Amalia also encouraged her younger brother to pursue his dream of becoming an opera singer.[13]

Training

Interior rooms, wooden floors

After studying at the Royal Monastery of El Escorial in Madrid, Spain, and the Academia de Canto La Scala in Milan, Italy, Paoli made his debut in Paris. Antonio Paoli went on to earn numerous honors and awards around the world. He came to be known affectionately as both “The King of Tenors” and as “The Tenor of the Kings”. He then returned to Puerto Rico in 1917. Antonio and Amalia established a voice training school in San Juan. They also helped in theater productions at San Juan’s Municipal Theater. The San Juan Municipal Theater was renamed The Antonio Paoli Theater in his honor in 1934.[14]

Later years and death

Antonio died on August 24, 1946, and was buried in the Puerto Rico Memorial Cemetery of Isla Verde. On April 13, 2005, his remains were exhumed and transferred to Ponce’s Roman Baldorioty de Castro National Pantheon[15] Antonio Paoli is considered to be the first Puerto Rican to achieve international fame in the musical arts. The museum at Casa Paoli gives visitors insight into the fascinating life story and achievements of Puerto Rico’s “Tenor of the Kings”.[16]

Puerto Rico Center for Folkloric Research

Gallery

Today Casa Paoli functions as a research center on Puerto Rican culture. The building is the headquarters of the Puerto Rico Center for Folkloric Research.[17] The Center’s mission is to foster Puerto Rico’s cultural traditions as well as popular arts. The Center purchased the property in 1987 from Antonio Penna Salicrup and his family. This is where the great tenor Antonio Paoli was born and raised. The Center preserves the history of this great lyrical singer and his outstanding family.[18]

Museum

The museum consists of three spacious exposition rooms where photographs, correspondence in the form of post cards, etc., and other memorabilia are displayed.[11] Among the offerings of this museum is a shop displaying colorful papier-mache masks used in Ponce's annual Carnival celebrations. The current museum exhibits documents and other memorabilia from the life of this well respected singer, along with examples of Puerto Rican art and a history of the city of Ponce.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Juan Llanes Santos (August 11, 2009). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Casa Paoli" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved October 16, 2009. (19 pages, with maps and b&w historic photos and 5 recent color photos)
  2. 1 2 "Announcements and actions on properties for the National Register of Historic Places". Weekly Listings. National Park Service. October 9, 2009. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
  3. 1 2 Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  4. ↑ Conmemoración Centenaria en Ponce: El Museo de la Historia de la Ciudad Señorial estrena dos exposiciones. El Nuevo Dia. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  5. ↑ Vivos los colores del Rey del Pincel. Reinaldo Millán. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011. Note: This is the new address number of the location based on recent US Postal Service renumbering of lots in that area. The old #14 is still widely in use.
  6. ↑ Juan Llanes Santos. National Register of Historic Places. August 11, 2009. Page 8. Published by the National Park Service.
  7. ↑ Casa Paoli at NRHP
  8. ↑ Travel Ponce: Casa Paoli Museum.
  9. ↑ Puerto Rico: Casa Paoli.
  10. 1 2 Virtual Tour
  11. 1 2 US Dept of the Interior, National Park Service. NRHP Registration Form. Casa Paoli. 2009-08-11.
  12. ↑ Antonio Paoli's early years
  13. ↑ Paoli's first professional years
  14. ↑ “La Perla del Sur” news weekly, April 6–12, 2005.
  15. ↑ Tenor of the Kings
  16. ↑ Casa Paoli – Honoring the Tenor of the Kings
  17. ↑ CasaPaoli.org
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