Mario Ancona (1860-1931) was an Italian baritone, born in Livorno, Tuscany to a Jewish family. A master of bel canto singing, he enjoyed an international reputation as a star of what is commonly referred to as the "Golden Age of Opera".
Ancona entered the world on February 28, 1860. After embarking on a business career he decided to study voice with Maestro Matteini in his native city of Livorno. Later, he took lessons from Giuseppe Cima in Milan...
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Mario Ancona (1860-1931) was an Italian baritone, born in Livorno, Tuscany to a Jewish family. A master of bel canto singing, he enjoyed an international reputation as a star of what is commonly referred to as the "Golden Age of Opera".
Ancona entered the world on February 28, 1860. After embarking on a business career he decided to study voice with Maestro Matteini in his native city of Livorno. Later, he took lessons from Giuseppe Cima in Milan. Ancona is said to have made his debut as an amateur singer as far back as 1880; but his earliest known professional appearance in an opera occurred in 1889, when he sang the role of Scindia in Massenet's Le roi de Lahore in Trieste. Not long afterwards, he appeared in another Massenet opera, Le Cid, at La Scala, Milan.
On May 21, 1892, Ancona created the part of Silvio in the first performance of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, which took place at Milan's Teatro Dal Verme with Arturo Toscanini conducting. The next year, he appeared in the first...
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