Antonio Scotti

Antonio Scotti (25 January 1866 – 26 February 1936) was an Italian baritone. He was a principal artist of the New York Metropolitan Opera for more than 33 seasons, but also sang with great success at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Milan's La Scala. During this year he would also meet the restaurateur Salvatore Scoleri who would open an Italian restaurant bearing Scotti's name in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Scotti performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on a regular basis until 1910, with additional appearances in the 1913–1914 season. During this period, he became not only London's first Scarpia but also its first Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly (in 1900 and 1905 respectively), which he also sang at the opera's Met premiere in 1907. In 1917, he was elected an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the American fraternity for male musicians, at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Scotti performed in Paris at the Opéra Comique singing Tosca (in 1904 with Emma Eames and Emilio De Marchi, conductor Cleofonte Campanini, and in 1910, with Geraldine Farrar and Leon Beyle, the young and later-prominent conductor Gino Marinuzzi). In 1910, at Theatre du Châtelet with the Metropolitan ensemble, Scotti sang Falstaff conducted by Arturo Toscanini and at the Opera, in a gala performance, the third act of La bohème with Caruso and Farrar.

In 1908, Scotti sang at Salzburg in Don Giovanni, with Lilli Lehmann (Donna Ana), Johanna Gadski (Donna Elvira), Geraldine Farrar (Zerlina), with Karl Muck conducting.

Scotti formed his own troupe of singers in 1919, calling it, naturally enough, the Scotti Opera Company. He managed the troupe for several seasons while touring the United States. In January, 1924, Scotti celebrated his 25th anniversary at the Met with a gala performance of Tosca. By 1930, Scotti's voice had declined considerably but he continued to appear on the Met's roster of singers due to his outstanding histrionic ability. His final appearance at the Metropolitan Opera occurred on 20 January 1933, when he sang Chim-Fen in Leoni's L'oracolo; a role he had created in London in 1905.

Following his resignation from the Met, Scotti returned to Italy to spend his retirement. He died in Naples just three years later, aged 70, in 1936.

Recordings and vocal characteristics Scotti can be heard singing snatches of Scarpia's music in part of a clearly exciting performance of Tosca that was recorded live at the Met on faint and mold-damaged Mapleson Cylinders in 1903. He is partnered by soprano Emma Eames and tenor Emilio De Marchi, with Luigi Mancinelli conducting. On another Mapleson recording, thankfully undamaged, he can be clearly heard leading the entrance of the players in the second act of Pagliacci.

Scotti made several commercial recordings from 1902 until the outbreak of hostilities in Europe in 1914 for the British Gramophone and Typewriter Company, the affiliated American Victor Talking Machine Company and also for the Columbia Phonograph Company. Most of these recordings have been reissued on LP and CD, featuring a range of solo arias and some operatic duets and ensembles with Caruso, Marcella Sembrich and Geraldine Farrar and others. Scotti's records confirm that he was a stylish, well-trained and aristocratic singer. His voice was not especially large nor resonant; but it had a smooth, steady tone and was accurate in its execution of difficult vocal ornaments.

Having an extroverted personality on stage and off, Scotti was adept at portraying both dramatic and comic characters.

Some notable Scotti roles

Baron Scarpia, Tosca Chim-Fen, L'Oracolo Rigoletto, Rigoletto Iago, Otello Posa, Don Carlo Don Giovanni, Don Giovanni Amonasro, Aida Dr. Malatesta, Don Pasquale Belcore, L'elisir d'amore Falstaff, Falstaff Marcello, La bohème Sharpless, Madama Butterfly