Florencio Constantino

Constantino, ca. 1900–1910, by G. Moses and Son (Newberry Library, Chicago) Florencio Constantino (April 9, 1869 – November 19, 1919) was a Spanish operatic tenor who had an active international performance career from 1892 through 1917. He was particularly admired for his performances in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi and Vincenzo Bellini; with the roles of the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto and Arturo in I puritani being signature roles for the tenor.

Raised primarily in Argentina, Constantino began his career performing in opera houses in South America from 1892–1897 before traveling to Spain to pursue vocal training with Leopoldo Stiatesi. From 1898–1900 he appeared in leading roles in opera houses in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, and Russia and then resumed performing in opera houses in South America during the first years of the 20th century. He returned to Europe for a tour of Spain and Germany in 1903–1904 and then became a resident artist at the Theater des Westens in Berlin in 1904–1905.

In 1905 Constantino was committed to the Royal Opera House in London before joining English impresario Henry Russell's touring San Carlo Opera Company; a company with whom he toured the United States in 1906–1907. In 1908 he joined Oscar Hammerstein I's Manhattan Opera Company and in 1909 he became the principal tenor of the newly created Boston Opera Company; a company with whom he performed until it closed in 1915. In 1910 he made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera.

After the closing of the Boston Opera Company, Constantino moved to Los Angeles where he served as the Artistic Director of the California Grand Opera Company in 1916. In 1917 a disastrous appearance at the Saint Louis Opera led to a highly publicized lawsuit against Constantino. He left the United States for Mexico City where he suffered a mental breakdown and died at a hospital for the destitute in 1919.

Life and career

Florencio Constantino was born on April 9, 1869, in Ortuella, Spain. He moved with his family to Argentina while a young child. He embarked on a career singing in European opera houses, achieving his first critical success as the Duke of Mantua in Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan in 1898. In 1906 he was engaged by the English impresario Henry Russell for performance opposite Lillian Nordica in his touring San Carlo Opera Company (SCOC). With that company Constantino travelled to the United States, beginning his tour of that nation with the SCOC at the French Opera House in New Orleans in 1906. He had a particular triumph at that same opera house later that year as Arturo in I puritani.

While primarily active in Boston from 1909–1915, Constantino also made appearances at other opera houses as a guest artist during this period. He performed annually at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires from 1909 to 1912; notably portraying Prince Sinodal in the South American premiere of Anton Rubinstein's The Demon in 1909 and the title role in that theatre's first staging of Verdi's Don Carlos in 1911.

After work in Boston ended, Constantino moved to Los Angeles, California, where he taught vocal lessons and served as the director at the California Temple of Arts. He was also the Artistic Director of the California Grand Opera Company for one season with whom he both directed and starred in productions of Amilcare Ponchielli's La Gioconda (as Enzo Grimaldo), Rossini's The Barber of Seville (as Count Almaviva) and Aida (as Radames) in Los Angeles in 1916.

In 1917, he was fired by the St. Louis Opera after he sang the premiere performance of Homer Moore's opera Louis XIV and clearly "did not know either the words or music". He was subsequently sued by Moore, who sought $1,200 in damages.

He had a nervous breakdown and died on November 19, 1919, in Mexico City. He died in a hospital for the poor, having been brought to that institution after being found lying ill on the street.