Luigi Alva

Luis Ernesto Alva y Talledo (10 April 1927 – 15 May 2025), known professionally as Luigi Alva, was a Peruvian operatic tenor who worked internationally at the major opera houses and festivals. A Mozart and Rossini specialist, Alva achieved fame with roles such as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, and Fenton in Verdi's Falstaff, but he also appeared in world premieres. He retired from the stage in 1989.

Life and career Alva was born in Paita, Peru, and served for a while in the Peruvian Navy before concentrating on a singing career.

Alva had a light lyric tenor voice and was known for the clarity of his diction and his elegant phrasing, a quality which George Jellinek described as compensating for an "underpowered" voice in the 1956 live recording of Mozart's Così fan tutte from La Scala. He rarely ventured beyond his favourite repertoire, which included Mozart, Rossini, and Donizetti and to which (according to Harold Rosenthal) his "elegant, refined style" was particularly suited, but sponsored the Premio Luigi Alva for young singers, taught master classes, and served as a juror in singing competitions. Alva also taught singing at La Scuola di Canto (Voice Academy) at La Scala in Milan. Among his students there was the Belgian tenor Marc Laho.

In 2005, the Peruvian postal service issued a stamp in his honour and in 2012 he was awarded the Personalidad Meritoria de la Cultura medal by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.

Alva died in Mariano Comense, Italy on 15 May 2025, at the age of 98.

Roles Alva's repertoire included the following roles, most of which he played on stage:

Rossini: Conte d'Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia Alessandro in Il re pastore (recording, 1967) Tamino in Die Zauberflöte

Cimarosa: Paolino in Il matrimonio segreto

Verdi: Alfredo in La traviata

Donizetti: Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1967), Belmonte Così fan tutte (1970), Ferrando The Barber of Seville (1972), Count Almaviva Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia – (as Count Almaviva) Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Alceo Galliera, EMI, 1957