Singer Biographies G - L
Amleto Galli, bass. Born 1886 in Bologna, died 1949 in Milan. He first became an apprentice to a shoemaker, then an engraver. He then spent some months at the academy of music in Bologna. He made his debut in 1908 and sang at first in provincial theatres. In the 1911-12 season he appeared at La Scala in Gluck’s Armida. In 1914 he participated in the world premiere of the opera L'Ombra di Don Giovanni by Alfano in Milan. In 1913 he made a guest appearance at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and in 1915 at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. Galli sang regularly at La Scala between 1920 and 1930 where in 1922 he sang in the world premiere of Pizzetti’s Debora. One of his best roles was the Lunardo in I Quattro Rusteghi. He was a talented artist and sculptor and a keen astronomer!
André Gaudin, baritone, born 1902 Les Sables d'Olonne, died 1986 Paris. He studied at the Conservatoire National de Paris. In 1927 he appeared at the Opéra-Comique as Tonio. He stayed at this house until 1946 where his roles included Lescaut in Manon, Scarpia, Albert in Werther and Pelléas. He made guest appearances at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Monte Carlo, the French provinces, Buenos Aires, London, Rio de Janeiro, Amsterdam and Florence. His roles also included Escamillo, Germont, Marcello, Sharpless,Valentin and the title role in Marouf.
Maria Gentile, soprano, born 1902 and died 1993 in Catania. She made her debut in 1925 at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa as Gilda. She made guest appearances in Havana, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. Her roles covered the coloratura repertoire. When she retired from the stage she taught in Catania. Discs: Columbia and Polydor.
Zlata Gjungjenac-Gavella, born 1898 Cazma, died 1982 in Zagreb. She began her education at the Academy of Music in Zagreb and then with Irene Schlemmer-Ambros in Vienna. She made her debut in 1918 at the National Opera in Zagreb as the queen of the night in Zauberflöte. She sang here until 1947 and also enjoyed international success with guest appearances. She sang in Vienna, Prague, Brno, Trieste, London and Berlin. Her roles included Mimi, Tosca, Butterfly, Violetta, Marguerite, Salome and Jenufa. She also performed in oratorio. From 1947-52 she was professor at the Music Academy in Ljubljana and then until 1964 as professor at the Music Academy in Belgrade.
Hilde Gueden, soprano. Born Vienna 1917. She studied piano, singing and dance at the Vienna Music Academy. She made her debut in 1938 in Zurich as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro. She joined Munich State Opera in 1942 and stayed there until 1947 when she was called to the Vienna State Opera. In 1952 she became a member of the Metropolitan Opera. She made guest appearances in Rome and Florence (under Serafin), Milan, Covent Garden, Paris and at the festivals in Edinburgh, Glyndebourne, Venice and Salzburg.
Niels Hansen, tenor. Born 1880 in Denmark. Studied as an artist but turned to singing and trained with Valdemar Lincke in Copenhagen. He then went to Paris and studied with Jean de Reszke (1911-12)! He made his debut in Copenhagen as Rodolfo in 1909 and stayed in this house for 40 years. His roles included Manrico, Alfredo, Radames, Lohengrin, Canio, Cavaradossi, Pinkerton, Florestan and Lensky. He was also highly regarded as an oratorio and concert singer. Lauritz Melchior was his understudy at Copenhagen Opera!
Carl Hartmann, tenor, born 1895 in Solingen. He first worked in a razor-blade factory. He then studied singing from 1921 with Senff in Dusseldorf. He made his debut in 1928 in Tannhauser in Elberfeld. In 1930 he created excitement in the US as a member of Johanna Gadski's German Opera Company. In 1931 he was engaged by the City Opera in Berlin and became famous as a Wagner tenor. He appeared as a guest in Vienna, Italy, France and Switzerland. From 1937-40 he came to the Metropolitan Opera, making his debut there as Siegfried. In 1938 he sang Tristan at Bayreuth. He gave up singing after World War II.
Alexander Haydter, bass-baritone, born 1872, died 1919 in Vienna. He studied singing with Gansbacher and Geiringer in Vienna. He made his debut in 1896 as St. Bris in Les Huguenots at Zurich. He sang at the German Theatre in Prague from 1898-1905 and was then engaged at the Vienna Imperial Opera and remained there until his death. He sang at Salzburg in 1906 and 1910. He was married to the contralto Hermine Kittel.
Luise Helletsgruber, soprano, born 1898, died 1967 (in an accident). She began her stage career at the Vienna Opera in 1922 and remained there throughout her entire operatic life until 1942. She was particularly admired as a Mozart singer and sang at Salzburg as Cherubino and Donna Anna. After 1934 she also appeared at Glyndebourne.
Luigi Infantino, tenor. Born 1921 in Racalmuto (Sicily), died 1991 in Rome. He studied with Italo Brancucci in Parma and made his debut in 1943 at the Teatro Regio as Rodolfo in La Bohème. He appeared in 1945 at Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and came with a troupe to London in 1946 where he sang Rodolfo with Onelia Fineschi and as the duke in Rigoletto with Lina Aimaro. Infantino had a big career in Italy. In 1948 he sang Nadir at La Scala and Ramiro in La Cenerentola. In the same year he appeared at Verona. He appeared many times in Naples and Bologna. He made another guest appearance in London in 1949 at the Stoll Theatre. He sang Ramiro in 1949 at New York City Centre Opera. He made concert tours in England and Australia. In 1961 he performed in Rome in the world premiere of the opera Amleto by Mario Zefred and in 1962 in the world premiere of Franco Mannino’s La Stirpe di Davide. In the years 1950-73 he sang in RAI opera broadcasts. Infantino’s last performance was in 1973 in Mannino’s Il Diavolo. Other roles included Tamino, Alfredo, Almaviva and Osaka.
Giovanni Inghilleri, baritone. Born Sicily in 1894. He first became a pianist and was employed as a repetiteur in Italian houses. He made his debut at the Teatro Costanzi in 1921 and then appeared in other important Italian houses including La Scala. He was an annual guest at Covent Garden (1928-35)and was engaged at the Chicago Opera (1929-30). In 1936 he sang in the world premiere of Malipiero's Giulio Cesare at Genoa Opera. After World War II he centred his career on La Scala and other Italian theatres. In 1956 he became a professor at the Pesaro Conservatory.
Wladimir Arkadjewitsch Kandelaki, bass-baritone, born 1908 died 1994 in Moscow. From 1925-28 he studied at the academy of music in Tblissi with E. Vronskij. He started in small roles at the opera house then after further study he came to the Stanislawski-Nemirowitsch-Dantschenko Theatre in Moscow. He made his debut there in the operetta La fille de Madame Angot . He spent his entire career here singing basso-buffo roles and operetta. During World War II he sang with the ensemble of Bolschoi Theatre as partner to the famous ballerina Galina Ulanowa in the ballet The Fountain by Bachtschisaraj by Assawjew. He was manager of the Nemirowitsch-Dantschenko Theatre from 1954-64 where he resided over many operetta performances. He received the highest Russian State commendations for an artist.
Forrest Lamont, tenor. Born Athlone, Canada, 1881. When he was a child his family moved to Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts where he sang in a church choir. He studied singing in Italy and made his debut at the Teatro Adriano in 1914 in Poliuto. He sang as a guest in Moscow, Budapest and Vienna and at various Italian theatres. He came to the Chicago Opera in 1917 making his debut in the world premiere of Azora. He was a popular member of this company until 1930 and probably had his finest moment there when he sang opposite Rosa Raisa in I Gioielli della Madonna in 1920-21. He later taught in Chicago.
Virgilio Lazzari, bass, born April 20, 1887 Assisi, died October 4, 1953 Castel Gandolfo. Lazzari was first an operetta singer with the company Vitale Compagnia (debut in 1908 in "Boccaccio" by F. von Suppé). After further training by Antonio Cotogni in Rome, he made his debut there in 1914 as an opera singer. He sang in South America in 1914-15, among others. at the Teatro Colón Buenos Aires. In 1916 he performed for the first time in North America, namely in St. Louis. His career peaked there. In 1917 he came to the Boston Opera. During his long career at the Chicago Opera in 1918-32, he was heard among others. as Leporello in "Don Giovanni", as Archibaldo in "Amore dei tre Re" by Montemezzi (together with Mary Garden), as Oroveso in "Norma", as title hero in "Figaro's Wedding" (1928-29), as Basilio and as Bartolo in the "Barber of Seville" and as Warlaam in the "Boris Godunow" (with Fedor Shalyapin in the title role) and in 1919 in the American premiere of Catalani's "Loreley". On October 4, 1929 he sang Ramphis in "Aida" in the opening performance of the newly built Civic Opera House. From 1923 to 1931 he participated in the Ravinia Opera Festival near Chicago, and since 1920 he has often performed at the Teatro Colón Buenos Aires. In 1932 he sang Archibaldo in Montemezzi's L'Amore dei tre Re at La Scala in Milan. He was also very popular at the Rome Opera. In addition to the flexibility and tonal beauty of his voice, he was admired for his brilliant acting talent, especially in his Buffo roles. In 1933 he was appointed to the Metropolitan Opera in New York (inaugural role: Don Pedro in Meyerbeer's "Africaine" as a partner of Rosa Ponselle), of which he was a member until 1940 and then again in 1943-50. Since 1933 he has sung 147 performances of 20 roles at the Metropolitan Opera in their New York house in 14 seasons, including the Archibaldo in "Amore dei tre Re", the Leporello, the Alvise in "La Gioconda", the Ramphis in "Aida" , Bartolo and Basilio in the "Barber of Seville". He also had great success at the Salzburg Festival. Here he sang the leporello in "Don Giovanni" in 1934-36, the pistol in Verdi's "Falstaff" in 1936, these two roles in 1937-39 and Bartolo in "Nozze di Figaro". 1939 guest appearance at the Covent Garden Opera as Leporello. In 1950 he said goodbye to the stage as Leporello at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, but sang a few performances at the Philadelphia Opera and in April 1953 in Genoa Archibaldo in Montemezzi's »Amore dei tre Re«.
Emmi Leisner, contralto, born 1885 and died 1958 in Germany. She studied in Berlin with Helene Breest and the gave her first concert and lieder recital in 1911 in that city. In 1912 she sang Orphee at Hellerau in Jacques-Dalcroze's famous production. She was a member of the Berlin Imperial Opera from 1913-21, the Berlin Volksoper from 1921-24 and then engaged at the German opera in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1925. She was known, in general, as a concert and oratorio singer and was considered a great interpreter of Handel and Bach. She was also admired at Bayreuth for her art in singing Wagner, especially the role of Erda.
Eva Liebenberg, German contralto. Born 1890 in Stettin. She studied with Hugo Rasch in Berlin and was engaged at Coburg (1921-23). She took up residence in Berlin and became a noted concert and oratorio singer. She only rarely appeared on stage in opera but sang one of the three Norns and Erda in the Bayreuth Ring of 1927-28. In 1933 she had to give up her career in Germany because she was Jewish. She settled in Holland.
Gino Lulli, baritone. Born 1895 in Florence. He sang mainly in Italian provincial houses but did sing Jokanaan at La Scala in 1924. In 1926-27 he toured North America with the San Carlo Opera Company. His operatic roles included Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Germont, Rigoletto, Amonasro, Posa, Tonio, Telramund, Kurwenal, Scarpia, Marcello and Sharpless.
Juan Luria, baritone. Born 1862 in Warsaw, died 1943 in Sobibor. His real name was Johannes Lorié. He studied with Joseph Gänsbacher in Vienna and Baks in Berlin. He made his debut in 1885 in the Hoftheater at Stuttgart. He sang at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1890-91 season. His roles included Nevers, Pizarro, Kurwenal, Alberich and Gunther. In 1891 he went to Italy and sang there under the name of Giovanni Luria at La Scala. He created the Wotan in the first Italian performance of Der Walküre in the Italian language. He settled in Berlin and performed there and also in Elberfeld, Vienna, and Brussels. From 1908 he taught in Berlin and his pupils included Gotthelf Pistor, Käthe Heidersbach, Elfriede Marherr and Michael Bohnen. In 1937 he fled to the Netherlands, where he taught in Amsterdam and The Hague. He was, however, arrested by German troops and taken to a concentration camp in the Netherlands and then to Sobibor where he died.
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André Gaudin, baritone, born 1902 Les Sables d'Olonne, died 1986 Paris. He studied at the Conservatoire National de Paris. In 1927 he appeared at the Opéra-Comique as Tonio. He stayed at this house until 1946 where his roles included Lescaut in Manon, Scarpia, Albert in Werther and Pelléas. He made guest appearances at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Monte Carlo, the French provinces, Buenos Aires, London, Rio de Janeiro, Amsterdam and Florence. His roles also included Escamillo, Germont, Marcello, Sharpless,Valentin and the title role in Marouf.
Maria Gentile, soprano, born 1902 and died 1993 in Catania. She made her debut in 1925 at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa as Gilda. She made guest appearances in Havana, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. Her roles covered the coloratura repertoire. When she retired from the stage she taught in Catania. Discs: Columbia and Polydor.
Zlata Gjungjenac-Gavella, born 1898 Cazma, died 1982 in Zagreb. She began her education at the Academy of Music in Zagreb and then with Irene Schlemmer-Ambros in Vienna. She made her debut in 1918 at the National Opera in Zagreb as the queen of the night in Zauberflöte. She sang here until 1947 and also enjoyed international success with guest appearances. She sang in Vienna, Prague, Brno, Trieste, London and Berlin. Her roles included Mimi, Tosca, Butterfly, Violetta, Marguerite, Salome and Jenufa. She also performed in oratorio. From 1947-52 she was professor at the Music Academy in Ljubljana and then until 1964 as professor at the Music Academy in Belgrade.
Hilde Gueden, soprano. Born Vienna 1917. She studied piano, singing and dance at the Vienna Music Academy. She made her debut in 1938 in Zurich as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro. She joined Munich State Opera in 1942 and stayed there until 1947 when she was called to the Vienna State Opera. In 1952 she became a member of the Metropolitan Opera. She made guest appearances in Rome and Florence (under Serafin), Milan, Covent Garden, Paris and at the festivals in Edinburgh, Glyndebourne, Venice and Salzburg.
Niels Hansen, tenor. Born 1880 in Denmark. Studied as an artist but turned to singing and trained with Valdemar Lincke in Copenhagen. He then went to Paris and studied with Jean de Reszke (1911-12)! He made his debut in Copenhagen as Rodolfo in 1909 and stayed in this house for 40 years. His roles included Manrico, Alfredo, Radames, Lohengrin, Canio, Cavaradossi, Pinkerton, Florestan and Lensky. He was also highly regarded as an oratorio and concert singer. Lauritz Melchior was his understudy at Copenhagen Opera!
Carl Hartmann, tenor, born 1895 in Solingen. He first worked in a razor-blade factory. He then studied singing from 1921 with Senff in Dusseldorf. He made his debut in 1928 in Tannhauser in Elberfeld. In 1930 he created excitement in the US as a member of Johanna Gadski's German Opera Company. In 1931 he was engaged by the City Opera in Berlin and became famous as a Wagner tenor. He appeared as a guest in Vienna, Italy, France and Switzerland. From 1937-40 he came to the Metropolitan Opera, making his debut there as Siegfried. In 1938 he sang Tristan at Bayreuth. He gave up singing after World War II.
Alexander Haydter, bass-baritone, born 1872, died 1919 in Vienna. He studied singing with Gansbacher and Geiringer in Vienna. He made his debut in 1896 as St. Bris in Les Huguenots at Zurich. He sang at the German Theatre in Prague from 1898-1905 and was then engaged at the Vienna Imperial Opera and remained there until his death. He sang at Salzburg in 1906 and 1910. He was married to the contralto Hermine Kittel.
Luise Helletsgruber, soprano, born 1898, died 1967 (in an accident). She began her stage career at the Vienna Opera in 1922 and remained there throughout her entire operatic life until 1942. She was particularly admired as a Mozart singer and sang at Salzburg as Cherubino and Donna Anna. After 1934 she also appeared at Glyndebourne.
Luigi Infantino, tenor. Born 1921 in Racalmuto (Sicily), died 1991 in Rome. He studied with Italo Brancucci in Parma and made his debut in 1943 at the Teatro Regio as Rodolfo in La Bohème. He appeared in 1945 at Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and came with a troupe to London in 1946 where he sang Rodolfo with Onelia Fineschi and as the duke in Rigoletto with Lina Aimaro. Infantino had a big career in Italy. In 1948 he sang Nadir at La Scala and Ramiro in La Cenerentola. In the same year he appeared at Verona. He appeared many times in Naples and Bologna. He made another guest appearance in London in 1949 at the Stoll Theatre. He sang Ramiro in 1949 at New York City Centre Opera. He made concert tours in England and Australia. In 1961 he performed in Rome in the world premiere of the opera Amleto by Mario Zefred and in 1962 in the world premiere of Franco Mannino’s La Stirpe di Davide. In the years 1950-73 he sang in RAI opera broadcasts. Infantino’s last performance was in 1973 in Mannino’s Il Diavolo. Other roles included Tamino, Alfredo, Almaviva and Osaka.
Giovanni Inghilleri, baritone. Born Sicily in 1894. He first became a pianist and was employed as a repetiteur in Italian houses. He made his debut at the Teatro Costanzi in 1921 and then appeared in other important Italian houses including La Scala. He was an annual guest at Covent Garden (1928-35)and was engaged at the Chicago Opera (1929-30). In 1936 he sang in the world premiere of Malipiero's Giulio Cesare at Genoa Opera. After World War II he centred his career on La Scala and other Italian theatres. In 1956 he became a professor at the Pesaro Conservatory.
Wladimir Arkadjewitsch Kandelaki, bass-baritone, born 1908 died 1994 in Moscow. From 1925-28 he studied at the academy of music in Tblissi with E. Vronskij. He started in small roles at the opera house then after further study he came to the Stanislawski-Nemirowitsch-Dantschenko Theatre in Moscow. He made his debut there in the operetta La fille de Madame Angot . He spent his entire career here singing basso-buffo roles and operetta. During World War II he sang with the ensemble of Bolschoi Theatre as partner to the famous ballerina Galina Ulanowa in the ballet The Fountain by Bachtschisaraj by Assawjew. He was manager of the Nemirowitsch-Dantschenko Theatre from 1954-64 where he resided over many operetta performances. He received the highest Russian State commendations for an artist.
Forrest Lamont, tenor. Born Athlone, Canada, 1881. When he was a child his family moved to Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts where he sang in a church choir. He studied singing in Italy and made his debut at the Teatro Adriano in 1914 in Poliuto. He sang as a guest in Moscow, Budapest and Vienna and at various Italian theatres. He came to the Chicago Opera in 1917 making his debut in the world premiere of Azora. He was a popular member of this company until 1930 and probably had his finest moment there when he sang opposite Rosa Raisa in I Gioielli della Madonna in 1920-21. He later taught in Chicago.
Virgilio Lazzari, bass, born April 20, 1887 Assisi, died October 4, 1953 Castel Gandolfo. Lazzari was first an operetta singer with the company Vitale Compagnia (debut in 1908 in "Boccaccio" by F. von Suppé). After further training by Antonio Cotogni in Rome, he made his debut there in 1914 as an opera singer. He sang in South America in 1914-15, among others. at the Teatro Colón Buenos Aires. In 1916 he performed for the first time in North America, namely in St. Louis. His career peaked there. In 1917 he came to the Boston Opera. During his long career at the Chicago Opera in 1918-32, he was heard among others. as Leporello in "Don Giovanni", as Archibaldo in "Amore dei tre Re" by Montemezzi (together with Mary Garden), as Oroveso in "Norma", as title hero in "Figaro's Wedding" (1928-29), as Basilio and as Bartolo in the "Barber of Seville" and as Warlaam in the "Boris Godunow" (with Fedor Shalyapin in the title role) and in 1919 in the American premiere of Catalani's "Loreley". On October 4, 1929 he sang Ramphis in "Aida" in the opening performance of the newly built Civic Opera House. From 1923 to 1931 he participated in the Ravinia Opera Festival near Chicago, and since 1920 he has often performed at the Teatro Colón Buenos Aires. In 1932 he sang Archibaldo in Montemezzi's L'Amore dei tre Re at La Scala in Milan. He was also very popular at the Rome Opera. In addition to the flexibility and tonal beauty of his voice, he was admired for his brilliant acting talent, especially in his Buffo roles. In 1933 he was appointed to the Metropolitan Opera in New York (inaugural role: Don Pedro in Meyerbeer's "Africaine" as a partner of Rosa Ponselle), of which he was a member until 1940 and then again in 1943-50. Since 1933 he has sung 147 performances of 20 roles at the Metropolitan Opera in their New York house in 14 seasons, including the Archibaldo in "Amore dei tre Re", the Leporello, the Alvise in "La Gioconda", the Ramphis in "Aida" , Bartolo and Basilio in the "Barber of Seville". He also had great success at the Salzburg Festival. Here he sang the leporello in "Don Giovanni" in 1934-36, the pistol in Verdi's "Falstaff" in 1936, these two roles in 1937-39 and Bartolo in "Nozze di Figaro". 1939 guest appearance at the Covent Garden Opera as Leporello. In 1950 he said goodbye to the stage as Leporello at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, but sang a few performances at the Philadelphia Opera and in April 1953 in Genoa Archibaldo in Montemezzi's »Amore dei tre Re«.
Emmi Leisner, contralto, born 1885 and died 1958 in Germany. She studied in Berlin with Helene Breest and the gave her first concert and lieder recital in 1911 in that city. In 1912 she sang Orphee at Hellerau in Jacques-Dalcroze's famous production. She was a member of the Berlin Imperial Opera from 1913-21, the Berlin Volksoper from 1921-24 and then engaged at the German opera in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1925. She was known, in general, as a concert and oratorio singer and was considered a great interpreter of Handel and Bach. She was also admired at Bayreuth for her art in singing Wagner, especially the role of Erda.
Eva Liebenberg, German contralto. Born 1890 in Stettin. She studied with Hugo Rasch in Berlin and was engaged at Coburg (1921-23). She took up residence in Berlin and became a noted concert and oratorio singer. She only rarely appeared on stage in opera but sang one of the three Norns and Erda in the Bayreuth Ring of 1927-28. In 1933 she had to give up her career in Germany because she was Jewish. She settled in Holland.
Gino Lulli, baritone. Born 1895 in Florence. He sang mainly in Italian provincial houses but did sing Jokanaan at La Scala in 1924. In 1926-27 he toured North America with the San Carlo Opera Company. His operatic roles included Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Germont, Rigoletto, Amonasro, Posa, Tonio, Telramund, Kurwenal, Scarpia, Marcello and Sharpless.
Juan Luria, baritone. Born 1862 in Warsaw, died 1943 in Sobibor. His real name was Johannes Lorié. He studied with Joseph Gänsbacher in Vienna and Baks in Berlin. He made his debut in 1885 in the Hoftheater at Stuttgart. He sang at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1890-91 season. His roles included Nevers, Pizarro, Kurwenal, Alberich and Gunther. In 1891 he went to Italy and sang there under the name of Giovanni Luria at La Scala. He created the Wotan in the first Italian performance of Der Walküre in the Italian language. He settled in Berlin and performed there and also in Elberfeld, Vienna, and Brussels. From 1908 he taught in Berlin and his pupils included Gotthelf Pistor, Käthe Heidersbach, Elfriede Marherr and Michael Bohnen. In 1937 he fled to the Netherlands, where he taught in Amsterdam and The Hague. He was, however, arrested by German troops and taken to a concentration camp in the Netherlands and then to Sobibor where he died.
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