Tito Schipa (pronounced "skEE-pah") was born on December 27, 1888, and died on December 16, 1965. He was an Italian tenor.

Biography

Schipa was born on December 27, 1888, in Lecce, Apulia, Italy, as Raffaele Attilio Amedeo Schipa. His birthday was later recorded as January 2, 1889, for military purposes. He studied in Milan and made his operatic debut at age 21 in 1910 in Vercelli. He performed across Italy and in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1917, he played the role of Ruggiero in Puccini’s La rondine.

In 1919, Schipa traveled to the United States and joined the Chicago Opera Company. He stayed with the Chicago company until 1932, then performed at the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1932 to 1935 and again in 1941. He also sang at the San Francisco Opera, starting in 1924.

From 1929 to 1949, Schipa regularly performed in Italy, including at La Scala in Milan and the Rome Opera. He returned to Buenos Aires in 1954 and toured the Soviet Union in 1957.

Schipa’s performances were recorded on film. In 1929, he appeared in two short films, singing “M’appari” from Flotow’s Martha and “Una furtiva lagrima” from Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.

Early in his career, Schipa performed many roles from Verdi and Puccini operas. Later, he focused on about 20 Italian and French operatic roles, including Werther by Massenet, L’elisir d’amore by Donizetti, and L’arlesiana by Cilea. In concerts, he sang lyrical arias and popular songs, including Neapolitan and Spanish tunes.

Schipa recorded many arias and songs during his career, starting in Italy in 1913. A famous 78-rpm recording of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale from 1932 is still available on CD. He also recorded tangos, some composed by him in Spanish, mostly in Buenos Aires and New York. His early tours in Latin America made him very popular there.

Like Richard Tauber, Schipa was also a conductor. He composed an operetta called La Principessa Liana, which premiered in 1929. Some critics said his voice was small, limited in range, and slightly rough in tone, but he remained popular with audiences. Michael Scott noted that Schipa was not a master of bel canto, and his recording of “Il mio tesoro” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni was criticized for poor technique. However, his live performances of the aria, such as a 1934 Metropolitan Opera broadcast and a 1935 New Orleans performance, showed strong skill. A critic wrote that while some of his high notes were weak, his style and phrasing were artistic and well-trained.

On July 18, 1919, Schipa joined the Scottish Rite Freemasonry in Buenos Aires. In 1939, he refused an invitation to perform 12 concerts for Italian-American groups raising money for the Anti-Fascist movement. He explained in a letter that he could not support the cause due to his ties to Italian authorities.

Schipa’s final performance at the Metropolitan Opera was in 1941. He returned to Fascist Italy, where he was favored by Benito Mussolini’s regime, a connection that followed him. After returning to the U.S., his post-war concerts were poorly attended, but his final return to the stage in 1962 drew a full audience at Town Hall. In 1958, he retired from opera to teach voice in Budapest. He returned to New York for a final concert in 1962, which was sold out. Schipa died on December 16, 1965, in Manhattan, New York, at age 76, while teaching there.

Legacy

He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity. His son, Tito Schipa Jr., is a composer, singer-songwriter, producer, writer, and actor.

Selected filmography

• Three Lucky Fools, published in 1933
• To Live, published in 1937
• Mad About Opera, published in 1948
• The Mysteries of Venice, published in 1951