Guido Volpi - Lamento di Federico (L'Arlesiana)

Guido Volpi (1889-1944) was born in Cremona and began his musical studies there with Federico Caduana.  He made his debut in November of 1913 at the Teatro Politeama in Piacenza as Elvino in Bellini’s La Sonnambula and was soon singing throughout Italy.  Although Volpi made a handful of appearances outside his homeland (the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and the Teatro Nacional in Panama among them), his career was mainly confined to the regional houses of Italy.  In a career that spanned two decades, the tenor sang the leading roles in over two dozen operas, including La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Gianni Schicchi, Adriana Lecouvreur, Mefistofele, L’Amico Fritz,  Cavalleria Rusticana, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Falstaff, Don Pasquale, Manon, Carmen, Boris Godunov, Barbiere di Siviglia, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Favorita and La Gioconda.  Guido Volpi ended his career where it began…at the Teatro Politeama in a performance of the obscure work Il Gatto Stivalato in February of 1933…and he passed away a decade later at the age of 54.