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Gino Penno (1920-1998) was a true tenore robusto from the old Italian school of singing. Born in Felizzano, the young tenor studied with Ettore Campogaliano (who also worked with Luciano Pavarotti and Carlo Bergonzi at the beginnings of their respective careers). After taking first prize in a singing competition, Penno entered the School of Singing at La Scala in Milan. In 1946, while still a student, he made his debut as a comprimario. He continued singing comprimario roles until making his principal debut as Pollione in Norma at Lugano in 1949. By the early 1950s, Penno, who had been performing mainly in provincial Italian theaters, seemed destined to become an operatic superstar. Appearances in Rome, Milan, Verona, Naples, Paris and Monte Carlo were heralded by the press. When the young tenor took his bow with the MET in 1954 (as Manrico in Il Trovatore), esteemed critic Max de Schauensee commented that, “The Metropolitan has fallen upon a singer who is likely to have a distinguished career within its ranks.” Sadly, it was not to be. Penno sang just twenty performances of five roles over the next three seasons at the Met. By now, the tenor's performances were becoming uneven. His 1955 Covent Garden performance of Radames was panned. One London critic commented on Penno's faulty intonation and coarse singing, ending his review of the tenor by noting that, “A large number of the audience showed their displeasure at his performance to an extent rarely witnessed at the Royal Opera House.” Then, there was the disastrous Trovatore at the Met in the spring of 1956. A vocal crisis in the third act left him barely able to make it through the rest of the performance. Penno sang once more at the Met, filling in for an indisposed Kurt Baum in Forza del Destino. This seems to have been the tenor's last appearance in a major international theater. At the age of thirty after barely a decade before the Penno bid farewell to the operatic stage. There has been no definitive answer as to why Gino Penno's career burned out so quickly. Some ascribe it to chronic illness (he reportedly suffered from a debilitating stomach condition). Others claim that he gave up the stage to pursue a career as a lawyer. The most common explanation, however, is that Penno, after a decade of singing the most punishing roles in the operatic repertoire (Manrico, Don Alvaro, Radames, Pollione, Siegfried, Lohengrin, Calaf, Canio), simply pushed himself too hard and wore out his voice. By all accounts, Gino Penno was the possessor of a voice of extraordinary power and volume. He may not have been the most subtle of interpreters. He may not have been willing or able to caress the ear with sweetness of tone. He was, however, a damned exciting performer and the real deal when it came to the old school Italian tenors.
