Mattia Battistini

Mattia Battistini
1856 – 1928
Italian baritone.
Battistini dropped out of law school to study singing, first with Emilio Terziani and then with Venceslao Persichini. Battistini worked with conductor Luigi Mancinelli and the composer Augusto Rotoli, and he consulted with baritone Antonio Cotogni, in an effort to refine his technique. Début at the Teatro Argentina, Rome, as Alfonso in “ La favorite” by Donizetti 1878 1883, he undertook his first visit to the Royal Opera House at London's Covent Garden, where he appeared as Riccardo in “ I Puritani “ by Bellini . . Debut at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in 1886 . From 1892 onwards, Battistini established himself at Russia's two imperial theatres in Saint Petersburg and Moscow: the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi . Returned London Covent Garden for appearances in 1905–1906,He sang at Warsaw, Saint Petersburg, Moscow ,Odessa , Milan, Lisbon, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Budapest and Paris. Principal rôles included Don Carlo “ La forza del destino” Di Luna “ Il trovatore” Rigoletto “, Rigoletto,”, Amonasro “Aïda”, Don Carlo “Ernani” all by Verdi, Gonzales “il Guarany” Gomes, Riccardo “ I Puritani” Bellini, and Ashton “Lucia di Lammermoor” by Donizetti.