Augusto Brogi by Bini

Augusto Brogi (1847-1917); Italian baritone and tenor.
He studied under Romani and Bianchi at the Istituto Musicale di Firenze in Florence. In the season 1871/72 he successfully made his debut (as a baritone) in Teatro Pagliano in Petrella's "Contessa di Amalfi". After performances in various theatres of Florence, he moved to Rome to sing at the Apollo theatre, then to Milan where he sang at La Scala, Dal Verme and the Teatro Manzoni.This was followed by appearances in Venice at the Teatro La Fenice and in Bologna at the Teatro Comunale. When Brogi was preparing himself for the role of Iago in Verdi's "Otello" he discovered that the tenor role of Otello was closer to his heart. And after 15 years of being a baritone, he moved to tenor roles which he continued for another 15 successful years. The historical chronicles say his easy way of singing, his extremely soft and pleasant timbre, his delivery, classic gestures and interpretation, made it possible for the gifted artist to play a very broad range of roles. Later on his career as he became more and more successful, he also performed in most of the major theatres of Paris, Vienna, St.Petersburg, Stockholm, Pest, Copenhagen, Moscow, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. His wide repertoire included 70 operas with famous roles by Verdi, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Bizet among his favourites.