Description

EMILIO LIVI (FIRENZE, 12 MAY, 1902 – BUENOS AIRES, 29 SEPTEMBER, 1973)

He was born in Florence on May 12, 1902 in the San Lorenzo district, in via San Zanobi. He was a mechanical turner in a workshop, when he began to study singing with the teacher Bruschini, who brought him a light tenor voice. He made his debut at the Teatro Verdi in Florence in 1928 in “L’elisir d’amore” by Gaetano Donizetti. He married in Florence, on April 22, 1929, with Emma Setti who, from that moment, will follow him throughout his career always staying close to him, as well as his brother-in-law Guido Setti, who will organize concerts for him in the various local theaters and around Florence, at the beginning making his apprenticeship together with the baritone Gino Bechi. He managed to secure several contracts with EIAR (Italian body for radio auditions) for which he performed in various concerts singing romances and folk songs including, in August 1932 “the romance” E lucevan le stelle” with such skill that, for the first time on Italian radio, listeners ask for an encore. The great orchestra conductor Gino Marinuzzi insistently wanted him at the Royal Opera in Rome, where he sang the part of the Indian, in the Russian opera “Sadko” by Nikolai Rimisky Korsakov on April 4, 1931. During the 1930s he performed in many Italian theaters, in concerts and operas, from the Bellini in Palermo to the Orsenigo in Faenza, always with the opera “Elisir d’amore” and at the Ariosto in Reggio Emilia in “Don Pasquale” by Gaetano Donizetti and in “Sonnambula” by Vincenzo Bellini at the Banchini theater in Prato, where he received many favors and receiving applause from numerous admirers. He had great success in 1937 at the San Carlo theater in Naples, temple of opera buffa in “Barbiere di Siviglia” by Gioacchino Rossini. He also sings in Lugano for the Swiss radio. In 1938 he began his first foreign tour in the United States of America, where he reached the pinnacle of success in important theatres, including Broadway in 1939. Back in Italy he continued his career with two important performances at the Brancaccio theater in Rome in 1942 in “Barbiere di Siviglia” and at the Comunale di Firenze in 1944 for a concert. In 1947, due to the disastrous situation inside the country, he was forced to emigrate to Argentina, where he began teaching at the Buenos Aires Conservatory. He died on September 29, 1973 in Buenos Aires.

TRACKLIST

1. Azar (Rich-Totis) Parlophon G. P. 91449 150568
2. Bambola Rosa (Redi-Nisa) HMV HN1716 OBA3601
3. Bella Manon (Kerten-Mendes) HMV HN1398
4. Canzone Dei Sorci Verdi (Mascheroni-Big-Mendes) HMV HN1373
5. Cara Carolina (Bianco-Bruno) HMV HN1695 OBA3470
6. C’era Una Volta Un Valzer (Lehar-Bertini) Parlophon G. P. 91407 150503
7. Dimentichiamo (Cowier-Bracchi) Parlophon G. P. 91067
8. Fiorentina (Mariotti-Panzeri-Rastelli) HMV HN1488
9. Guitarrera (Di Lazzaro-Frati) HMV HN1370
10. Madonna Fiorentina (Bixio-Cherubini) HMV HN1695 OBA3469
11. Mi Piaci Tanto (Szaboics-Bertini) Parlophon G. P. 91419 150546
12. Nasce Così L’amore (D’anzi-Bracchi) Parlophon G. P. 91705 150928
13. No Io Non Piango Per Te (Schisa-Frati) Parlophon G. P. 92191 151945
14. Non È Bugia (Ansaldo-Borella) Parlophon G. P. 91642 150825
15. Non Parlarmi D’amor (Testore) Parlophon G. P. 92108
16. Notte Senza Luna (Frati-Raimondo) Parlophon G. P. 92108
17. Simpatia (Quando La Luna Ride) (Pagano-Cherubini) HMV HN1716
18. Sonia (Kramer-Marghionno) Parlophon G. P. 92191 151946
19. Torna L’aprile (Bonnard-Marf) Parlophon G. P. 91407 150505
20. Torna Piccina (Bixio) Parlophon G. P. 92112