Louis D'Angelo

Early life and career

D'Angelo was born on May 6, 1888 in Naples, Italy. With his family he moved to the United States at the age of three. He was trained in the United States and began his career as a leading baritone with the Century Opera Company in 1914. He made his debut with that company as Macroton in L'amore medico. Other roles he sang at the Century Opera House included Silvio in Pagliacci, Baron Douphol in La traviata, Kagama in Natoma, and Yamadori in Madama Butterfly.

Work with the Metropolitan Opera

From 1917–1948 D'Angelo was a performer with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City where he appeared in a total of 1,882 performances. He made his debut with the Met at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as Sciarrone in Tosca with Geraldine Farrar in the title role on November 13, 1917. His first performance at the "Old Met" was on November 17, 1917 as Wagner in Faust with Giovanni Martinelli as the eponymous hero.

World premiere roles

D'Angelo created roles in several world premieres at the Met, including:

Singing roles in U.S. premieres

At the Met he also sang roles in the United States premieres of thirteen works, including:

First stagings at the Met

D'Angelo also performed roles in the Met's first stagings of several operas, including:

Other roles

Other roles he performed for the company included:

Final appearance

His last appearance at the Metropolitan Opera was on February 15, 1948 as Grenvil in La traviata.

Death and legacy

D'Angelo died on August 9, 1958 at Jersey City, New Jersey, aged 70. He sang an extensive repertoire of more than 300 roles in a total of 1,882 performances at the Metropolitan Opera.

Recordings