Natale de Carolis Natale de Carolis Natale de Carolis (born 25 July 1957 in Anagni) is an Italian operatic baritone who has had an active career in major opera houses internationally since the early 1980s. He is particularly associated with the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gioachino Rossini. Born in Anagni, Carolis studied singing with Renato Guelfi and Maria Vittoria. After winning the Toti dal Monte Singing Competition in Treviso, he made his professional opera debut in 1983 as Don Basilio in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" at the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale in Spoleto for the Festival dei Due Mondi. In 1987
La pietra del paragone La pietra del paragone La pietra del paragone (The Touchstone) is an opera, or melodramma giocoso, in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, to an original Italian libretto by Luigi Romanelli. "La pietra del paragone" was first performed at La Scala, Milan, on 26 September 1812. It was the composer's first commission from a major opera house and was an instant success, being performed 53 times during its first season. Napoleon's Viceroy in Milan, Eugène de Beauharnais, was so impressed by the opera that he wrote to the Minister of the Interior, "You will kindly arrange for Maestro Joachin Rossini to