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
Gioachino Rossini Sterbini and not the same as that already used by Giovanni Paisiello in his own "Barbiere", an opera which had enjoyed European popularity for more than a quarter of a century. Much is made of how quickly Rossini's opera was written, scholarship generally agreeing upon two or three weeks. Later in life, Rossini claimed to have written the opera in only twelve days. It was a colossal failure when it premiered as "Almaviva"; Paisiello's admirers were extremely indignant, sabotaging the production by whistling and shouting during the entire first act. However, not long after the second performance, the opera became