Emilio De Marchi (tenor) Tannhäuser, Turiddu, and Samson. In Buenos Aires, he was the first Rodolfo (1896), the first Cavaradossi (1900), and sang at the premiere of Beruti´sTaras Bulba (1895). He debuted at Italy's leading opera house, La Scala, Milan, in 1898 as Stolzing in an Italian-language version of Richard Wagner's "Die Meistersinger". He proved to beca success at La Scala and was chosen by the composer Puccini to sing the coveted role of Cavaradossi in the first performance of "Tosca", which occurred at Rome's Teatro Costanzi on January 14, 1900. A rising young tenor named Enrico Caruso, 12 years De Marchi's junior, had
Enrico Caruso Metropolitan Opera in New York City where he was the leading tenor for 18 consecutive seasons. It was at the Met, in 1910, that he created the role of Dick Johnson in Giacomo Puccini's "La fanciulla del West". Caruso's voice extended up to high D-flat in its prime and grew in power and weight as he grew older. At times, his voice took on a dark, almost baritonal coloration. He sang a broad spectrum of roles, ranging from lyric, to spinto, to dramatic parts, in the Italian and French repertoires. In the German repertoire, Caruso sang only two roles, Assad