After service as a clarinetist in a military band, he studied with Giuseppe Mandolini in Milan, and made his professional debut at the Teatro dal Verme, as "Ernani" in 1910; the role of Dick Johnson in "La fanciulla del West" became his passport role: he sang it for his debut in Rome (under Arturo Toscanini), Brescia, Naples, Genoa—all in 1911—as well as in Monte Carlo and at the La Scala theatre in 1912; Cavaradossi in "Tosca" was his debut role at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, in London and for his first American engagement in Philadelphia in 1913; on April 25, 1913 he portrayed Pantagruel in the world premiere of Jules Massenet's "Panurge" at the Théâtre de la Gaîté in Paris.