Enzo Mascherini

Enzo Mascherini was an Italian operatic baritone born in Florence on 6 August 1910 and died in Livorno on 29 July 1981. A native Florentine, he trained in that city under two distinguished baritones, Titta Ruffo and Riccardo Stracciari, before launching a career that placed him among the leading baritones of his generation.

Mascherini made his professional debut in Florence in 1937, taking the role of Giorgio Germont in La traviata. The following year he participated in the world premiere of Gian Francesco Malipiero's Antonio e Cleopatra. His ascent through Italy's major houses followed quickly: he debuted at the San Carlo in Naples in 1939 and at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1940. At La Scala his appearances over the following years included La bohème with Giuseppe di Stefano in 1952, La favorite in 1953, Faust opposite Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in 1954, Don Carlos in 1954, and a second La bohème in 1955 conducted by Leonard Bernstein.

Two of Mascherini's most celebrated performances came alongside Maria Callas. In 1951 he sang Montforte in I vespri siciliani at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under Erich Kleiber. The following year he appeared as Macbeth on the opening night of La Scala's 1952–53 season, with Victor de Sabata conducting. Both productions have been preserved in live recordings, along with other commercial discs on which Mascherini can be heard: Dom Sébastien opposite Fedora Barbieri, La favorite opposite Giulietta Simionato, and Tosca opposite Renata Tebaldi. In 1949 he also appeared in a filmed version of Il trovatore.

Following the war, Mascherini pursued an international career that took him to Paris, Vienna, Prague, London, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, San Francisco, and New York. In 1946 and 1947 he appeared at the New York City Opera, performing in La bohème as Marcello, La traviata with Dorothy Kirsten, Pagliacci in the roles of both Silvio and Tonio, Rigoletto, Andrea Chénier opposite Vivian della Chiesa in a production directed by Theodore Komisarjevsky, and Il barbiere di Siviglia with Luigi Infantino and Virginia MacWatters. Those New York City Opera engagements constitute his Broadway-area appearances from 1945 to 1947, with La bohème and Andrea Chénier among his credited roles.

Mascherini made his Metropolitan Opera debut on 7 December 1949 as Marcello in Puccini's La bohème, a performance that featured Bidu Sayão as Mimì, Ferruccio Tagliavini as Rodolfo, Lois Hunt as Musetta, and Giuseppe Antonicelli on the podium. During the 1949–50 Met season he also sang Germont in La traviata with Licia Albanese and Jan Peerce, Lescaut in Manon Lescaut opposite Richard Tucker, Valentin in Faust with Giuseppe di Stefano in the title role, and the title role in Rigoletto with Erna Berger as Gilda. In 1951 he undertook a tour to South Africa.

After retiring from the stage, Mascherini returned to Florence as a teacher. Among the pupils he trained there was the Swiss bass-baritone Alexander Malta.