Italian tenors: the great opera voices from Caruso to Pavarotti and the voices of today

When the world says tenor, it thinks of Italy. Opera was born here, between the Florence of the Camerata de' Bardi and the Mantua of Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607); the school of bel canto took shape here; here Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti and Bellini wrote the roles every tenor dreams of singing. And from Naples, with its songs, the voice of the Italian tenor travelled the world.

This page tells the story of the Italian tenors who made history, from Caruso to Pavarotti and on to today's leading voices, with a special look at the Sicilian tenors and at where to hear tenors in Italy today. For the great tenors from the rest of Europe there is the page on European tenors. It also introduces an Italian tenor you can hear live: Corrado Ilarion Tuccitto, known as Ilarion, a Sicilian tenor and composer.

The great Italian tenors in history

Giovanni Battista Rubini (1794-1854)

Born in Romano di Lombardia, he was the tenor of the early 19th century: Bellini wrote the leading roles of Il pirata, La sonnambula and I puritani for his voice. With him the tenor became the romantic hero of opera.

Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)

A Neapolitan, he is the most famous Italian tenor of all time and the first great recording star. For nearly twenty years he was the star of the Metropolitan Opera in New York; his recordings of Vesti la giubba and of Neapolitan songs brought the Italian voice into millions of homes when the gramophone was still new.

Beniamino Gigli (1890-1957)

Born in Recanati, regarded as Caruso's heir: a voice of great sweetness, famous for its pianissimos. He sang at the Met and in theatres all over the world, and was one of the first tenors to become popular in cinema too.

Tito Schipa (1888-1965)

From Lecce, the most refined of the light lyric tenors (tenore di grazia): not a powerful voice, but one of unique elegance, ideal for L'elisir d'amore and Werther. He is still a model of style and phrasing.

Aureliano Pertile (1885-1952)

Born in Montagnana, near Padua, he was Arturo Toscanini's favourite tenor at La Scala in Milan in the 1920s: an intense performer who cared about the word even before the sound.

Giacomo Lauri-Volpi (1892-1979)

Born in Lanuvio, near Rome, Gigli's rival in the same years: a brilliant ring, legendary top notes and a very long career between La Scala and the Met.

Mario Del Monaco (1915-1982)

A Florentine, the dramatic tenor par excellence: his Verdi Otello remains a benchmark for power and drive.

Giuseppe Di Stefano (1921-2008)

A Sicilian from Motta Sant'Anastasia, in the province of Catania. Maria Callas's great partner on stage and on record, he had a warm, sunny voice and exemplary diction, and was much loved in Neapolitan and Sicilian song too.

Franco Corelli (1921-2003)

From Ancona, a magnetic stage presence and a voice of great power: between the 1950s and the 1970s he was one of the leading stars at La Scala and the Met.

Carlo Bergonzi (1924-2014)

Born near Parma, he is considered the master of Verdi style: legato, elegance and respect for the score make him a model for every tenor who sings Verdi.

Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007)

From Modena, the voice that made opera popular all over the world. His Nessun dorma became a universal anthem, and the Three Tenors concert at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome in 1990, with Plácido Domingo and José Carreras, brought opera to a huge audience. With Pavarotti & Friends he brought opera and pop music together.

Andrea Bocelli (1958)

A Tuscan from Lajatico, he took the voice of the Italian tenor into pop and crossover. Con te partirò and its duet version, Time to Say Goodbye, made him one of the most listened-to Italian artists in the world.

The Sicilian tenors

Sicily has given opera some of its finest voices, and music one of its best-loved composers, Vincenzo Bellini, born in Catania. Among the tenors linked to the island:

• Giuseppe Di Stefano, from Motta Sant'Anastasia (Catania), the most famous Sicilian voice of the 20th century.
• Salvatore Licitra (1968-2011), from a Sicilian family, born in Switzerland and died in Catania: in 2002 he replaced Luciano Pavarotti at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in Tosca, a success that made him famous overnight.
• Marcello Giordani (1963-2019), from Augusta (Syracuse), for years a leading tenor at the Metropolitan Opera.
• Corrado Ilarion Tuccitto, a tenor and composer from eastern Sicily, whom we introduce below.

If you are looking for a tenor on the island, in Catania, Ragusa, Modica, Syracuse, Taormina, Messina or Palermo, there is the page on tenors in Sicily.

Tenors in Italy today: where to hear them live

The tradition goes on. On the international stage there are tenors such as Vittorio Grigolo, from Arezzo, and Francesco Meli, from Genoa, leading roles in the great opera houses. Alongside them are tenors who take bel canto outside the theatre: into churches, squares, historic villas, gala dinners and weddings, where the voice is heard up close, with no filter.

If you are looking for a tenor in Italy for a wedding, a concert or an event, you will find Ilarion in Sicily, Calabria, on the Amalfi Coast, on Lake Como, in Tuscany and in Venice, and abroad too, as an Italian tenor for events in Europe.

Corrado Ilarion Tuccitto, Sicilian tenor and composer

Corrado Ilarion Tuccitto, known as Ilarion, is a lyric tenor and composer from eastern Sicily. He studied music at the Conservatory of Caltanissetta. His path began at seventeen with an award from the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Luciano Violante, and since then his voice has crossed very different stages: cathedrals, theatres, cruise ships, piano bars, international signature events.

Those who have heard him live, singing teachers included, call him "the Bocelli of the South", for the power and elegance of his voice.

Repertoire

• Opera arias, in the tradition of the Italian bel canto school.
• Italian song and Neapolitan classics, serenades and Sicilian music, in a concert of about 45 minutes.
• Sacred music: Ave Maria, Panis Angelicus, Ave Verum, sung live while accompanying himself on the organ.
• Original compositions: songs, waltzes and pieces in different genres such as Come amare quando (How to love when), Danza per la vita, Valzer dell'amore, Valzerlingo, Nell'assenza, Per sempre and Night and Day, all available to listen to on the home page.

He sings in Italian, English, Spanish and Greek.

A tenor and a composer

Unlike many tenors, Ilarion also writes the music he sings. He composes original music on commission (anthems, theme tunes, soundtracks) and, for couples, a custom wedding song, delivered with its sheet music.

Where to hear him

Ilarion sings in Sicily (Messina, Catania, Taormina, Giardini Naxos, the Ionian Riviera), in Calabria, on the Amalfi Coast, on Lake Como, in Tuscany and in Venice: concerts, church ceremonies, luxury weddings, gala dinners and corporate events. He works with wedding planners and event managers and with those who organise tour groups and cruise passengers visiting Sicily.

The most famous tenor arias

• Nessun dorma, from Puccini's Turandot
• La donna è mobile, from Verdi's Rigoletto
• E lucevan le stelle and Recondita armonia, from Puccini's Tosca
• Che gelida manina, from Puccini's La bohème
• Una furtiva lagrima, from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore
• Celeste Aida, from Verdi's Aida
• Vesti la giubba, from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci

And the songs every Italian tenor holds dear: 'O sole mio, Torna a Surriento, Core 'ngrato, Funiculì funiculà.

What kind of tenor? The voice types in brief

• Light lyric tenor (tenore di grazia): an agile, bright voice, ideal for Rossini and Donizetti. Example: Tito Schipa.
• Lyric tenor: a full, singing voice for the great roles of Puccini and early Verdi. Examples: Beniamino Gigli, Luciano Pavarotti, Giuseppe Di Stefano.
• Spinto tenor: more body and more ring, for roles such as Cavaradossi or Calaf. Example: Franco Corelli.
• Dramatic tenor: the darkest, most powerful voice, for Otello. Example: Mario Del Monaco.

An Italian tenor for your event

Hearing a tenor live, a few metres away, is an emotion no recording can give back. For a church wedding, a gala dinner, a concert in a historic villa or a corporate event, you can ask Ilarion to sing for you.

Tell Ilarion about your event.