Antonio Scotti

Although, in an era of many superb baritones, Antonio Scotti's was not the richest or the most spectacular in timbre, it was nonetheless a splendid instrument whose owner yielded nothing to his contemporaries in musicality and dramatic acuity. As his voice declined, he concentrated on the verismo repertory and created stage portraits which still resonate decades after his retirement. Scotti became the reigning Baron Scarpia of his time, unequaled until the arrival of Tito Gobbi decades later. His career was unusually long, lasting into his late sixties. In his native city of ...