Alessandro Silvestri

Alessandro Silvestri was an Italian bass who sang Wagner as Italian houses were first taking the composer up. He debuted at Bassano del Grappa in 1870 in Apolloni's L'ebreo and worked through Reggio Emilia, Bologna and Turin before reaching La Scala in 1881. He created Filippo II in the Italian Don Carlo of 1884, and was King Marke in the Tristan und Isolde Bologna gave in June 1888, the opera's first in Italy. Later seasons took him to Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and St Petersburg. He recorded for Zonophone and retired in 1902 to teach.