Background
Giuseppe De Luca was born on December 25, 1876 in Rome, Italy. He was the first son and oldest of three children of Nicola and Lucia (De Filippi) De Luca. His father was a blacksmith. His mother, who had a beautiful soprano voice.
Giuseppe De Luca was born on December 25, 1876 in Rome, Italy. He was the first son and oldest of three children of Nicola and Lucia (De Filippi) De Luca. His father was a blacksmith. His mother, who had a beautiful soprano voice.
De Luca's mother fostered his musical education, beginning with the Schola Cantorum in Rome, to which he was admitted at the age of eight. As a boy soprano he sang in St. Peter's and before Pope Leo XIII. At fifteen, he began to study with Venceslao Persichini at the Royal Academy of St. Cecilia.
During the time of the studies Giuseppe's father died, and he was obliged to take odd jobs to help support the family.
By November 6, 1897, De Luca was ready for his professional debut, at Piacenza, in the role of Valentin in Gounod's Faust. His success was immediate. He sang in Genoa, Ferrara, and Milan, first at the Teatro Lirico, where in 1902 he sang in the world premiere of Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur (with Arturo Toscanini conducting and Enrico Caruso in the cast), and later at La Scala, where in 1904 he sang in the world premiere of Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly. He appeared in most European capitals and in South America.
De Luca made his New York debut at the Metropolitan Opera House on November 25, 1915, as Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville. A perennial favorite, he sang some 100 roles in more than 800 performances (as many as 50 in a season). He then returned to Italy, as he had usually done in the summers (when he rested and preferred not to sing), until 1940.
De Luca was a member of the Metropolitan company until the summer of 1935.
On February 7, 1940, he sang again at the "Met" as Germont in La Traviata. This was when De Luca was sixty-three years old, an age at which most singers hide away. On November 7, 1947, to celebrate his fifty years as a public artist, he gave a Town Hall recital that was a great musical, as well as personal, success. De Luca had never stopped singing, since, after his 1935 "retirement, " he gave concerts and sang over the radio.
He spent the war years in Italy, but did not sing publicly. After 1947 he taught privately and at the Juilliard School.
Giuseppe De Luca was a noted singer with very beautiful voice; his greatest triumphs took place at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. De Luca is notable for creating two important Puccini roles: Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (La Scala, 1904) and the title role in Gianni Schicchi (Metropolitan Opera, 1918). He also created the Marquess in Massenet's Griselidis, Michonnet in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, Gleby in Giordano's Siberia (1903), and Sancho Panza in Massenet's Don Quichotte opposite Feodor Chaliapin.
De Luca was accurately described by the critic Howard Taubman as "the greatest living exponent of the Italian art of 'bel canto, ' the tradition of technically perfect, beautiful singing. "
His voice was first of all beautiful; he controlled it perfectly, from very soft to full volume. His diction, whether in Italian or in French, was exceptionally clear. His phrasing was elegant, musically convincing, and emotionally moving. And, although only about five feet tall, he was an effective actor. He studied his roles not only as music but also as drama. He was also increasingly a phenomenon because of his vocal longevity. This must be attributed partly to heredity, but flawless technique and careful physical discipline contributed. De Luca believed that his early success as a swimmer and his later devotion to daily physical culture before an open window, to vocal exercises (sometimes performed in the bath), and to regular habits were essential.
A beautiful voice, then, exemplary training, physical prowess, and single-minded devotion to the singer's art made De Luca an outstanding singer for an extraordinary span of years. And his great achievements were accompanied by personal modesty and vivacious energy.
Quotes from others about the person
Richard Aldrich wrote in the New York Times: "His voice has an excellent quality and resonance, though he showed last evening an unnecessary tendency to force it. He has intelligence and comic power. "
Olin Downes wrote in the New York Times: "The first five notes made the pulses beat because of the art and beauty of the song. The quality of the legato, the perfection of the style, the sentiment which ennobled the melodic phrase, struck the whole audience. "
In 1903 De Luca married Olimpia Fierro. They had one daughter, Wally Panni. After his wife's death in 1918 he married her sister Giulia on October 22, 1922.
