Aureliano Pertile and Irene Minghini-Cattaneo sing the 'Miserere' from 'Il Trovatore,' with orchestra conducted by Angelo Albergoni, recorded in Milan on 24 May 1927.
From Wikipedia: Aureliano Pertile (9 November 1885 - 11 January 1952) was an Italian lyric-dramatic tenor. Many critics consider him one of the most exciting operatic artists of the inter-war period, and one of the most important tenors of the 20th century.
Pertile was born in Montagnana, Northern Italy, 18 days after the birth of another celebrated tenor, Giovanni Martinelli, in the same town. He studied with Giacomo Orefice in Padua, and Gaetano Bavagnoli in Milan, before making his operatic debut as Lyonel in Martha, in 1911, in Vicenza.
After singing in regional Italy and South America, Pertile first sang at the premier Italian opera house, La Scala, Milan, in 1916. He appeared on this occasion as Paolo in Francesca da Rimini, opposite Rosa Raïsa. Pertile made his New York Metropolitan Opera debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca, with Maria Jeritza in the title role, on 1 December 1921.
In his only season at the Met, his other roles included des Grieux in Manon Lescaut, Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana, Grigori in Boris Godunov (with Feodor Chaliapin), Radames in Aida, Canio in Pagliacci (opposite Florence Easton), and Julien in Louise (opposite Geraldine Farrar). He also participated in performances of Louise with the Met's touring company at Philadelphia and in Brooklyn.
Thereafter he returned to Italy, where he established himself as the leading tenor at La Scala from 1927 to 1937, becoming a favourite singer of the principal conductor Arturo Toscanini...
In all his La Scala roles, Pertile achieved compelling dramatic results despite possessing a voice that was not especially suave or beautiful. It was sometimes even described by critics as 'brutta' (ugly). He was particularly effective in Verdi roles and verismo opera, bringing a rare emotional intensity to his performances.
Pertile also sang at the Royal Opera House in London from 1927 to 1931, and at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires between 1918-29. His soprano colleagues included such famous divas as Gilda Dalla Rizza, dal Monte, Claudia Muzio, Raisa, Bidu Sayão, Hina Spani, and Ninon Vallin.
He appeared, too, in unusual operatic works, creating for example the role of Fernando in Felipe Boero's opera Tucuman (in 1918) and the title role in Constantino Gaito's Ollantay (in 1926).
His final stage appearances were in Italy in 1946, in Pagliacci. He then taught at the Milan Conservatory until his death in 1952.
Pertile made recordings from 1922 to 1942...
Irene Menghini Cattaneo (Lugo, April 12, 1892 - Rimini, March 24, 1944) was an Italian mezzo-soprano.
After studying in Milan, she made her debut in Savona in 1918 with Il Trovatore, moving on to the Stadttheater in Zurich, Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, and Teatro Regio in Parma. Her long and uneasy apprenticeship was accomplished essentially on provincial stages, although in 1924 she had appeared at Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice as a convincing Quickly in Falstaff and the following year at the Arena di Verona in La Gioconda), and ended in December 1926 when she sang the part of Ortruda in Lohengrin at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, alongside Giuseppina Cobelli and Beniamino Gigli, under the baton of maestro Antonio Guarnieri. The resounding success earned her reengagement in the same theatre, two months later, for Il Trovatore and for Aida, operas both performed in 1927 at the Regio di Torino and at the Politeama Fiorentino; from there she went on to La Scala (debut in Il Trovatore - March 1928), then to London's Covent Garden (Aida and Boris Godunov), where she also returned in the next two seasons singing La Gioconda and Norma.
A vibrant voice of great intensity, endowed with a range of colours and a range truly out of the ordinary..., she appeared in major Italian theatres and in France, Egypt, Spain and Austria.
She retired from the stage in 1941 and was killed in 1944 at her home in Rimini in an air raid.
I transferred this side from Fonotipia O-8906.