[1] Poli began his vocal studies when he joined the "Società Corale Pisana" in 1925, where he was a pupil of Bruno Pizzi.

He then went to Milan to further his studies with Gino Neri, and later joined the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in 1930.

[1] He was a leading baritone at La Scala in Milan from 1937 to 1955, where he sang in a wide repertoire from Mozart to verismo, including; Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra, L'amico Fritz, Manon Lescaut, La bohème, Tosca, Adriana Lecouvreur, as well as Italian versions of operas such as; Les pêcheurs de perles, Manon, Werther, etc.

[citation needed] He was also very active on Italian Radio and Television (RAI), primarily in a production of Madama Butterfly, in 1956, with two then unknown beginners, Anna Moffo and Renato Cioni, which has been recently released on DVD.

[1] Poli enjoyed a long career singing until 1969, when he then turned to teaching, first in Ankara and later in Melbourne.