Antonio Pini-Corsi

Pini-Corsi participated in numerous operatic premieres, portraying on stage such characters as Ford in Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff and Schaunard in Giacomo Puccini's La bohème.

Shortly thereafter he portrayed Ford in the premiere of Verdi's final opera, Falstaff, at La Scala on 9 February 1893 at the behest of the composer, who admired his vocal skill and stage craft.

The following year he made his debut in the United States when, on 11 October 1899, he performed to acclaim with the New York Metropolitan Opera as Bartolo in The Barber of Seville on tour in Springfield, Massachusetts.

He remained with the Met until 1914, appearing in numerous world premieres, including those of the Monk in Walter Damrosch's Cyrano, Happy in La fanciulla del West, the Innkeeper in Engelbert Humperdinck's Königskinder, and Mauprat in Victor Herbert's Madeline.

He also appeared in the American premieres of two operas by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Arnolfo in L'amore medico and Pantalone in Le donne curiose, and that of Crisogono in Franchetti's Germania.

His other roles at the Met included Alcindoro, Schaunard and Benoit in La bohème, Barnaba in Il maestro di cappella, Don Pasquale, Ford, Geronte in Manon Lescaut, Larivaudière in La fille de Madame Angot, the Night Watchman in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Sacristan in Tosca, and Sir Tristram in Martha.

His last opera appearance was in 1917 in Rossini's Il signor Bruschino at the Teatro Dal Verme, Milan, when his voice, if not as powerful or as steady as it had been 40 years before, was still as agile as ever and used with the same keen intelligence that had always distinguished his performances.