Florencio Constantino

Raised primarily in Argentina, Constantino began his career performing in opera houses in South America from 1892–1897 before traveling to Spain to pursue vocal training with Leopoldo Stiatesi.

[1] With the assistance of a Spanish patron he obtained vocal training, and made his professional opera debut in 1889 at the Solís Theatre in Uruguay as Fernando in Gaetano Donizetti's La favorite.

[2] He embarked on a career singing in European opera houses, achieving his first critical success as the Duke of Mantua in Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan in 1898.

[1] After this Constantino left Europe to return to South America, where he was busy performing in that continent's major opera houses during the first years of the 20th century.

[3] In 1906 he was engaged by the English impresario Henry Russell for performance opposite Lillian Nordica in his touring San Carlo Opera Company (SCOC).

[1] In 1908 Constantino made his New York debut at the Manhattan Opera House as the Duke of Mantua with Luisa Tetrazzini as Gilda and Mario Sammarco as Rigoletto.

[6] In 1911 his leg was injured in a stage accident involving a falling horse while performing the role of Dick Johnson in Puccini's La fanciulla del West with the Boston Opera Company.

He performed annually at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires from 1909 to 1912; notably portraying Prince Sinodal in the South American premiere of Anton Rubinstein's The Demon in 1909 and the title role in that theatre's first staging of Verdi's Don Carlos in 1911.

[9] He was also the Artistic Director of the California Grand Opera Company for one season with whom he both directed and starred in productions of Amilcare Ponchielli's La Gioconda (as Enzo Grimaldo), Rossini's The Barber of Seville (as Count Almaviva) and Aida (as Radames) in Los Angeles in 1916.