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The Italian Bass Ezio Pinza ( 18 May 1892 - 9 May 1957 ) was one of the outstanding Opera singers of the first half of the 20th century. He spent twenty-two seasons at New York 's Metropolitan Opera , appearing in more than 750 performances of fifty operas. Pinza was born in Rome and grew up in Ravenna . He studied at Bologna 's Conservatorio Martini. His operatic debut was in 1914 as Oroveso in '' Norma '' in Cremona . After World War I , he debuted at Rome in 1919 and Milan's La Scala in February, 1922 . Pinza's Met debut came November 1926 in Spontini's '' La Vestale '', with famed American soprano Rosa Ponselle in the title role. In 1929 , he sang Don Giovanni, a role with which he was subsequently to become closely identified. He subsequently added the Mozart roles Figaro (in 1940) and Sarastro (in 1942) to his repertoire, as well as a vast number of Italian operatic roles of Bellini , Donizetti , and Verdi , as well as Mussorgsky 's '' Boris Godunov '' (sung in Italian). After retiring from the Met in 1948 , Pinza embarked on a second career on Broadway . In April 1949 , he appeared in the Rodgers And Hammerstein Musical '' South Pacific '' and his operatic, expressive performance of "Some Enchanted Evening" made him a matinee idol and a national celebrity. He also appeared in the Broadway production of '' Fanny '' in 1954 , opposite Florence Henderson . Pinza died at age 64. His funeral was held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City . Oddly, Pinza could not sight-read a musical score. He would listen to his part being played on the piano, and having heard it, he could sing it. |
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