The Italian-US tenor Lando Bartolini, who died today, had a rags trade to riches story. Unhappy working in his family’s textile factory in Prato, he moved to Philadelphia in 1966 and started taking voice lessons at the Academy of Vocal Arts.
His brother Lino’s hopes of fame as a pop singer were extinguished the following year by a fatal car accident.
Lando waited until 1973 until he landed a role at the Teatre Liceu in Barcelona. He became a member of the Sankt Gallen theatre in Switzerland, then of the New York City Opera (1976–79).
La Scala engaged him as Ernanio in January 1982 and he went on to sing in Vienna, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Paris and Covent Garden. In 1986 he stood in for Pavarotti in C hicao and two years later he appeared for the first time at the Met. Never a huge stgar, he was vastly popular with fellow cast members.
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