Stamped Passport from his Farewell Tour

Original Italian passport of the important tenor, containing his photograph, signature, stamps and visas, and issued on December 10, 1954. The passport contains stamps from West and East Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, the United States, and Canada, all dated 1955 and acquired during Gigli's farewell world tour. 24 pp. Green cloth binding. Some light wear and soiling to the back cover, but overall fine. 3.75 x 5.25 inches (9.8 x 13.3 cm).

In lyrical and romantic repertory, many regarded Gigli as the legitimate heir of Caruso. He made his professional debut as Enzo in La Gioconda at Rovigo in 1914 and his Rome Opera debut as Faust in Mefistofele in 1916. He later debuted at La Scala in 1918 and first appeared at the Met in 1920, singing every season there until 1932 when he returned to Europe.

In the last few years of his life, Gigli gave concert performances more often than he appeared on stage. Before his retirement in 1955, Gigli undertook an exhausting world tour of farewell concerts. This impaired his health in the two years that remained to him, during which time he helped prepare his memoirs (based primarily on an earlier memoir, fleshed out by a series of interviews). He died in November 1957. (18149)

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Ephemera

Opera

Signed Document/Item

Signed Photograph

$1,200.00

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