Americo (Amerigo) Sbigoli (died January 1822) was an Italian

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

. He is best known for the unusual manner of his death, as documented by the composer

Giovanni Pacini Giovanni Pacini (11 February 17966 December 1867) was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni's operas. The fami ...

. Singing the second tenor part in a performance of Pacini's opera ''Cesare in Egitto'', Sbigoli took part in a vocal quintet with first tenor

Domenico Donzelli Domenico Donzelli (2 February 1790 – 31 March 1873) was an Italian tenor with a robust voice who enjoyed an important career in Paris, London and his native country during the 1808-1841 period. Biography Donzelli can be regarded as an off ...

. In the course of the quintet, Sbigoli's character was to sing a phrase "closely resembling one sung just previously by Donzelli". Attempting to match Donzelli's powerful voice, Sbigoli overstrained himself, burst a blood vessel in his neck, and died shortly thereafter. While tragic in and of itself, this incident also had a small but significant impact on the course of music history, as Sbigoli was scheduled to sing the role of Abenamet in the premiere of

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

's opera ''

Zoraida di Granata ''Zoraida di Granata'' (also ''Zoraide di Granata'' or ''Zoraïda di Granata'') is a ''melodramma eroico'' (''opera seria'' or 'heroic' opera), in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto had been partly prepared by Bartolomeo Merelli ...

'' at the

Teatro Argentina The Teatro Argentina (directly translating to "Theatre Argentina") is an opera house and Theater (structure), theatre located in Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. One of the oldest theatres in Rome, it was constructed in 1731 an ...

. No other tenors were available to replace Sbigoli, and the premiere was no more than a week or two thereafter, on January 28; thus, Donizetti had to hurriedly revise the opera, transforming the tenor Abenamet —a military general— into a newly created role for female

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

. Despite this last-minute revision, the opera was hugely acclaimed upon its premiere, and marked Donizetti's first major success, boosting his career immeasurably. According to the diary of Prince Agostino Chigi, the Teatro Argentina held a benefit on Feb. 15, 1822 for the widow and children of Americo Sbigoli, raising six thousand lire.Weinstock, p. 26 (note)

References

Year of birth missing 1822 deaths Italian operatic tenors Musicians who died on stage 19th-century Italian male opera singers {{Italy-opera-singer-stub