Edoardo Ferrari-Fontana and Margaret Matzenauer in 1915 at the Metropolitan Opera

Edoardo Ferrari-Fontana (8 July 1878 – 4 July 1936) was an Italian tenor.

Biography

He was born on 8 July 1878 in Rome, Italy. He married

Margarete Matzenauer Margaret Matzenauer (sometimes spelled Margarete Matzenauer or Margarethe Matzenaur) (1 June 1881 – 19 May 1963) was an Austria-Hungary-born, later resident in the United States, mezzo-soprano. She had an opulent timbre and wide range. S ...

on 26 June 1912 at the Italian Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and they divorced in 1917. He later married Maria Esther Telle y Pastor. He had six children, including Adrienne Ferrari-Fontana (b. 1914). His American debut was in

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was comp ...

in Boston, Massachusetts when he was the only tenor available when the original lead singer left the country a day before the performance. In 1914, he made his debut at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

in the role of Avito in the United States Premiere of

L'amore dei tre re (''The Love of the Three Kings'') is an opera in three acts by Italo Montemezzi. Its Italian-language libretto was written by playwright Sem Benelli who based it on his play of the same title. Performance history ''L'amore de tre re'' premiere ...

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, conducted by Arturo Toscanini.* Metropolitan Opera Archives
/ref> He had previously created the role in the world premiere at Teatro alla Scala under

Tullio Serafin Tullio Serafin (1 September 18782 February 1968) was an Italian conductor and former Musical Director at La Scala. Biography Tullio Serafin was a leading Italian opera conductor with a long career and a very broad repertoire who revived many 19t ...

. He moved to

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Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada in 1926 and died there on 4 July 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrari Fontana, Edoardo Italian tenors Singers from Rome 1878 births 1936 deaths Italian emigrants to the United States Italian emigrants to Canada Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)