Franco Ventriglia

Franco Ventriglia (October 20, 1922 – November 28, 2012) was an opera singer who sang bass in every major European opera house during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He returned to the U.S. in 1978, where he continued to perform at venues including Carnegie Hall, and traveled to perform in southeast Asia, until his retirement in 2001 at age 79.

Biography

Franco Ventriglia was born on October 20, 1922, in Fairfield, Connecticut, to Rosa and Salvatore Ventriglia. He grew up on a vegetable farm and graduated from Roger Ludlowe High School in Fairfield in 1941. He enlisted in the Marine Corps, serving in the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in the South Pacific during World War II. After returning from the war, he was working at his brother's filling station in Easton, Connecticut, when Mario Pagano, a ''maestro de Canto'' at the American Theatre Wing Professional School heard from one of Ventriglia's coworkers about his singing talent. Ventriglia passed an audition and went on to attend the school on the G.I. Bill, crossing paths with classmate Marlon Brando, among others.

Singing career

Ventriglia worked as an inspector at Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, Connecticut, and sang in local concerts. After attending a few of Ventriglia's concerts in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Igor Sikorsky, a music lover, granted Ventriglia permission to take one day off from work each week to continue his voice studies in New York City.

After Pagano's death, Ventriglia and his wife Jean boarded the ocean liner SS Constitution for Italy. On board, after singing ''Ol' Man River'' for a group in first class, he met a businessman who asked him to contact Toti Dal Monte, a great coloratura soprano who also taught voice in Rome. Ventriglia took singing lessons from Dal Monte and eventually made his operatic debut in Palermo, singing in the ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''. He later sang with Luciano Pavarotti in ''La bohème'' and ''Rigoletto''. He performed in ''Samson and Delilah'' at La Scala, a performance he considered the highlight of his career.

Later life and death

Ventriglia's last concert was at the age of 79.

Ventruglia died on November 28, 2012. He was buried at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Fairfield.

References

External links and sources

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Record-Journal.com interview with Franco Ventriglia

Successful opera career was destiny
a December 2004 article from a Connecticut newspaper

Recordings by Franco Ventriglia
from Amazon.com
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ventriglia, Francesco
Operatic basses
American male singers
American opera singers
People from Wallingford, Connecticut
1922 births
2012 deaths
People from Fairfield, Connecticut
United States Marines