Sbriglia, Giovanni

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Sbriglia, Giovanni

Sbriglia, Giovanni, Italian tenor and singing teacher; b. Naples, June 23, 1829; d. Paris, Feb. 20, 1916. He made his debut at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples in 1853. He was heard in Italy by Maretzek, the impresario, who engaged him for a season at the Academy of Music in N.Y., where Sbriglia appeared with Adelina Patti (1860). He then made a grand tour of the U.S. with Parodi and Adelaide Phillipps, and also sang in Mexico and Havana. He returned to Europe in 1875 and settled in Paris, where he became a highly successful vocal teacher. Jean, Joséphine, and Edouard de Reszke studied with him when they were already professional artists; he trained the baritone voice of Jean de Reszke, enabling him to sing tenor roles. Pol Plançon, Nordica, and Sibyl Sanderson were among his pupils.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire