Francesco Maria Bonini

Who was Francesco Maria Bonini?

Francesco Maria Bonini was an Italian baritone who had a major international opera career from 1896 through 1927. He was one of the first wave of musicians to be recorded, having made a number of recordings with Fonotipia Records in Milan in 1905-1906.

Born in Naples, Bonini studied singing with Beniamino Carelli at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella in his native city. He made his stage debut in 1896 at the Teatro Mercadante in Foggia as Don Carlo di Vargas in Giuseppe Verdi's La forza del destino. In 1897-1898 he made appearances at the Amazon Theatre in Brazil, the Valletta Royal Opera House in Malta and at the Cairo Opera House in Egypt.

In 1899 Bonini returned to Italy to appear in operas in Brescia and Cremona. He sang at the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater in 1900 and 1902 and in 1901 he was committed to the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. In 1903 he made his debuts at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and at La Scala in Milan, the latter in the role of Arnoldo in Amilcare Ponchielli's I Lituani . On 17 October 1903 he portrayed the role of Athanaël in the Italian premiere of Jules Massenet's Thaïs at the Teatro Lirico Internazionale in Milan opposite Lina Cavalieri in the title role.