Alessio De Paolis

Who was Alessio De Paolis?

Alessio De Paolis was an Italian operatic tenor who specialized in character roles. He was a prominent member of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City where he sang from 1938 to 1964. At the Met De Paolis performed 51 different roles, primarily in the Italian and French repertoires, in a remarkable 1555 performances. In 1931, De Paolis created the role of Monsieur Le Beau in Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's opera La vedova scaltra and that of Christian in Franco Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac in 1936.

De Paolis also performed in a number of commercial opera recordings. These include a famous 1959 RCA recording of Puccini's Turandot with Birgit Nilsson and Jussi Björling in which he sings the role of the Emperor Altoum.