Antonio Paoli - World Tours

World Tours

Between 1900 and 1914, Paoli performed in Europe, America, Africa, and Asia. He performed in Italy, Luxembourg and in the United Kingdom, with performances in London, Scotland, Edinburgh, and Brighton, closing the year with concerts in Corsica (his father's homeland) and Turkey. In 1900, he married Josephine Vetiska, an Austrian, in Vienna. From 1901-1902, Paoli performed in the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the United States. Paoli purchased a villa in Porto Cereso, Lugano, Italy, where his son Antonio Arnaldo was born. After singing for King Alfonso XII and the Royal family in Spain, he returned to the United States and sang in various cities, among them New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Albany, Providence, Grand Rapids, New London, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Pittsburg, Syracuse and Chicago.

In 1905, Paoli performed at the Grand Theatre du Conservatoire in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Czar of Russia Nicholas II was present during one of the performances and after inviting Paoli to perform at the Royal winter palace, awarded Paoli The Cross of St. Mauricio medal and bestowed upon him the title Cammer Sanger (Chamber Singer).

On September 5, 1907, Paoli held a private recital for Pope Pius X at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. That same year he was named as a "Singer of the Royal Court" by William II of Germany. Paoli was also the first operatic artist to record an entire opera when he participated in a performance of Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo in Milan, Italy. He was selected in 1907, as the First Tenor in the main character by a team of engineers and musicians which included Leoncavallo. The recording was arranged in the following manner; the musicians were placed at the end of the recording room and the cack up singers in a semi-arc in front of the gramophone while Paoli stood alone 20 feet (6.1 m) away from the gramophone.

Paoli continued to perform around the world with performances in Greece, Palestine, Poland, Egypt, Spain and Italy, where he established his permanent residence. In 1910, the singer was signed as the First Tenor by La Scala, Milan, the most prestigious opera company in the world at the time. Paoli received a contract to inaugurate Teatro Colón, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he sang Otello and Di quella pira. He also performed in Russia, Poland, Egypt, Hungary, Belgium, Cuba, Chile, Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Canada, and the United States.