Giuseppe Borgatti

An Italian tenor, the first Andrea Chénier and later a Wagnerian of exceptional power. He studied in Bologna with Alessandro Busi, made his debut at Castelfranco Veneto in 1892 as Faust, and the next year created Des Grieux in the revised Manon Lescaut at Novara. He created Chénier at La Scala in 1896 and sang Des Grieux and Cavaradossi in Italy, Spain and Argentina. Under Toscanini he turned to Wagner, singing Siegfried and Tristan at La Scala in 1899 and 1900. Glaucoma forced him from the stage in 1914, after Parsifal at La Scala, and he taught in Milan.