Michelangelo Verso

Tenor Michelangelo Verso, born in Palermo (Sicily) in 1920, studied with tenor Salvatore Pollicino in Palermo, with Maestro Punzo in Naples and with tenor Giovanni Martinelli in New York. He started singing in various Eiar and Rai Radio programs in Italy, winning several awards. In 1942 he won a scholarship for acting at the "Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia" (C.S.C.) of Rome and in 1950 he was chosen winner of the International Contest of Perfection for Lyric Singers at the Accademia Internazionale Chigiana of Siena where he studied with soprano Ines Alfano Tellini. His operatic repertoire included: Rigoletto, La Bohème, La Traviata, Cavalleria Rusticana, Lucia di Lammermoor and Elisir d'Amore. He made his operatic debut in Palermo in 1949 with "Il Barbiere di Siviglia". In that same year his mentor and idol, Beniamino Gigli, invited him to participate in a benefit concert that Gigli had organized at the Teatro Massimo of Palermo for the poor. Michelangelo Verso recorded records for Cetra, Fonit, Columbia and other labels and was the first singer who was invited in 1951 by the Cetra record company of Turin to record the Sicilian song "Vitti 'na crozza" (composed by Francesco Li Causi) which became an anthem for the Sicilians. In 1952 he was engaged by Furio Rendine to participate at the Neapolitan song festival "La Piedigrotta" where he was awarded for his interpretation of "Campane Napulitane" (which soon after was recorded and released with other songs sung by him on Fonit records) and where the local critics quoted him as the new Caruso for having sung in public without a microphone. In 1953 he sang in concert with soprano Maria Caniglia in Monreale in the presence of Cardinal Carpinio. On the transatlantic liner Andrea Doria during his journey to New York, he was invited to sing in concert with the orchestra on board conducted by Maestro Bandel. Once arrived in New York, where he established, he did extensive Radio and TV work for WHOM, WEVD, CBS, and NBC. He was put under contract by the Pittsburgh Opera for the lyric season 1953/54 to sing the leading tenor role as the Count of Almaviva in the "Barber of Seville" together with baritone Cesare Bardelli as Figaro. In 1955 he established himself in Mexico where he performed with Josephine Baker at Teatro Iris and acted and sang together with Gloria Aguiar in the movie "Invitacion a Italia" sponsored by Good Year Oxo. His voice was also used in a Mexican film "Locos peligrosos" (1957) starring Tin-Tan (Germán Valdés), Luis Aguilar, Yolanda Varela and Paco Malgesto. He sang at the Teatro Bellas Artes of Mexico D.F. in concert with baritone Carlo Morelli and recorded several Long Playing records for the Columbia record company. In Cuba (Havana) in 1955 at TV Canal 4 he performed in the same program with Edith Piaf and at the "Tropicana Nightclub" he was in the same show with Maurice Chevalier and Nat King Cole. During the following years he toured and sang in several countries of North and Latin America, performing mainly for Radio and TV. In 1961 he returned to Europe where he toured and performed in Italy, Spain, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus. In that same year he made records with PhonoType, Zephir and Rifi record companies and participated in 1962 in the Sicilian Songcontest in Castellamare del Golfo where he won the first and second award with two new Sicilian songs "Carritteri 'nnammuratu" and "Saridda" which soon after were recorded and released by the Fonola record company of Milan. In Germany he was invited to sing for the AFN and for the NATO and in the Netherlands, where he established himself for many years, he performed in several concerts, TV and Radio shows. In 1984 he was invited by the soprano Rina Gigli, the daughter of Beniamino, to come to Recanati to give a homage to her father in a concert in which also tenor Ferruccio Tagliavini participated. Returning to his birthplace Palermo, Michelangelo Verso performed in many TV-shows and benefit concerts for UNICEF and made three Beniamino Gigli memorial documentaries for local TV. In 1990 he was awarded in Rome with a Golden Plate from O.I.P.E.C. "Omaggio a Beniamino Gigli" for his world-wide artistic merits and tributes and in 1998 he was nominated Honorary Member by the English Mario Lanza fan club "Friends of Mario Lanza". In 2003, three years before he died, he was awarded with a Silver Commemorative Plate by the town Council of Palermo engraved with the following: "Lifetime Achievement Award to Michelangelo Verso, clear and robust voice appreciated around the world by the public and the critics"