Amato Pasquale, *21 March 1878 Naples, †12 August 1942 New York, Italian singer (baritone). In 1896–99, he studied at Conservatorio di S. Pietro a Maiella in Naples, and in 1900, he debuted there at Teatro Bellini in the role of Germont the father in Verdi’s Traviata. In 1904, he performed at London’s Covent Garden with the Neapolitan San Carlo Theatre and in Buenos Aires (in Verdi’s Rigoletto and Aida, Bizet’s Carmen, Puccini’s La Bohème and others). In 1907, he sang at La Scala in Milan in Wagner’s Tristan and Iseult and in 1908, he took part in the Italian premiere of Pelléas and Mélisande by Debussy (Golaud’s part) directed by A. Toscanini. In 1908–21, he was a lead singer of the New York Metropolitan Opera House, taking part in the world premieres of many operas: he performed as Jack Rance in The Girl of the West, Napoleon in Giordan’s Madame Sans-Gêne and as the main character in W. Damrosch’s Cyrano de Bergerac. He had a dramatic voice with a firm tone, combining a lively temperament and power of expression with a masterful vocal technique. He retired from the stage due to poor health and returned to Italy; in 1933, he performed twice in New York on the occasion of the anniversary of the director of the Metropolitan Opera House, G. Gatti-Casazza (February 26) and the 25th anniversary of his debut on this stage (November 20). From 1935 until his death, he was dean of the vocal and opera department at the University of Louisiana. He has recorded several albums for Fonotipia and Victor.
