Anselmi Giuseppe, *16 November 1876 Nicolosi (Catania), †27 May 1929 Zoagli (near Rapallo), Italian tenor singer. He began his artistic career at the age of 13 as a violinist. In 1896, he made his opera debut in Athens in P. Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. After further studies with L. Mancinelli, he began his career at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples and Covent Garden in London (1901), continuing through Lisbon, Buenos Aires and Warsaw (1902) until his triumphant debut in G. Verdi’s Rigoletto at La Scala (1904). He performed in many countries in Europe and America and became famous as one of the best lyric tenors of his time (alongside A. Bonci and F. de Lucia), combining vocal mastery with great musical culture and acting talent. His best performances were the roles of Romeo in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, Chevalier Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon and Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. In 1916, he retired from the stage. Anselmi left behind a number of recordings made between 1907 and 1910 on discs released by the Italian company Fonotipia. He composed a symphonic poem and piano works.
