Del Puente Giuseppe, *30 January 1841 Naples, †25 May 1900 Philadelphia, Italian singer (baritone). After a brief period of study at the Naples Conservatoire, he made a successful debut in Iași. In 1875, he sang the title role in Verdi’s opera Rigoletto at La Scala in Milan; in 1885, he joined the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. He subsequently became a soloist at opera houses in France, Spain and Russia, and between 1885 and 1895 performed at Covent Garden in London. He also pursued a career in the United States; in 1874, he performed the role of Telramund in Wagner’s Lohengrin in New York; in 1883, he sang the role of Valente in a performance of Gounod’s Faust at the opening of the newly built Metropolitan Opera House. He frequently partnered A. Patti and became renowned as one of the finest interpreters of the role of Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen and Figaro in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. His voice was distinguished by a magnificent low register, a quality very rarely found among Italian baritones. He was also an outstanding actor, excelling in both tragic and comic roles.
