1889, January 2 – BIRTH OF TITO SCHIPA

Singer, Composer (Capricorn) – in his audacious, bohemian lifestyle, he even risked his life crossing paths with opera lover and gangster Al Capone, in Chicago where Tito would sing opera for fifteen years…Tito Schipo, was a reckless spender of huge sums of money and a shameless womanizer; he was also one of the finest tenors in history…along the way he even composed several popular tangos…during this time, Tito was a huge celebrity and one of the highest-paid artists in the world….living lavishly in a villa in Santa Monica and an estate in Beverly Hills, he frequented parties with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo and Charlie Chaplin…after his debut at the Met in 1932, the New York Telegraph wrote of him “young and boyishly ardent…the surprise and joy of the performance” …..Everyone loved Schipa; he was graceful and elegant in his singing, personally charming, and good-looking; adding to his mystique was his fascination with animals…Tito often traveled with a menagerie of pets; reportedly he once arrived in Chicago with a live snake in his pocket as a mascot.

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He was born in the town of Lecce in Southern Italy to a poor family…singing in the school choir the director detected something special in young Tito and singled him out for private instruction…he came to the attention of the bishop of Lecce who paid for his singing lessons and eventually sent him to Milano to perfect his voice…at the age of 21 he debuted in Vercelli, Piemonte Italy, singing “La Traviata”; it was a disaster but he revealed something and doors slowly began opening for him…during World War II he was close to the Mussolini and even sang in Nazi Germany which caused him some problems later…after the war he retired to teach in Budapest and toured the Soviet Union; now he was suspected of being a communist and his phone was tapped; he was blackballed at La Scala…eventually he returned to New York where to his surprise he was warmly welcomed and ended his life and career there…among his tango compositions are “El Coqueton”, “El Gaucho”, “Esperanzas”, “Ojos Lindos y Mentirosos”, “El Pampero”, “Surriento”

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• CLICK HERE – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP6siKhsW-4 to hear Tito Schipa sing the Montevideo version of  “La Cumparsita”

2011

01/02

CATEGORY

Capricorn
Composers
Debuts

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