Luigi Alva

Alva was born in Paita, Peru, and served for a while in the Peruvian Navy before concentrating on a singing career. Alva had a light lyric tenor voice and was known for the clarity of his diction and his elegant phrasing, a quality which George Jellinek described as compensating for an "underpowered" voice in the 1956 live recording of Mozart's Così fan tutte from La Scala. He rarely ventured beyond his favourite repertoire, which included Mozart, Rossini, and Donizetti and to which (according to Harold Rosenthal) his "elegant, refined style" was particularly suited, but sponsored the Premio Luigi Alva for young singers, taught master classes, and served as a juror in singing competitions. Alva also taught singing at La Scuola di Canto (Voice Academy) at La Scala in Milan. Among his students there was the Belgian tenor Marc Laho. In 2005, the Peruvian postal service issued a stamp in his honour and in 2012 he was awarded the Personalidad Meritoria de la Cultura medal by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture. Alva died in Mariano Comense, Italy on 15 May 2025, at the age of 98. == Roles ==

Alva's repertoire included the following roles, most of which he played on stage: Rossini: • Conte d'Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia • Alessandro in Il re pastore (recording, 1967) • Tamino in Die Zauberflöte Cimarosa: • Paolino in Il matrimonio segreto Verdi: • Alfredo in La traviata Donizetti: • Nemorino in ''L'elisir d'amore'' Handel: • Oronte in Alcina (recording, 1962) • Serse in Serse Gounod: • Siébel in Faust Scarlatti: • Roberto in Griselda (recording, 1970) == Filmography ==

• Falstaff (1956), Fenton • Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1967), Belmonte • Così fan tutte (1970), Ferrando • The Barber of Seville (1972), Count Almaviva • Don Pasquale (1972), Ernesto • Lo speziale (1982), Sempronio == Recordings ==

Opera • Verdi: Falstaff – (as Fenton) Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Herbert von Karajan, EMI, 1956 • Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia – (as Count Almaviva) Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Alceo Galliera, EMI, 1957 • Mozart: Don Giovanni – (as Don Ottavio) Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini, EMI, 1959 • Mozart: Così fan tutte – (as Ferrando), John Alldis Choir and New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Otto Klemperer, EMI, 1971 • Haydn: La fedeltà premiata – (as Lindoro) with Ileana Cotrubas, Tonny Landy, Kari Lövaas, Maurizio Mazzieri, Frederica von Stade, Lucia Valentini Terrani and Alan Titus, Chœurs de la Radio Suisse Romande and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, conducted by Antal Doráti, 1976. • Haydn: Il mondo della luna – (as Ecclitico) with Arleen Augér, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Edith Mathis, Frederica von Stade, Lucia Valentini Terrani and Domenico Trimarchi, Chœurs de la Radio Suisse Romande and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne conducted by Antal Doráti, 1978. Recital • Ay-Ay-Ay – Spanish and Latin American songs by Lara, Freire, Ponce, Sandoval, Padilla, Serrano, Álvarez, and Lacalle . New Symphony Orchestra of London conducted by Iller Pattacini. Decca, 1963 == References ==