Salvatore Baccaloni was born in Rome. He studied with Giuseppe Kaschmann and made his debut at the Teatro Adriano, Rome, in 1922 as Dr. Bartolo. In 1926 he was engaged at La Scala, where he sang regularly until 1940, first in serious roles and then, on Toscanini’s advice, specializing in roles like Dulcamara, the two Bartolos and the buffo roles in Wolf-Ferrari’s operas. During this period he contributed significantly to several complete opera recordings by the La Scala company. He appeared at Covent Garden (1928-29) and at Glyndebourne (1936-39), where his Leporello, Dr Bartolo and especially Don Pasquale set a standard of excellence. He made his North American debut in Chicago in 1930 as Melitone and sang at the Teatro Colon (1931-41, 1947). In 1940 he joined the Metropolitan, and sang there regularly until 1962, giving 297 performances, mostly in the Italian buffo repertory. He sang Falstaff at San Francisco (1944) and made numerous tours of the USA. Portly in build and good-humoured, Baccaloni had a communicative gift for comedy and was noted for his musicianship; in his early years he displayed a rare vocal quality in his buffo roles. (Francis Perkins, Alan Blyth)
This photograph shows Baccaloni as Don Pasquale. The recording was made at Glyndebourne under the direction of Fritz Busch.