Italian baritone Gino Bechi was born in Florence. He studied there with Raul Frazzi and Di Giorgi and made his debut at Empoli in 1936 as Germont. He sang regularly in Rome (1938-1952), and at La Scala (1939-1953), where he sang the title role of Nabucco at the reopening of the theater in 1946. He established himself as the leading Italian dramatic baritone of the day, especially in the Verdi repertory; his roles also included Gerard, Scarpia, Jack Rance, Tonio and Thomas’ Hamlet. In London he appeared with the Scala company at Covent Garden in 1950 as Iago and Falstaff, and at Drury Lane as William Tell in 1958. He sang in the premieres of Rocca’s Monte Ivnor (1939, Rome) and Alfano’s Don Juan de Manara (1941, Florence). Bechi continued to sing until 1961, when he appeared as Salieri’s Falstaff at Siena and in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Adria. As his recordings confirm, he possessed a voice of striking individuality, incisive in both tone and diction. (notes from Harold Rosethal and Alan Blyth)This is the only recording I have of Signor Bechi. It was recorded in Rome, 1943 under Tullio Serafin. Bechi possesses a high Italian baritone which he uses well, although he opts to interpolate some of the lower notes (as do some other well-known baritones), which seems to leech some lines of their gravity.