Giuseppe de Luca (1876-1950)

A tanto amor
La Favorita by Gaetano Donizetti

Giuseppe de Luca was probably the finest of the prodigious batch of Italian baritones born in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. His singing talent reportedly was "discovered" at age 13, but he did not begin study till age 15 (still very young by today's standards). After five years of vocal study, he made his debut in Faust. After eight seasons at La Scala, he extended his career to the Americas. He sang at the Met from 1915 to 1935 and again in the 1939-40 season (a good many of the Italians deserted the Met during the depression). During his career, de Luca created the principle baritone roles in the world premieres of Adriana Lecouvreur and Madama Butterfly. He made his final appearances at the Met during the 1945-46 season, and gave a farewell concert in New York in 1947 when he was 71 (and still singing well).

From the Victor catalog of 1925:

Mr. de Luca's name will always be associated, in music history, with the great artists of his generation. It does not always happen that even a great artist is so assiduous in his search after perfection, the tendency, here and there, being to rely unduly upon great natural gifts. He has not made this mistake; and the result appears in every phrase he sings.