Arrigo Pola
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Arrigo Pola (5 July 1919 – 3 November 1999) was an Italian
tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
who had an active international performance career during the 1940s through the 1960s. After, he embarked on a second career, as a celebrated voice teacher in both
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. Among his notable pupils were tenors
Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...
, Giuliano Bernardi, Vincenzo La Scola and
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
Michele Pertusi. He also served as the artistic director of the Fujiwara Opera from 1957 to 1965.


Early life and education

Born in Finale Emilia, Pola was the nephew of baritone Ubaldo Toffanetti. He spent most of his youth living in
Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...
. In 1937, he entered the Orazio Vecchi Conservatory in Modena, where he initially studied to be a
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
er. While there, his fine singing voice was discovered, and he was persuaded to switch to vocal studies under Mercedes Aicardi. In 1940, he won (along with the young bass Cesare Siepi and the mezzo-soprano Fedora Barbieri) Italy's national opera singing contest. Shortly after the competition win, he was drafted into the
Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...
where he served for three years, during World War II. He spent much of his time during the war stationed in
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
in German-occupied Poland. A large portion of his duties were musical ones, and he was able to spend much of his service time playing trumpet and singing in a military band.


Early career in Italy

After his military service ended in 1943, Pola continued his opera studies with Bertazzoni Barbieri and Leone Magiera. He made his professional opera debut in June, 1945, at the Teatro Comunale Modena as Mario Cavaradossi in
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...
's ''
Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...
'', opposite Sara Scuderi in the title role. He returned to that house soon after as Pinkerton in ''
Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lu ...
'' with Mafalda Favero in the title role, as Alfredo in '' La traviata'' with Margherita Carosio as Violetta, and as the Duke of Mantua in
Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...
's ''
Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
'' with
Tito Gobbi Tito Gobbi (24 October 19135 March 1984) was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation. He made his operatic debut in Gubbio in 1935 as Count Rodolfo in Bellini's '' La sonnambula'' and quickly appeared in Italy's major oper ...
as the title hero. Pola's career developed rapidly over the next several years, including engagements at the
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The pres ...
,
La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (; "The Phoenix Theatre") is a historic opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th cen ...
, and the
Teatro di San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is a historic opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and ...
. In 1945 and 1946, he appeared in productions at La Monnaie in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, where he was particularly admired as Le Chevalier des Grieux in
Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...
's ''
Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was f ...
''. He made his debut at
La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
in 1947 in the title role of
Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...
's ''
Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...
'' with
Renata Tebaldi Renata Tebaldi ( , ; 1 February 1922 – 19 December 2004) was an Italian spinto soprano, lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-World War II, war period, and especially prominent as one of the stars of La Scala, Teatro di San Carlo, San ...
as Marguerite, Cesare Siepi as Mephistopheles, and
Antonino Votto Antonino Votto, sometimes spelt Antonio Votto, (30 October 1896 – 9 September 1985) was an Italian operatic conductor and vocal coach. Votto developed an extensive discography with the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala in Milan during the 1950s, when ...
conducting. Other notable appearances that Pola made in the late 1940s included the role of Donello in
Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions ra ...
's ''
La fiamma (; "The Flame") is an opera in three acts by Ottorino Respighi to a libretto by Claudio Guastalla based on Hans Wiers-Jenssen's 1908 play ''Anne Pedersdotter, The Witch''. The plot is loosely based on the story of Anne Pedersdotter, a Norwegi ...
'' at both the
Liceu The Gran Teatre del Liceu (; ; ), or simply Liceu, is a theater in Barcelona, Spain. Situated on La Rambla, it is the city's oldest theater building still in use for its original purpose. Founded in 1837 at another location, the Liceu ope ...
in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and the
Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...
in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, Maurizio in
Francesco Cilea Francesco Cilea (; 23 July 1866 – 20 November 1950) was an Italian composer. Today he is particularly known for his operas ''L'arlesiana'' and ''Adriana Lecouvreur''. Biography Born in Palmi near Reggio di Calabria, Cilea was the son of a pr ...
's ''
Adriana Lecouvreur ''Adriana Lecouvreur'' () is an opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the 1849 play '' Adrienne Lecouvreur'' by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé. It was first performed on 6 November 1902 ...
'' at the Teatro Francesco Cilea in
Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the List of cities in Italy, largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As ...
with Maria Caniglia in the title role, and appearances at numerous opera houses as Enzo Grimaldi in
Amilcare Ponchielli Amilcare Ponchielli (, ; 31 August 1834 – 16 January 1886) was an Italian opera composer, best known for his opera La Gioconda (opera), ''La Gioconda''. He was married to the soprano Teresina Brambilla. Life and work Born in Paderno Fasolaro ( ...
's '' La Gioconda''.


Career in Asia and work as a voice teacher

In the spring of 1951 Pola sang Alfredo to
Maria Callas Maria Callas (born Maria Anna Cecilia Sophia Kalogeropoulos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised ...
's Violetta at the Teatro Regio in
Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...
. Unfortunately, Callas and her husband Giovanni Battista Meneghini took a disliking to Pola, which had a negative impact on his career in Italy. In the summer of 1951, he sang Enzo Grimaldi at the
Baths of Caracalla The Baths of Caracalla () in Rome, Italy, were the city's second largest Ancient Rome, Roman public baths, or ''thermae'', after the Baths of Diocletian. The baths were likely built between AD 212 (or 211) and 216/217, during the reigns of empero ...
for a gala performance for the Italian government and the official state guest, the President of the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. Pola was invited the next day to an audience with the Filipino President, where he was offered a position as the principal tenor at the Manila Opera and a place on the voice faculty at the Manila Conservatory. Given the troubles that Callas was causing for him in Italy, Pola and his wife decided to accept the offer and the family spent the next three years in the Philippines. Among the roles Pola sang with the Manila Opera were Canio in ''
Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...
'', Manrico in '' Il trovatore'', Rodolfo in ''
La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'', and Turiddu in ''
Cavalleria rusticana ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; ) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 Cavalleria rusticana (short story), short story of the same name and subsequent ...
''. Who wrote all this slandering of Callas without providing any sources? Also, it was in December 1951 Pola and Callas sang together, not in the spring of that year. In 1954, Pola returned to Italy with the hopes of reviving his opera career in Italy; an attempt which never gained much momentum. That year, he was approached by a baker named Fernando Pavarotti who wanted to know whether the tenor voice of his 19-year-old son, Luciano, was good enough for training as a professional opera singer. Pola later reported that he knew, after an approximately 15-minute audition, that he was standing against a superb talent. He spontaneously decided to help the boy and his family, who didn't have much money, by giving Luciano daily voice lessons free of charge. For the next three years, Luciano studied with Pola almost every day. Pavarotti later said, "Were it not for my dear teacher Arrigo Pola, I would not be what I am today." In 1957, Pola was offered a position on the voice faculty at the
Tokyo University of the Arts or is a school of art and music in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained artists in the fields of painting, sculpture, crafts, inter ...
, and the post of artistic director of the Fujiwara Opera, with the condition that he master the Japanese language. He accepted the offer, and moved to Japan after securing Pavarotti's further training with Ettore Campogalliani. Pavarotti continued to be mentored by Pola, through visits to Tokyo, while studying with Campogalliani. Pola eventually became the Dean of the Department of European Voice at Tokyo University. He also continued to perform in operas and concerts in Japan and China. He notably portrayed Pinkerton in the first black and white film version of ''Madama Butterfly'' which was produced by
NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...
. In 1965, he returned to Italy. He spent the rest of his life working as a voice teacher in
Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...
,
Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...
,
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
, and Modena. Some of his other notable pupils included Riccarda Bassi, Peter Butterfield, Andrea Coronella, Nikolay Dorozhkin, Giuliano Bernardi, Thiérry Félix, Rudy Giovannini, Reinaldo Macias, David Mannell, Michiè Nakamaru, Jacek Pazola, Luana Pellegrineschi, and Manrico Tedeschi. He died in Modena at the age of 80. At a birthday party shortly before his death, he commented to a visiting Canadian college president that one of his birthday guests, a former Welsh pupil named Eileen Dillon, "could have been the best in the world, if she wasn't so obsessed with charity." Ms. Dillon became a missionary after completing her music studies, then emigrated to Canada to teach voice in a small religious college.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pola, Arrigo 1919 births 1999 deaths Italian operatic tenors 20th-century Italian male opera singers Italian voice teachers Italian expatriates in Japan Musicians from the Province of Modena Royal Italian Army personnel of World War II People from Finale Emilia