Opera Singer. A lyric tenor, he had a two decade-long career that saw him perform in a number of leading venues. A native of Naples, he initially studied in Boston where he won a major vocal competition, then in Rome with Francesco Salfi. Albanese began performing Neapolitan Songs, for which he was known throughout his life, and cut his first records around 1937. He made his June 10, 1940 operatic bow as Evander from Gluck’s “Alceste” at Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera, then remained at that theatre for two years during which he sang Rinuccio from Puccini’s comedic “Gianni Schicchi”, Count Almaviva of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville”, and Fenton from Verdi’s “Falstaff”. In 1942 he made several important bows, at Venice’s La Fenice as Don Ramiro of Rossini’s “La Cenerentola”, at Florence as Don Ottavio from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, and at La Scala Milano as Fenton. After World War II he was a regular in Naples, London, Lisbon, Budapest, Buenos Aires, and elsewhere, his roles including Nemorino of Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” and Ernesto of the same composer’s “Don Pasquale”, the title lead of Charles Gounod’s “Faust”, Rodolfo in Puccini’s “La Boheme”, Alfredo of Verdi’s “La Traviata”, and the tenor leads of several lesser-known pieces. Albanese was stage partner to controversial soprano Maria Callas on a few occasions, retired after 1961, and lived out his days in Rome. He can be heard on a number of Neapolitan Song recordings, on several complete opera preservations including a “La Traviata” co-starring Callas, and on some archived live performances. He was unrelated to the legendary soprano Licia Albanese. (bio by: Bob Hufford)