Louis Quilico was one of the leading baritone singers of his time, a consummate artist who was greatly admired for his warmth, generosity and sense of humor.
During his 45-year-long career, Quilico shared performing credits with many of opera's greatest stars. He was an ideal interpreter of the great Italian and French Opera's.
Louis Quilico died suddenly on July 15, 2000 in Toronto, Canada. He was 75 years of age.
Louis Quilico was born in Montréal, Canada on January 14, 1925 to an Italian-born father and French-Canadian mother. He spent his formative years in the city, where his father owned a popular bicycle shop on rue St.-Denis.
During high school, he won a prize to study with Teresa Pediconi and the famous baritone Riccardo Stracciari at the Conservatoire Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy. After returning home, he continued his studies with his wife Lina Pizzolongo and Martial Singher at the Conservatoire de Montréal and at Mannes College of Music.
In 1953, Quilico won first prize in the radio competition, Nos Futures Etoiles. Two years later, he won yet another competition: the prestigious "Auditions of the Air" sponsored by The Metropolitan Opera Company.
In 1954, Quilico made his professional stage debut with the Opera Guild of Montreal. The following year, he made his New York City debut with the New York City Opera in a production of La Traviata.
Over the next five years, he appeared with many of the leading North American and European opera companies. In 1959, he sang the title role of "The Duke" in Donizetti's Il Duca d'Alba, a groundbreaking work produced by film legend Luchino Visconti for the Spoleta Festival. The production featured a stellar cast under the direction of Giancarlo Menotti and conductor Thomas Shippers.
In 1960, Quilico's career took another leap forward when he made his Covent Garden debut opposite soprano Joan Sutherland in Verdi's La Traviata.
During the following decade, Quilico was a featured performer at the world's greatest opera houses: the Vienna Saatsoper, Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires, Teatro Massimo of Palermo and The Thermes of Caracalla, among others.
In 1962, he debuted at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre in a production of Rigoletto. The following year saw him perform at the Paris Opera and star in the premiere of Milhaud's oratorio, Pacem in terris, under French conductor Charles Munch.
In 1966, he was invited by Milhaud to sing the role of "The Count" for the world premiere of La Mére Coupable. During Canada's centenary year, Quilico performed opposite fellow Canadians Jon Vickers and Teresa Stratas in a lavish production of Otello at Montreal's Place des Arts. That same year, he sang the lead in Stravinsky's, Oedipus Rex, at a gala celebration in Toronto, attended by the composer.
In February 1972, Quilico made his Metropolitan Opera debut when he replaced Thomas Stewart as "Golaud" in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande. Ten months later, he replaced the great Italian baritone, Tito Gobbi, in yet another Met production, Otello.
He joined the company the following year, appearing in five productions during his first season. He stayed with The Met for 25 consecutive seasons and was a feature performer during the company's popular "Live from The Met" radio broadcasts.
In 1987, he and his son Gino Quilico made opera history when they became the first father/son team to perform at The Met. Later that same year, they performed together again in Mozart's Don Giovanni for the Canadian Opera Company.
Louis Quilico was perhaps best known for his portrayal of the cursed hunchback jester, "Rigoletto", a role that won him international acclaim. It was a role he reprised over 500 times in his career.
Gino,Lina and Louis Music making and clowning around as a family.
