A Peruvian tenor born in Paita on April 10, 1927, Luis Ernesto Alva y Talledo, better known as Luigi Alva, has established himself on the world's greatest opera stages. He studied at the Lima Conservatory and made his debut in 1949 in Federico Moreno Torroba's Lusia Fernanda, before being noticed two years later in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. Arriving in Milan in 1953, he continued his studies to broaden his repertoire and build a career in all the city's theaters, notably at La Scala in Cimarosa's The Secret Wedding in 1955 and his signature role of Count Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, alongside Maria Callas. With over 330 performances at La Scala, Luigi Alva proved to be one of the finest tenors of his generation, appearing at the Salzburg Festival in Falstaff in 1957 and Cosi fan tutte ten years later, as well as in Edinburgh, Aix-en-Provence, London, Vienna, Glyndebourne, and in the United States after a first appearance in Philadelphia in 1962 and then at New York's Metropolitan Opera, where he appeared 101 times between 1964 and 1975. His legendary recordings include Giulini's Don Giovanni, Alceo Galliera'sLe Barbier de Séville in 1957 with Callas and Vittorio Gui in 1963, Serafin's L'elixir d'amour in 1959, Varviso's L'Italienne à Alger in 1964 and Klemperer's Cosi fan tutte in 1972. Retired from the stage in 1989, the lyric tenor gives master classes, acts as a juror in competitions and teaches at the La Scala singing school in Milan. Celebrated in his homeland, Luigi Alva died in Mariano Comense, Italy, on May 15, 2025, at the age of 98.
