Gennaro Papi

Gennaro Papi was an Italian operatic conductor born on December 21, 1886, in Naples. He studied piano, violin, and organ at the Conservatory of Naples before serving as a maestro di cappella in San Severo until 1906. After conducting La traviata in Milan in 1910, he became an assistant to Cleofonte Campanini and later Arturo Toscanini, whom he accompanied on a tour of Argentina in 1912. Papi joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York and made his debut as principal conductor on November 16, 1916, with Manon Lescaut. He led more than 600 performances at the Metropolitan before moving to Chicago in 1927 to direct the Ravinia Festival and the Chicago Civic Opera. He returned to his post at the Metropolitan in 1935. Papi’s recorded legacy includes performances of Le Trouvère, Cavalleria rusticana, and La Bohème. He died in his New York apartment on November 29, 1941, just hours before he was scheduled to conduct La traviata.