Antonio Poggi

Antonio Poggi (1806 – 15 April 1875) was an Italian operatic tenor who had an active international career from 1827–1848. He is best remembered for creating roles in the world premieres of operas by Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi. He was married to soprano Erminia Frezzolini from 1841–1846.

Born in Castel San Pietro Terme, Poggi studied singing with Andrea Nozzari and the cello with Maestro Coticelli. He made his professional opera debut in 1827 at the Paris Opera as Rodrigo in Gioachino Rossini's La donna del lago; a performance which was not well received. However, on 27 December 1827 he had a major success at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna as Peter I of Russia in Giovanni Pacini's Il falegname di Livronia. This performance launched a major career for Poggi in Italy's most important opera houses.

In 1828 Poggi returned to Bologna where he appeared successfully as Emerico in Carlo Coccia's Clotilde and as Lindoro in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri. He sang in Bologna again 1832 the city's first hearings of Vincenzo Bellini's La straniera (as Arturo) and Saverio Mercadante's I normanni a Parigi (as Odone). In 1829 he was committed to the Regio Teatro degli Avvalorati in Livorno where he was admired as Ramiro in Rossini's La Cenerentola. He appeared in Padua in 1832 in the world premiere of Giuseppe Persiani's Saraceni in Catania. On 9 September 1833 he created the role of Roberto in the first performance of Gaetano Donizetti's Torquato Tasso at the Teatro Valle in Rome.

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