Titta Ruffo - Largo al factotum - Il Barbiere di Siviglia - Rossini

No other baritone can touch this recording. It is the ultimate recording of this aria. To have that HUGE a voice and to move that easily is phenomenal. Notice the pure EE on the high note in the end. No modification which is exactly how it should be. Covered, but not modified. Titta Ruffo (June 9, 1877 - July 5, 1953). In Musical America, December 27, 1913, Ruffo wrote the following: “In view of the fact that numerous vocal instructors have endeavored to claim the credit of having been my “teacher“ I desire to state emphatically that my brother Ettore is the one to whom practically all such distinction is due. I studied four months at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome under Signor Persichini and was told that I possessed neither voice nor musical talent. Afterward I received instruction from Signor Sparapani for two months and from Signor Casini for four months, but as this was not sufficient tuition for an operatic career I placed myself under the tutelage of my br