Beniamino Gigli Archive

Production photographs (13 volumes); Personal/ family 'Civilian' photographs (13 volumes); Reviews and articles (12 volumes); Artistic career of Beniamino Gigli; Programmes (6 volumes); Correspondence (4 folders); 2 scrap books of press cuttings compiled by Jean Holt; AV recordings, including not commercially issued; Gigli calendar 2011; Gigli concert: a play by Thomas Murphy: correspondence, programmes, reviews.

Beniamino Gigli was born in Recanati, Italy on 20 March 1890, the son of a shoemaker who loved opera. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tenors of his generation. He won an international singing competition in Parma in 1914 and sang in several opera houses in Italy, then Buenos Aires and in 1920 joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York. On leaving the Met in 1932, Gigli returned to Italy and sang in opera houses and concert halls in the United Kingdom and around Europe and South America. He was a favourite of the fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, but despite that his popularity on his return to the stage in 1945 was greater than ever. He appeared in over 20 films from 1927-1953. In addition to performing on the opera stage, he also sang in many concerts throughout his lengthy career. He made recordings for HMV from 1918 to 1955 and was one of the few recording artists to last from acoustic recordings to stereo. Gigli retired in 1955 after 41 years. In the last few years of his life he helped prepare his memoirs. Gigli died on 30 November 1957.

Open. Appointment necessary. Email: archives@rcs.ac.uk

The estate of Mark Ricaldone.

The Gigli collection belonged to the late Mark Ricaldone (1924-2020): It was donated to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's Archives & Collections by David Cutler in 2021.

Victoria and Albert Museum, Theatre and Performance collections, Sandor Gorlinsky collection GB71 THM/1