Francesco D'Andrade

as Rigoletto in "Rigoletto" by Verdi

Francisco Augusto D'Andrade,
11 January 1856 – 8 February 1921
Portuguese baritone
He studied the basics of acting and music with Manuel Carreira and Arturo Pontecchi, the principal conductor of the Teatro São Carlos, and gave his first public recital in 1879 at the Salão da Trindade in Lisbon. In 1881 he went to Milan for further studies tenor Corrado Miraglia, and later with the baritone Sebastiano Ronconi. Debut 1882 at the Teatro Principe as Amedeo in Sanremo as Amonasro in Verdi's “Aida”. Over the next four years he sang in the opera houses of Portugal, Spain and Italy, including the Teatro Costanzi in Rome where he sang Count de Luna in Verdi's Il trovatore and Severo in the theatre's first performance of Donizetti's “Poliuto”. He and his brother António, D'Andrade were engaged as singers at the Théâtre Privé d'Opéra in Moscow for the 1885/86 season. They appeared together in 1888 world premiere of Alfredo Keil's “Donna Bianca” at the Teatro São Carlos with Francisco as Adaour and António as Aben-Afan. In 1886 he was at the Royal Italian Opera in London. His roles included Renato “Ballo in maschera”, Figaro “Il barbiere di Siviglia”, Escamillo “Carmen”, Giorgio Germont “La traviata”, Enrico Ashton “Lucia di Lammermoor”, Telramund “Lohengrin”, “ Rigoletto” and “Don Giovanni” In 1901 he sang Don Giovanni at the Salzburg Festival .In Germany he sang regularly with the Frankfurt Opera from 1891 to 1910 as well as several other major German opera houses. Berlin Hofoper in 1889. He retired from the stage in 1919.