Casa Paoli's

April 14, 1871 marks the date of Antonio Paoli's birth in the city of Ponce.

     When his mother died, his sister Amalia decided to settle in Madrid with her younger siblings, in order to offer them a better future. Antonio was granted a scholarship by Queen María Cristina of Habsburg to study at the Royal College of San Lorenzo del Escorial after which he entered the Toledo Military Academy.

     His military career failed to divert him from his interest in music. He sang as a soloist in various concerts throughout Spain and Portugal and in 1896, he received another scholarship and traveled to Italy to study singing. The Spanish court delighted in his interpretations that gradually became among the best in the world.

     It was M. Gallard, director of the Grand Opera, who gave Antonio Paoli the opportunity to debut in Paris, where Rossini's opera William Tell had not been performed in quite some time. Paoli's performance as William was so successful that he performed it on four other occasions. From that moment, the greatest stages in Europe demanded his presence and he became as famous as Francesco Tamagno, whom he greatly admired.

     His dreams began to come true in 1899, when he debuted in the role of Arnold, also in William Tell, at the Paris Opera. With this successful debut, Paoli began a triumphant career on the best stages in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. From 1900 to 1914, he moved incessantly from one stage to another; from one city to another, from one country to another, and from continent to continent. Paoli received many honors and distinctions during his long artistic career.

     Critics hailed him as "the best tenor in the world" after his performance in 1908 at the Politeama theater in Bologna. There, he also performed the opera Lohengrin with his sister Amalia.

     In 1910, at La Scala in Milan, he received an award that confirmed his magnificent talents as a tenor: he was declared primo tenore. There, he performed the operas Samson and Delilah and L'Africaine.

     His powerful and dramatic tenor voice was accompanied by an exceptional personality, an incredible stage presence, and a noble and generous heart.

     Paoli was tall, with blue eyes and dark curly hair and was an elegant dresser. Verdi's Otello was also known as “Paoli's Otello,” for his extraordinary interpretation of the character. Many scholars of Shakespeare's play only attended the last act, to witness his impeccable characterization of Othello's death.

     Antonio Paoli sang with the greatest singers of his time. In 1910, he was already the dramatic tenor in highest demand in Europe, and the highest paid. He was the first tenor in the world to record a complete opera:  Pagliacci (1907) by R. Leoncavallo.

     In 1900, he married a young Austrian woman named Josefina Vetiska in Vienna. Upon returning to Puerto Rico in 1901, on a honeymoon trip, he sang a concert in the Cathedral of San Juan and another in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Ponce. He also performed in Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and New York. When he returned to Italy, he bought a villa in Porto Ceresio, Lugano, where his son, Antonio Arnaldo (Tonino), was born. However, his wife fell ill and remained bedridden for twenty years, which was the cause of great sadness for the tenor.

     World War I brought an unexpected change to his life, forcing him to move from the artistic to the sports scene. In 1916, he moved with his family to London and began training as a boxer. In this new profession, he won five fights, but lost his most precious possession: his voice. Due to a fracture in his right arm, he withdrew from the ring. He decided to get medical help to get his voice back. Therefore, he traveled to Milan to be treated by a laryngologist.

     To everyone's amazement, he returned to the stage with a voice stronger and more powerful than before. Thus began the second stage of his career, which would take him again throughout Europe and America.

     In 1920, his wife died. A year later, he took up with the Italian Adelaida Bonini, whom he called Adina.

     He returned to his homeland in 1922. Together with his sister Amalia Paoli, he established a singing school. In 1946, he became ill with cancer and died at the age of 75.