On this day in 1948 tenor Giuseppe di Stefano made his Metropolitan Opera debut as the Duke of Mantua. 

Virgil Thomson in the Herald Tribune:

Giuseppe Di Stefano, twenty-seven year old tenor, making his debut last night with the Metropolitan Opera Association as the Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto, revealed the makings of a valuable operatic artist. Being Italian, he was applauded for more than that, of course. And though a part of the applause was certainly the work of an engaged clacque, there was enough left over, and all round the house, to make it clear that the boy was having a real success.

His musical merits have mostly to do with style, for the voice, though neither small nor ugly, is not an organ of great beauty. Some correction of faulty placement would no doubt embellish it and would certainly enlarge its range, which is skimpy at both top and bottom. But he has an impeccable enunciation, and he projects a phrase with style and authority. Also his personality is fresh and genuine. He is interesting on a stage in a way not wholly explicable by the mere fact that he is young and, as tenors go, personable. He can carry a show now musically and personally. With more study, for his faults are not grave, he could, I think, carry one vocally. He has charm and theatrical sense, as well as musical instinct. Given technical perfection, he could be a fine artist.

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