Carlo Pietro Tagliabue (January 13, 1898, in Mariano Comense – April 5, 1978, in Monza) was an Italian baritone.
According to Tagliabue, his love for singing began at a young age, when his father would take him to performances at La Scala. Carlo would return singing arias in a baritone voice disproportionate to his age. He also failed his childhood choir class because he wanted to sing in a big voice and grand manner, while they required the typical boy treble voice. Around age 17 he began two years' study of music and singing under Corrado Mattioli, a teacher and director of the choral division of the Civiche Scuole popolari di Musica in Milan.
After a brief conscription during World War I, he returned to Milan and studied for one year with Leopoldo Gennai—a repertoire coach from La Scala—and Annibale Ghidotti, a blind singing teacher who, it was said, could identify a student's voice type simply by feeling their throat.[1]
In his book Voci ParalleleGiacomo Lauri-Volpi wrote, "[Tagliabue] is the only survivor of a school that knows that in Rigoletto, in Ballo in Maschera, Trovatore, Traviata a melodramatic piece should be sung, measured and breathed musically in line with the mastery of great art."
