Dino Borgioli studied law while also developing his voice as a student of Eugenio Giacchetti in Florence. He made a semi-professional debut there in 1914, as Rinaldo in Lully’s Armide, and his official operatic debut followed shortly afterwards when he sang Arturo / I puritani at the Teatro Corso in Milan, also in 1914. During 1917 he sang in Bologna, Naples and Milan, where he enjoyed especial success at the Teatro dal Verme during 1917 singing Fernando / La favorita with Tullio Serafin conducting; and the following year saw his debut at La Scala, Milan, as Ernesto / Don Pasquale.

He was quickly taken up by Toscanini, then the musical director at La Scala, and sang there regularly until 1931, his roles including Alfredo / La traviata, Almaviva / Il barbiere di Siviglia, Elvino / La sonnambula, Fenton / Falstaff and Fritz / L’amico Fritz. From 1918 Borgioli also appeared regularly at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, as Arturo, des Grieux / Manon and Fernando / La favorita; he also took part in the first performances of Franco Casavola’s Il gobbo del Califfo there in 1929.

Borgioli’s international career advanced swiftly, with performances in Madrid (1920), Buenos Aires (1921), Monte Carlo (1922), Lisbon (1923) and a tour of Australia with Melba during 1924. Having made his London debut at Covent Garden in 1925, singing Edgardo / Lucia di Lammermoor, Almaviva with Toti dal Monte and the Duke / Rigoletto with Eidé Norena, he became a great favourite with English audiences and returned often, notably as Don Ramiro / La Cenerentola with Conchita Supervia during the 1934–1935 season. He first appeared at the Salzburg Festival in 1931, as Count Almaviva, and returned to sing Fenton under Toscanini during the mid-1930s. In Paris he sang at the Opéra-Comique in 1933 (Count Almaviva, Don Ramiro) and at the Paris Opera during 1935 and 1936 (the Duke, Edgardo).

During 1928 and 1932 Borgioli undertook large-scale tours of the USA, appearing as Cavaradossi / Tosca opposite Claudia Muzio at the opening of the new opera house in San Francisco in 1932, an occasion that was captured on sound. His debut at the Metropolitan Opera was as Rodolfo / La Bohème during the 1934–1935 season, when he also sang Don Ottavio / Don Giovanni and des Grieux.

Between 1937 and 1939 Borgioli appeared regularly at the Glyndebourne Festival, as Don Ottavio and Ernesto; and in 1939 he and his wife, the Australian soprano Patricia Moore, settled in London. He was artistic director of Jay Pomeroy’s opera seasons at the Cambridge Theatre in London between 1946 and 1948, also directing Il barbiere di Siviglia and La bohème; and gave his farewell performance, a concert in Nottingham in 1949.

A distinguished tenore di grazia, Borgioli possessed a voice that was small but of great sweetness. His singing was notable for its complete technical command and impassioned delivery. He sang Almaviva and the Duke in the early complete recordings of Il barbiere di Siviglia and Rigoletto, made by Columbia-UK in Milan.

© Naxos Rights International Ltd. — David Patmore (A–Z of Singers, Naxos 8.558097-100).