Raoul Romito

Italian-American opera singer (tenor) (b. October 23, 1882 Livorno, Italy – d. August 19, 1952 Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA) Romito worked as a fisherman in Naples when the Managing Director of the Boston Opera Company, Henry Russell, discovered him. After studying music and learning to read and write in Italian, French, and English in Paris, Romito came to the United States in October 1912, where he gained renown as the First Tenor of the Boston Opera Company. In June 1914, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen in New York. Between 1917 and 1930, Romito recorded prolifically for Columbia, Okeh (1927-1928), Brunswick (1929), and Victor (1930), both popular songs of the day and folk songs in Italian. By 1940, he appears to have retired from stage, working as a handyman.