Quilico, Louis

Quilico, Louis , notable Canadian baritone and teacher of Italian and French-Canadian descent, father of Gino Quilico; b. Montreal, Jan. 14, 1925. He was a solo chorister in the St.-Jacques Church Choir in Montreal and began his vocal studies with Frank Rowe. After training with Teresa Pediconi and Riccardo Stracciani at the Cons. de Santa Cecilia in Rome (1947--8), he returned to Montreal to study at the Cons. (1948–52) with Lina Pizzolongo (b. Montreal, Jan. 25, 1925; d. Toronto, Sept. 21, 1991), who became his wife in 1949, and with Singher. He completed his training at the Mannes Coll. of Music in N.Y. (1952–55) with Singher and Emil Cooper. In 1954 he made his professional operatic stage debut with the Opera Guild of Montreal as Rangoni. In 1955 he won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air, but made his U.S. debut with the N.Y.C. Opera on Oct. 10, 1955, as Germont. He made his European debut at the Spoleto Festival as Donizetti’s Duca d’Alba in 1959. In 1960 he made his first appearance at London’s Covent Garden as Germont, and sang there until 1963. In 1962 he sang for the first time at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater as Rigoletto. He made his debut at the Paris Opéra as Verdi’s Rodrigo in 1963. In subsequent seasons, he sang regularly in Europe and with the Canadian Opera Co. On Feb. 10, 1972, Quilico made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Golaud, and thereafter sang there regularly. In 1991 he revealed a lighter touch when he sang Tony in The Most Happy Fella at the N.Y.C. Opera. That same year he appeared as Rigoletto at the Opéra de Montréal, a role he essayed over 500 times. From 1970 to 1987 he taught at the Univ. of Toronto, and from 1987 to 1990 at the McGill Cons. in Montreal. In 1965 he received the Prix de musique Calixa-Lavallee and in 1974 he was made a Commander of the Order of Canada.

Bibliography

R. Mercer, The Q.s: L., Gino & Lina: An Operatic Family (Oakville, Ontario, 1991).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire