Primarily an opera and concert singer, Cesare Siepi (1923-2010) also made forays into Broadway, starring in the world premieres of 'Bravo Giovanni' (1962) and 'Carmelina' (1979). However, his greatest Broadway souvenir may be his recording of Cole Porter excerpts, most notably 'I Get a Kick Out of You'; 'I've Got You Under My Skin'; and 'Night and Day', all with his very discernible Italian accent.

Siepi's Metropolitan Opera (Met) debut (Fall 1950) could have been daunting for many reasons: 1) It was his United States debut, though he sang in Mexico City in 1949; 2) It was a season opening night, but not just any, it was the inauguration of the Sir Rudolf Bing regime; 3) The opera, 'Don Carlo' by Giuseppe Verdi, was absent from the Met for 28 years, plus Siepi had to step into a breach and learn a brand new role, King Philip II of Spain, because the originally scheduled singer, Bulgarian Boris Christoff, was denied entry into the US by the McCarran Immigration Act.

Instead, Siepi's Met debut drew general critical rave reviews, with a common, frequent basic caveat of lacking dramatic credibility because he was portraying a man double his age or older. He still got high marks for his voice and charismatic stage presence and became a Met 'warhorse' singer for 23 straight years.

Siepi defined the title role of 'Don Giovanni' (uploaded image) by Mozart from the 1950s to the mid-1970s at the Met and elsewhere, just as older compatriot Ezio Pinza in the 1930s and 1940s.

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