Mario del Monaco (Florence July 27, 1915 - October 16, 1982 in Mestre) was an Italian tenor and is regarded as one of the loudest tenors of the 20th Century. Mario was born to a musical upper-class Florentine family. As a young boy he studied the violin but had a passion for singing. He graduated from the Rossini Conservatory at Pesaro, where he first met and sang with Renata Tebaldi. Maestro Raffaelli recognized his talent and helped start his career. He married Rina Filippini in 1941.

His main career began with his debut on December 31, 1940, as Pinkerton at the Puccini Theater in Milan….