Riccardo Martin was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 tenor

Tenor

The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

.

Born Hugh Whitfield Martin in Hopkinsville, Kentucky

Hopkinsville, Kentucky

Hopkinsville is a city in Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 31,577 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Christian County.- History :...

, Martin was granted an endowment which allowed him, in 1901, to go to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 to study with Giovanni Sbriglia

Giovanni Sbriglia

Giovanni Sbriglia , was an Italian tenor and prominent teacher of singing.A native of Naples, Sbriglia attended the city's music conservatory before making his debut, aged 21, at the Teatro San Carlo. He then performed throughout Italy before being engaged by Max Maretzek for New York City's...

 and Jean de Reszke

Jean de Reszke

Jean de Reszke, born Jan Mieczyslaw, , was a Polish tenor. Renowned internationally for the high quality of his singing and the elegance of his bearing, he became the biggest male opera star of the late 19th century....

; he later completed his studies with Vincenzo Lombardi in Florence and Beniamino Carelli

Beniamino Carelli

Beniamino Carelli was a celebrated Italian singing teacher and composer.Carelli was born and died in Naples, where he spent many years teaching at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella...

 in Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

. He debuted as Faust in Nantes

Nantes

Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....

 in 1904. Two years later he made his American debut in New Orleans, singing with the visiting San Carlo Opera. Martin bowed at the Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

 on November 20, 1907 in Mefistofele

Mefistofele

Mefistofele is an opera in a prologue, four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito.-Composition history:...

; the performance also marked the American debut of Fyodor Chaliapin.

Martin remained with the Metropolitan through the 1914-15 season, appearing in numerous leading tenor roles; he was among the first American-born leading men the company employed. He returned for the 1917-18 season. During his tenure at the Met, he created the lead tenor roles in three American operas: Walter Damrosch's Cyrano, Horatio Parker

Horatio Parker

Horatio William Parker was an American composer, organist and teacher. He was a central figure in musical life in New Haven, Connecticut in the late 19th century, and is best remembered as the teacher of Charles Ives....

's Mona

Mona (opera)

Mona is an opera in three acts by composer Horatio Parker with an English libretto by Brian Hooker. The opera premiered at the Metropolitan Opera on 14 March 1912 after the work won the Met's composition competition in 1911.- Roles :...

, and Frederick Shepherd Converse's The Pipe of Desire. After leaving the company he appeared with numerous companies throughout America and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, and spent three seasons with the Chicago Civic Opera

Chicago Civic Opera

The Civic Opera Company was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theater from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financial difficulties brought on in part by the Great Depression.-...

. Martin died in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

in 1952.