Virgilio Lazzari

Virgilio Lazzari (20 April 1887, Assisi – 4 October 1953, Castel Gandolfo) was an Italian operatic bass who had an active international performance career from 1908 to 1953. He had lengthy associations with the Chicago Civic Opera (1918–1932) and the Metropolitan Opera (1933–1950), and frequently performed at the Salzburg Festival during the 1930s. He appeared as a guest artist with opera houses internationally, including the Royal Opera House, the Teatro Colón, and the Teatro Carlo Felice among others.

Lazzari was particularly known for his performances of Archibaldo in L'amore dei tre re and Leporello in Don Giovanni. In 1943 he created the role of Salomone in the world premiere of Italo Montemezzi's L'incantesimo. Music critic Harold Rosenthal stated that Lazzari was "one of the best singing actors in his particular repertory". While working in Chicago he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. His voice is preserved on complete recordings of Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni which he made with the Metropolitan Opera.

Born in Assisi, Lazzari began his career performing with the Vitale Operetta Company from 1908–1911; making his professional debut as L'Incognito in Franz von Suppé's Boccaccio. He then pursued studies in opera with Antonio Cotogni in Rome before making his first appearance in that city in 1914 at the Teatro Costanzi. He was committed to the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires for the 1914–1915 season, and appeared at the Municipal Theatre of Santiago in 1915 as Aldobrandino de 'Rangoni in Mascagni's Parisina.