Born Rome 1783.
Died Paris, 3 June 1853.
Italian bass.
As a tenor he made his debut at Naples in 1801 and had a successful career for ten years. After a period of illness he resumed his career as a bass, making a second debut at Venice in 1812, in the premiere of Rossini's one-act comedy L'inganno felice.
Rossini composed several parts for him, including Mustafà Italian Girl in Algiers (Venice 1813); Fernando Villabella The Thieving Magpie (Milan 1817) and Maometto in Maometto Secondo (Naples 1820). Later he created the role of Henry VIII in Donizetti's Anna Bolena (Milan 1830).
He made his first appearance in London in 1827, at the King's Theatre.
He retired from singing in 1840 and taught in Paris.
He had a much younger brother Vincenzo (1798-1858), who also sang as a bass. He sang regularly in Milan from 1824, as well as appearing in London, New York and Vienna.
We need to clarify which of these two brothers sang with De Begnis in Scotland.
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