After serving as a cadet in the Peruvian navy, Luigi Alva studied singing with Rose Mercedes Ajarza de Morales in Lima. He made his début in a concert in Lima in 1949, and in the same year sang in Luisa Fernanda, a zarzuela by Federico Moreno Torroba. The conductor Anton Guadagno suggested the part of Beppe in Pagliacci for Alva’s operatic début, but in the event the rôle was Alfredo/La Traviata, in 1951 at the opera house in Lima. Alva then participated in a competition to select a tenor for the film The Great Caruso with Mario Lanza, the prize of which was a fellowship to study at the Academy of La Scala, Milan. Although unsuccessful, Alva decided to move to Italy in 1953, where he studied singing with Emilio Ghirardi...