ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a biography of mid- to late-19th-century Victorian vocalists Lewis Bernard Sapio and Antonio Sapio. The musical Sapio brothers were the sons of a Signor Antonio Sapio, described in his obituary as 'one of the most distinguished masters in the art of singing in Europe, during a period when that art received perhaps more general attention than at the present time. Lewis appeared at a number of private entertainments ('first tenore to the King of France'), including one of his own, at the home of Lady Desanges, with the concourse of the De Begnises, Madame Camporese, Miss Goodall and Ambrogetti. During 1823 and 1824 the young tenor sang in concerts and oratorios at Drury Lane and at Covent Garden, and when, in February 1824, he visited Bristol for the local Subscription Concerts the local press – in a review generally unfavourable to the old school of English singing – remarked.
