235.—CAMPANINI AS A SOLDIER.
Seldom do we find an operatic singer in the battlefield taking his part in his country's battles. Of those who have been delighted with the tenor voice of Signor Campanini, few have known that they were applauding a brave soldier, as well as a finished singer.
He was one of the first to volunteer to serve under Garibaldi at Marsala, and his zeal and bravery were so great that while yet little more than a youth he obtained the post of sergeant. At the battle of Capua, during the fiercest fighting, he was wounded by two sabre cuts; he still carries the scars, one on the right cheek and the other on the neck.
But this did not stop his fighting, and had it not been for a severe fever which nearly killed him, it is very likely that the brave volunteer would never have left the campaign. At this time he had never thought of such a thing as being a singer, but he soon after obtained admission to the Parma conservatory of music, where he made surprising progress. To-day he is one of the foremost tenors and has attained this enviable position of his own merit and exertion.
Of the many singers upon the concert stage we venture to say that there are few, if any, with a like record for soldiering and singing.