Beniamino Gigli (Recanati, March 20, 1890 – Rome, November 30, 1957) was an Italian lyric tenor born on the same day as the Danish heroic tenor Lauritz Melchior. He is considered one of the best tenors of the first half of the 20th century, and along with Enrico Caruso and Jussi Björling was the tenor of choice for lyric tenor roles at the Metropolitan Opera in New York before World War II. (Source: Wikipedia)