Francisco Viñas (1863-1933) was a dramatic tenor, better known to record collectors by his Italianate stage name, Francesco Vignas. Born Francisco Viñas i Dordal in Spain’s Catalan region, he made his debut in February of 1888 as Lohengrin at Barcelona’s Teatro del Liceu. The young tenor’s career quickly took off and by the following year, he was invited to repeat his Lohengrin at La Scala. Over the course of the next decade, Viñas established himself as a leading Wagnerian tenor on Europe’s major operatic stages. He appeared to great acclaim in Milan, Florence, Turin, Rome, Venice, Naples, Genoa, Valencia, Madrid, Seville, Lisbon and London, as well as in Chicago, New York and Buenos Aires. Viñas’ repertoire, encompassing some thirty-five roles, included Radames in Aïda, Enzo in La Gioconda, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut, Canio in Pagliacci, Loris in Fedora, Faust in Mefistofele, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera, Vasco da Gama in L’Africaine, John of Leyden in Le Prophète, Don Jose in Carmen, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Federico in Germania, Siegmund in Die Walküre, and the title roles in Faust, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Rienzi and Tristan und Isolde. His career spanned three decades, coming to an end in the city of his debut in 1918. He retired to Barcelona where he passed away following a long battle with lung cancer in the summer of 1933.

In this recording, Viñas sings "Studenti, udite!" from Franchetti's opera Germania. This disc was made for Fonotipia in Milan in November of 1908.

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