"Few tenors since the war have possessed the tonal refulgence or stentorian clarity of Mario del Monaco," wrote Alan Blythe of Del Monaco, adding "he is the epitome of the Italian tenore di forza, his voice brilliant, bright, with a trumpet-like ring" (A. Blyth, Decca 1993). This trumpet like ring is often in Italian referred to as squillo, a richness of overtones which was a hallmark of Del Monaco's voice; he had squillo in abundance and kept thrilling the world of opera with a force of tone that was quite unique. His raw, power laden approach was much due to his use of a lowered larynx, and which often led critics to report of an unsubtle and vulgar tenor (reviewers dubbed him "the brazen bull of Milan"). However, these were characteristics so much needed of a dramatic tenor, of which category del Monaco ranks as one of the finest tenors of the century. He became the foremost interpreter of Otello of the post-war era, a role he performed more than 200 times (although word has it that it counted more than 400 times), and it was his wish that he would be buried in his Otello costume upon his death. He died at Mestre (Venice, Italy) on October 16, 1982.

Mario del Monaco was born in Firenze on July 27 1915. His father was a civil servant with a love for music and after having been designated a post in Pesaro, Rossini's birth place, he made sure that the young Del Monaco enrolled at the reputable city conservatory, where Pietro Mascagni held the coveted post as director. His son was then 13 years of age. His principal study was the violin, but his desire and talent for singing flourished, and when connecting with Maestro Raffaelli, who recognized the boy's talent, a vocal career was slowly in the progress. With Maestro Raffaelli, Del Monaco prepared a role in the fairly unknown opera Il Narcissi by Massenet and a few other works within Pesaro and nearby villages. After some minor successes, Del Monaco changed his tutor for Maestro Melocchi. Under Melocchi he succeeded in obtaining a scholarship from the Teatro Reale of the Rome Opera in 1936, chosen from a group of 180 contestants.

A brief period of vocal abuse followed as Del Monaco left the tuition of Maestro Melocchi and sang extensively upon request from local theaters, and Del Monaco suffered a serious vocal crisis. His fiancée, Rina Filippini, whom he later married in 1941, persuaded both the Maestro and Del Monaco to reunite and to recover Del Monaco from his present state of crisis. After six months of heavily retraining his voice, Del Monaco had recovered and made his professional debut at the Teatro Communale of Cagli in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana on 20 March 1940. He was then 24.

Mario Del Monaco was in the years to follow to be called to military service and war service with the onset of World War II. Luckily, he was stationed at the milanese batallion under the music loving colonel Gino Ninchi, who heard Del Monaco sing in the camp and decided to help furthering the career of the young talent. Under an audition at the Teatro Puccini in Milano in December 1940, Del Monaco was discovered by the theatre manager after a fit of rage in front of a seemingly uninterested commission, finishing of his aria "Addio fiorito asil" from Madama Butterfly with a powerful, prolonged B-flat, keeping it, in Del Monaco's own words, "to nearly bursting point, holding the judges spellbound and staring at that wonder." The "spellbound" commission immediately engaged this "wonder" of a tenor for a staging of Puccini's Butterfly in Milano a few days later, in the lead tenor role as Pinkerton.

In between his war duties, Del Monaco kept performing throughout Italy in La Traviata, La Boheme, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Turandot, Lucia di Lammermoor, Un Ballo in Maschera and La Gioconda, apart from Zaza and the world premiere of Rota's Ariodante at Parma's Teatro Reggio 18 November 1942. Nevertheless, war times and war service put a momentarily stop to Del Monaco's career.

In 1946, when the war had terminated, Del Monaco resumed his career and returned to make somewhat of a sensational re-debut in Verona as Radames in Verdi's Aida. The appearance took him to Covent Garden the very same year. Apparently he turned down an offer from La Scala fearing he would not be prepared for an engagement at that point of his career, knowing the reputation and attention the theater had, and subsequently his La Scala debut did not take place until 1949, when La Scala arranged a commemorative staging of Giordano's Andrea Chenier after the composer's death that same year. 1950 he appeared in San Francisco and finally the MET debut in 1951. He remained with that house until 1959, usually singing opposite soprano Renata Tebaldi. He also sang throughout Europe, Japan and South America, where his sensational debut as Otello took place in 1950, at Buenos Aires' Teatro Colon.

1950 became an historical year for Del Monaco. Apart from his Otello in Buenos Aires, he sang opposite Maria Callas at La Scala in Aida, he participated in the commemoration of Puccini at Napoli's San Carlos, where La Boheme was staged. While singing in San Francisco, he received an offer from Rudolf Bing, the director of the Met, for the 1951/52 season.

In 1955 the Met mounted a staging of Andrea Chenier with Del Monaco after 27 years of absence of that opera from the Met repertory. This was also the year when he was awarded with the Arena d'Oro for his performances of Otello and Mantua showed its recognition by awarding him with the Orfeo d'Oro.

In the years to follow he alternated between La Scala and the Met in grand performances of Aida, Norma, Tosca, Cavalleria Rusticana, La Gioconda, Carmen, La Forza del Destino, Il Trovatore, Andrea Chenier and his signature role: Otello. His interpretation of the Moorish general spread the word of an hallmark Otello, one of the finest to have appeared in the century. In 1958 he performed Otello in Tokyo in the presence of the Japanese emperor and met with the emperors brother. He took Otello to Belgrade in 1960 for a performance attended by general Tito, with tense relations between Yugoslavia and Italy. Tito invited Del Monaco to Brioni and honored him with the Great Official Honor of the Yugoslavian Flag. 1959 he sang Carmen at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and was awarded with The Academic Order of Lenin. The Queen Mother of Great Britain invited him to the Royal Palace in between 1st and 2nd act of Otello in London in 1962 in honor of the tenor. They drank Champagne together. A few months previously he starred in an ambitious studio recording of Otello for Decca under Karajan. Del Monaco was at the height of his career.

1963 ended fatally for del Monaco; on the 13th of December he was seriously injured in a car accident in Roma, leaving him immobilized for eight months. An anecdote has it that he woke up at the hospital, touched his throat and launched a powerful high C, reassuring himself that his voice was still intact.

1968/69 he was triumphant in Budapest in Otello and Samson, and Budapest declared him the greatest tenor of all times. In Bruxelles he performed his last Otello; in 1973, at the age of 62, he wass Canio in Pagliacci at the Wiener Staatsoper, after 17 years of absence from the house. In 1974 he performed in Il Tabarro in Torre del Lago, Italy, at the commemoration of Puccini's death, and further performances of Pagliacci in Wien. The following year he accepted to do 11 performances in 20 days at the theaters of San Carlo (Napoli) and Massimo (Palermo), which were to be his last performances on stage. He was 60 years old. The Metropolitan and the opera of San Francisco intended to get one last performance with del Monaco in Pagliacci, but he rejected the offer. A brilliant career had come to an end.