He had a great career ahead of him. He came from great triumphs in Italy, Japan, China, Egypt. Mascagni and Respighi loved him. Often the flowers thrown on stage were not for the soprano but for him. He would certainly have come to perform at La Scala, the Metropolitan in New York was waiting for him. Yet Arturo Ferrara, a Sicilian tenor with astonishing vocal abilities, star of the Eiar in the 1930s, with an imposing stage presence given that he was almost two meters tall, at just 38 years old, in 1938, inexplicably decided to retire from the stage. The reason, even today, remains an absolute mystery. His exile in Sicily is generally attributed to the outbreak of the Second World War. But this thesis is not entirely convincing.
He was born in 1900 in Francavilla di Sicilia, he died melancholy in Giardini Naxos on 23 December 1983, the house full of memories and posters from all over the world. Fondachelli Fantina, another center in the Messina area, was the true homeland of his family, the Ferraras, large landowners. There are many families with that surname originating from Fondachelli Fantina. His was the one nicknamed “Ballàno”. After 1850 there were eight Ferrara heirs: the eldest, Giuseppe, born in 1863, moved to Francavilla di Sicilia, because he married Maria Filippello. Three children were born: Arturo was born on the eve of August 15th of the first year of the 20th century, on 14 August 1900. The Francavilla cinema has been named after him since 2007. In Fondachelli, Ferrara, as a young man, he often returned to visit his relatives.
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