Carlo Pietro Tagliabue was an Italian baritone.
According to Tagliabue, his love for singing began at a young age, when his father would take him to performances at La Scala. Carlo would return singing arias in a baritone voice disproportionate to his age. He also failed his childhood choir class because he wanted to sing in a big voice and grand manner, while they required the typical boy treble voice. Around age 17 he began two years' study of music and singing under Corrado Mattioli, a teacher and director of the choral division of the Civiche Scuole popolari di Musica in Milan.
After a brief conscription during World War I, he returned to Milan and studied for one year with Leopoldo Gennai-a repertoire coach from La Scala-and Annibale Ghidotti, a blind singing teacher who, it was said, could identify a student's voice type simply by feeling their throat.
Tagliabue made his debut in Lodi, Lombardy, in Loreley and Aida. His debuts in Genoa, Torino, La Scala, Rome, and Naples were all in Tristan und Isolde. He also performed in Wagner's Götterdämmerung, Tannhäuser and Lohengrin.