The curtain dropped a final time last week on the life of 87-year-old Tito Capobianco, a man who played a central role on the region’s cultural stage. He died Sept. 8 at his home in Florida.

During his 17-year tenure with the Pittsburgh Opera, serving as general director, then as artistic director, until the time of his retirement in 2000, he was a change-maker.

Marshaling his professional passion with his personal energy, he set the stage — literally — for his art form to flourish:

He boosted the operating budget by more than five times.

He founded a training program for young performers.

He moved the season’s venue from Heinz Hall to the larger Benedum Center.

He made opera more accessible to the uninitiated by introducing supratitles — written translations that appear above the stage.

He secured an orchestra for the opera, dedicated solely to the Pittsburgh Opera, instead of sharing the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra players.

A vocalist in his early life, he sang baritone for productions in his native Argentina and performed on stage as an actor as well as a dancer. But he found his artistic forte behind the stage. He worked in Cincinnati, New York and San Diego. He directed some of the biggest names in opera, including Beverly Sills and Placido Domingo.

It has been many years since Mr. Capobianco had his last curtain call in Pittsburgh, but his legacy is a fitting coda to his life.

First Published: September 13, 2018, 4:00 a.m.