Ruffo made his American debut in Philadelphia in 1912 and sang extensively in Chicago. He reached the New York Metropolitan Opera relatively late in his career, in 1922, as Figaro in "The Barber of Seville", having enlisted in the Italian army during World War I. He would give a total of 46 performances at the Met from 1922 through to 1929. In 1929 he signed a $350,000 (approximately $ today) movie contract. He retired in 1931, staying for several years in exile Switzerland and Paris. He wrote an autobiography, "La mia parabola", which was translated into English in 1995 as "My Parabola". In 1937 he returned to Italy, where he was later arrested by the authorities for opposing the Fascist regime and espousing socialist beliefs. His sister was married to Giacomo Matteotti, after whose murder by the Fascists he had vowed never to sing in Italy again. Titta Ruffo died in Florence, Italy from heart disease on 5 July 1953, aged 76. Ruffo's repertoire included most of the major baritone roles in French and Italian opera, including among others Rigoletto, Di Luna, Amonasro, Germont, Tonio, Rossini's Figaro, Valentin, Iago, Carlo (in both "Ernani" and "La forza del destino"), Nabucco, Vasco, Don Giovanni, Barnaba, Scarpia, Marcello, and Renato in "Un ballo in maschera". He was also renowned for his interpretations of several baritone parts in operas that are largely forgotten today, namely, the title roles in Ambroise Thomas's "Hamlet" and Franchetti's "Cristoforo Colombo" plus Cascart in Leoncavallo's "Zazà "and Neri in Giordano's "La cena delle beffe". Like his tenor contemporary Enrico Caruso, Ruffo was said to embody a new style of singing in which power, declamatory force and a rich, chesty tone eclipsed the previous generation's emphasis on vocal grace, flexibility and technical finesse. Consequently, some conservative commentators compared Ruffo unfavorably with his elegant Italian predecessor Mattia Battistini, who was a master of bel canto and the possessor of a leaner, more silvery timbre than Ruffo's. However, according to modern-day critics like John Steane and Michael Scott, the difference between the two great baritones was not quite as clear cut as some have suggested in the past, because both Battistini and Ruffo displayed exceptional vocal agility and control plus the ability to sustain a long legato line.