Battistini's choice of bride had befitted his esteemed social status in Tsarist Russia and the West; he married a Spanish noblewoman, Doña Dolores de Figueroa y Solís, who was the offspring of a marquis and a cousin of Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val. In January 1900, Battistini and a young Russian admirer, Varvara Grigorievna Kovalensky (1878–1946), had a son Petya (1900–1972). For around ten years, Battistini and Varvara corresponded and worked out details of Petya's upbringing, eventually enrolling him at the Collegio Nazareno under the name Pietro Kovalensky. Though mother and father never married (Battistini was already married and a devout Catholic) and broke off contact, they did reconcile after Varvara's husband Vladimir Mrosovsky died. By that point, Petya (now known by Peter Mrosovsky) had finished school in England and graduated from Cambridge,. There he had been friends with the likes of Nabokov, to whom he introduced James Joyce's Ulysses with a first edition copy smuggled from Paris. Final years and death Battistini formed his own company of singers following the 1914–1918 war. He toured with them and appeared frequently in concerts and recitals. He sang in England for the final time in 1924 and gave his last concert performance one year before his death. His voice was reportedly still steady, responsive, and in good overall condition. His last singing engagement occurred in Graz, Austria, on 17 October 1927. He withdrew to his estate at Collebaccaro di Contigliano, Rieti, dying there from heart failure on 7 November 1928. Battistini also taught voice in later years; among his pupils were the Basque baritone Celestino Sarobe and the Greek baritone Titos Xirellis. Recordings Battistini's initial sequence of records were cut in Warsaw in 1902 for the Gramophone and Typewriter Company. Between 1906 and 1924, he recorded extensively for the Gramophone Co Ltd and its associated companies. His records were issued in the USA by Victor. Battistini's last recording session took place during February 1924. The earliest of his discs feature a piano accompanist but his later sung offerings were backed by a small band of orchestral musicians and, occasionally, a few choristers. Selected reissues On vinyl long-playing disc EMI, the original producer, issued a complete Battistini collection late in the LP era, remastered from the original 78-rpm shellac discs by audio technician Keith Hardwick. On compact disc Mattia Battistini: The Complete Recordings 1898–1924, 6 CDs, Marston Records 2015 (USA). The Complete Recordings: