Felice Varesi

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Felice Varesi (born Calais, 1813 - died Milan 13 March 1889) was an Italian baritone.

Specializing in Donizetti operas, he began his career in Varese in 1834 and went on to sing in Faenza, Florence, Modena, Rome, Perugia and Genoa. By 1841 he was singing at La Scala and from 1842 to 1847 he was in demand in Vienna, where he appeared at the Kärntnertortheater and created the role of Antonio in Linda di Chamounix as well as appearing in other Donizetti works.

In 1844 he sang Don Carlo in Ernani in Padua, his first Verdi opera, then the Doge in I due Foscari. In 1847, in Florence, he was the first Macbeth, then in 1851 at La Fenice, Venice he was the first Rigoletto, and in 1853, in the same house, he was Verdi's original Germont in La traviata.

He came to London in 1864 to give Rigoletto - probably his best known role - at Her Majesty's Theatre.

[edit] Sources

• Forbes, Elizabeth (1992), 'Varesi, Felice' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7