Gianni Raimondi

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Gianni Raimondi (born April 17, 1923) is an Italian lyric tenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.

Born in Bologna, Italy, Raimondi studied at the Music Conservatory of his native city, with Melandri and Barra-Caracciolo, and made his debut there in 1948, as Ernesto in Don Pasquale.

After singing throughout Italy, notably in Florence, in a revival of Rossini's Armida, opposite Maria Callas, in 1952, he made guest appearances in Nice, Marseille, Monte-Carlo, Paris, and London. He made his debut at La Scala in Milan, in 1955, as Alfredo in La Traviata, opposite Callas, in the famed Luchino Visconti production, he took part in another famous Visconti-Callas production, as Percy in Anna Bolena, in 1957. He participated in many important revivals at La Scala, including Mosè in Egitto, in 1958, and Semiramide, opposite Joan Sutherland, in 1962.

Raimondi was much appreciated in high-lying lyric tenor roles such as Arnoldo in Guglielmo Tell, Arturo in I puritani, Fernando in La Favorita, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, the Duke in Rigoletto, etc.

His American debut was at the San Francisco Opera in 1957. He also appeared at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, in 1959. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut on September 29, 1965, as Rodolfo in La bohème, opposite another debutante, Mirella Freni. Other roles at the Met included: Edgardo, Faust (opera), Cavaradossi in Tosca, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.

In the 1970s, Raimondi expanded his repertory and added roles such as Pollione in Norma, Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia (opera), which he sang opposite Leyla Gencer and Montserrat Caballé, he also sang in many Verdi operas such as, I masnadieri, I Vespri Siciliani, Simon Boccanegra, etc.

Gianni Raimondi made few commercial recordings, the most famous is probably La Traviata, oppsosite Renata Scotto and Ettore Bastianini. He also appeared in a film version of La bohème with Mirella Freni, conducted by Herbert Von Karajan.

[edit] Selected Recordings

[edit] Sources

  • Roland Mancini and Jean-Jacques Rouveroux, (orig. H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, French edition), Guide de l’opéra, Les indispensables de la musique (Fayard, 1995). ISBN 2-213-01563-6