Mirto Picchi

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Mirto Picchi (March 15, 1915, San Mauro, near Florence - September 25, 1980, Florence) was an Italian tenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, and with contemporary work.

Picchi studied in Milan with Giulia Tess and Giuseppe Armani, and made his debut there as Radames, in 1946.

In 1947, he appeared in Vienna, as Don Jose, and in London, at the Cambridge Theatre, as Duca di Mantua, Rodolfo, Cavaradossi, and sang Riccardo in Edinburgh, in 1949. He made his debut at the Royal Opera House in 1952, as Pollione in Norma, opposite Maria Callas. He also appeared in Rio de Janeira in 1950, and Chcago in 1954.

However the main part of his career was in Italy, notably in Milan, Rome, Naples, and Florence, where he sang Giascone in a revival of Cherubini 's Medea, opposite Callas, in 1953.

He created roles in many contemporary works, notably Ildebrando Pizzetti 's Cagliastro and La figlia di Iorio, and Juan Jose Castro 's Proserpina y el Extranjero.

One of the leading tenor of the postwar period, he had a fine voice and was an accomplished singing-actor. He retired from the stage in 1974, and published his autobiography Un trono vicino al sol, in 1978.