Nicola Zaccaria

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Nicola Zaccaria (March 9, 1923 - July 24, 2007) was a Greek bass-baritone.

Born in Piraeus, Zaccaria studied in Athens where he enjoyed his debut in 1949, aged 26. He sang at La Scala in 1953 and his position as a mainstay of the bass operatic repertoire was assured thereafter. He was La Scala's principal bass for almost 15 years.

Bass singers are usually overshadowed by the tenors and sopranos that typically take the lead roles in opera, and Zaccaria was no exception. He sang with some of the the most famous singers of his generation, such as Maria Callas, but never achieved great international fame. With Callas he recorded nine complete operas:

Aida (1955, as Il re d’Egitto)
Rigoletto (1955, as Sparafucile)
Il trovatore (1956, as Ferrando)
La Boheme (1956, as Colline)
Un ballo in maschera (1956, as Tom)
Il barbiere di Siviglia (1957, as Don Basilio)
La sonnambula (1957, as Il conte Rodolfo)
Turandot (1957, as Timur)
Norma (1960, as Oroveso)

According to John Ardoin in his book The Callas Legacy, Zaccaria also recorded under the pseudonym Guilio Mauri in the complete recordings of Il trovatore and Turandot in which he appeared with the soprano. Nicola Zaccaria died in Athens on July 24, 2007 from Alzheimer's disease, aged 84.