Gianni Raimondi

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 alsoappeared 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 atthe Met included: Edgardo, Faust, 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", 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.

Selected Recordings

* Donizetti - "Anna Bolena" - Maria Callas, Giulietta Simionato, Gianni Raimondi, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni - Coro e Orchestra del Teatro all Scala, Gianandrea Gavazzeni - EMI (1957)
* Donizetti - "La Favorita" - Fedora Barbieri, Gianni Raimondi, Carlo Tagliabue, Guilio Neri - Coro e Orchestra della Rai Torino, Angelo Questa - Warner-Fonit (1955)
* Donizetti - "Linda di Chamounix" - Margherita Carosio, Gianni Raimondi, Giuseppe Taddei, Giuseppe Modesti, Rina Corsi, Carlo Badioli - Coro e Orchestra della Rai Milano, Alfredo Simonetto - Walhall Eternity Series (1953)

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