Anselmo Colzani

Anselmo Colzani (March 28, 1918, Budrio - March 19, 2006, Milan) was an Italian operatic baritone, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.

Colzani studied in Bologna with Corrado Zambelli, and made his stage debut in 1947 at the Teatro Comunale Bologna, as the Herald in "Lohengrin".

His career took off with his 1952 debut at La Scala in Milan, as Alfio in "Cavalleria rusticana", other roles included Telramund, Marcello, Escamillo, de Sirex, etc. He took part in the creation of Darius Milhaud's "David", in 1955, and sang Thoas in Gluck's "Iphigenie en Tauride", opposite Maria Callas in 1957. He also appeared in Genoa, Rome, Naples, Palermo, and was a regular guest at the Baths of Caracalla and the Verona Arena.

Outside Italy, he appeared at Vienna State Opera, the Monte Carlo Opera, the Teatro Nacional Sao Carlos in Lisbon. He made his American debut at the San Francisco Opera in 1956, as di Luna, and at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1959. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as "Simon Boccanegra", in 1960, other notable roles there included; "Nabucco", "Macbeth", "Rigoletto", Amonasro in "Aida", Iago in "Otello", "Falstaff", Barnaba in "La Gioconda", Gérard in "Andrea Chenier", Scarpia in "Tosca", Jack Rance in "La fanciulla del west", etc.

Colzani's voice may have lacked the sheer beauty of other baritones, but his performances had an Italianate urgency and fortright urgency that were unique.

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* "Opera News", Obituaries, June 2006.