Giuseppe Taddei

Giuseppe Taddei (26 June 1916 – 2 June 2010) was an Italian baritone, who, during his career, performed multiple operas composed by numerous composers.

Taddei was born in Genoa, Italy, and studied in Rome, where he made his professional debut in 1936 as the Herald in Wagner's ''Lohengrin''. He sang at the Rome Opera until he was conscripted into the army in 1942. After the war, he resumed his opera career and appeared for two seasons at the Vienna State Opera. He made his debut in London in 1947, at the Cambridge Theatre. The following year, 1948, saw his debut at the Salzburg Festival, La Scala in Milan, and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples.

His American debut took place at the San Francisco Opera in 1957, followed by his appearance with Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1959. He sang regularly at the Royal Opera House in London from 1960 to 1967.

Taddei was equally effective in comedy and drama. His acting repertoire included the two Figaros, from ''The Marriage of Figaro'' and ''The Barber of Seville'', both Leporello and Don Giovanni in ''Don Giovanni'', both Belcore and Dulcamara in ''L'elisir d'amore'', as well as Don Carlo in ''Ernani'', Macbeth in ''Macbeth'', Rigoletto in ''Rigoletto'', Amonasro in ''Aida'', Iago in ''Otello'', Falstaff in ''Falstaff'', Barnaba in ''La Gioconda'', Gérard in ''Andrea Chénier'', and Scarpia in ''Tosca'', among others.

His vocal longevity allowed him to continue singing into old age, including a debut at the Metropolitan Opera, on 25 September 1985, in the title role of ''Falstaff'', at the age of 69.

Taddei left many recordings, notably as Figaro in ''The Marriage of Figaro'' and Leporello in ''Don Giovanni'' in the Carlo Maria Giulini renditions, as Macbeth, opposite Birgit Nilsson, in ''Macbeth'', conducted by Thomas Schippers, and as Scarpia in ''Tosca'' and as Falstaff in ''Falstaff'', both conducted by Herbert von Karajan. Provided by Wikipedia