Gianni Raimondi

Who was Gianni Raimondi?

Gianni Raimondi was an Italian lyric tenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.

Born in Bologna, Raimondi studied at the Music Conservatory of his native city with Antonio Melandri, and Gennaro Barra-Caracciolo and in Mantua with Ettore Campogalliani. He made his stage debut in 1947 in Rigoletto at the Teatro Consorziale in Budrio, a small town near Bologna. The following year he made his debut at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, as Ernesto in Donizetti's Don Pasquale.

After singing throughout Italy, he made guest appearances in Nice, Marseille, Monte-Carlo, Paris, and London. His La Scala début occurred in 1956, as Alfredo in La Traviata, again opposite Callas, in the famed Luchino Visconti production. He took part in another famous Visconti-Callas production, as Percy in Donizetti's Anna Bolena, in 1957. Later he participated in many important revivals at La Scala, including two Rossini works: Mosè in Egitto in 1958, and Semiramide, opposite Joan Sutherland, in 1962. In particular he was much appreciated for his skill with high-lying lyric tenor roles such as Arnoldo in Rossini's Guglielmo Tell, Arturo in Bellini's I Puritani, Fernando in yet another Donizetti piece, La favorita, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and the Duke in Rigoletto.