Nicola Rossi-Lemeni

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Nicola Rossi-Lemeni

Nicola Rossi-Lemeni[lower-alpha 1] (November 6, 1920 – March 12, 1991), was a basso opera singer of mixed Italian-Russian parentage.

Rossi-Lemeni was born in Istanbul, Turkey, the son of an Italian colonel and a Russian mother. In his prime he was one of the most respected bassos in Italy. The composer Ildebrando Pizzetti wrote the opera Assassinio nella cattedrale (1958) specifically for Rossi-Lemeni. He was also a prize-winning poet and a painter.

Career

The basso made his debut as Varlaam in Boris Godunov at La Fenice, Venice, in 1946. He sang at the Teatro alla Scala from 1947 to 1960, the Teatro Colón (1949) and Covent Garden (1952). He appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, opening the 1953/54 season, in Faust (with Jussi Björling, Victoria de los Ángeles and Robert Merrill, conducted by Pierre Monteux and directed by Peter Brook in his Met debut),[1] followed by the title roles of Don Giovanni and Boris Godunov.

Rossi-Lemeni was married to Romanian soprano Virginia Zeani. Among his recordings are Don Carlos (with Mirto Picchi, 1951), The Barber of Seville (with de los Ángeles, 1952), and—opposite Maria CallasI puritani (1953), Norma (1954), Il turco in Italia (1954) and La forza del destino (1954). He was then featured in two recordings of La serva padrona, the first (1955) conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini, the second (1959) alongside Zeani. In 1952, he recorded excerpts from Boris Godunov with Leopold Stokowski and the San Francisco Symphony for RCA Victor, which have been reissued on CD.

Rossi-Lemeni was a pontifical knight in the Order of St. Sylvester. He died in Bloomington, Indiana.

References

Notes

  1. His father's last name was Rossi, but his mother wanted her family name added, "Rossi Lemeni" (without a hyphen). However, many publications and recordings hyphenate the name.
  1. Faust, opening night performance details and reviews (16 November 1953), Metropolitan Opera

Sources

External links