Ferruccio Tagliavini

Ferruccio Tagliavini (; 14 August 191328 January 1995) was an Italian operatic tenor mainly active in the 1940s and 1950s. Tagliavini was hailed as the heir apparent to Tito Schipa and Beniamino Gigli in the lyric-opera repertory due to the exceptional beauty of his voice, but he did not sustain his great early promise across the full span of his career.
Career.
Tagliavini was born in Cavazzoli, Reggio Emilia and studied in Parma with Italo Brancucci and in Florence and with Amedeo Bassi, a well-known dramatic verismo and Wagnerian Italian tenor of the pre-World War I era whose voice (as recorded) could not be more unlike Tagliavini's (see M.Scott, "The Record of Singing", 1978). It was also in Florence that he made his professional debut in 1938 as Rodolfo in "La bohème".
He swiftly gained recognition as one of the leading tenori di grazia of his time in operas such as "The Barber of Seville", "L'elisir d'amore", "Don Pasquale", "La sonnambula", "Lucia di Lammermoor", "Rigoletto", "La traviata", "Manon", "Werther", "L'amico Fritz" and "L'arlesiana".
Debuts at many of the world's major opera houses ensued. They included: La Scala, Milan, in 1942; the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, in 1946; the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, in 1947 (as Rodolfo in "La bohème"); the San Francisco Opera in 1948; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, in 1950; and, finally, the Paris Opéra in 1951.
During the 1950s, Tagliavini took on heavier roles such as Riccardo in "Un ballo in maschera", Cavaradossi in "Tosca" and Faust in "Mefistofele"; but the lyric quality of his voice suffered as a consequence.
Tagliavini retired from the stage in 1965; he continued, however, to give occasional recitals until the mid-1970s. He left behind an impressive discography. The finest of his recordings are those that he made of operatic arias during his prime in the 1940s and early 1950s. In these records one can fully appreciate his remarkable skill at soft, or "mezza voce", singing. He also appeared in a few opera films, notably "Il barbiere di Siviglia" in 1946 with Tito Gobbi and Italo Tajo.
Tagliavini married the soprano Pia Tassinari in 1941. He made several recordings with her and they appeared together often on stage. There is a recording available of them singing Massenet's opera "Werther".
He died in Reggio Emilia in 1995, aged 81.