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Giorgio Tozzi
Giorgio Tozzi made his Metropolitan Opera debut
in 1955, and he sang leading bass roles there for twenty-one seasons (38 roles in 34 operas):
the Verdi canon from Nabucco to
Don Carlo (Philip) and Aida; Mozart's
Don Giovanni and Nozze di
Figaro; Rossini's Barbiere (Basilio);
Wagner's Dutchman, Parsifal, and
Meistersinger (Pogner and Hans Sachs). Other favorite portrayals were of
Mephistopheles, Boris Godunov, Alvise, Raimondo, and King Marke, and he scored also as
the Doctor in the premiere of Barber's Vanessa at the Met and in
Salzburg. Andrew Farkas notes, "I saw Mr. Tozzi in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, and
at the Met as Daland, Sachs, Basilio, Marke, Mephistopheles, Sparafucile, Old Convict,
King Philip, and Miller. He was a very great stage artist and a fine singer. His King
Marke was noble and moving, his Daland deeply human and humorous, and his bumbling
Basilio extraordinarily funny."
Earlier, the
Chicago-born bass had won acclaim in leading European opera houses. He also starred opposite
Mary Martin in a revival of South Pacific in San Francisco, and supplied the soundtrack voice
of Emile DeBecque in the movie version of that show. Björling fans have treasured his
contributions to Jussi's complete opera recordings, from La Boheme to
Turandot, as well as
the great Reiner-led recording of Verdi's Requiem with both men (as well
as Rosalind Elias and Leontyne Price) in top vocal form.
For the past eleven
years, Mr. Tozzi has been professor of voice at Indiana University, where he holds an endowed
chair. He was a close personal friend to Jussi, and we welcome his broad
perspective.
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