Gian Giacomo Guelfi

Giangiacomo Guelfi studied at the Centro Lirico in Florence, as well as with legendary Italian baritone Titta Ruffo, and made his opera debut in the title role of Verdi's Rigoletto in 1950, an exceptionally young age for such a work. He won the Spoleto Experimental Theater Prize and made his La Scala debut in 1952 as The Visitor in Castro's Proserpina y el extranjero. He made his London debut two years later at Drury Lane as Gerard in Giordano's Andrea Chénier. Though he drew considerable acclaim in a 1957 performance of Verdi's I due Foscari in Venice, and he was considered a...