Mirto Picchi (15 March 1915, San Mauro, near

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

- 25 September 1980,

) was an Italian dramatic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, and with contemporary works. Picchi studied in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

with Giulia Tess and Giuseppe Armani, and made his debut there as Radamès in ''Aïda'', in 1946. Later, the tenor sang Radamès again at the Teatro alla Scala (opposite

Maria Caniglia Maria Caniglia (5 May 1905 – 16 April 1979) was one of the leading Italian spinto sopranos of the 1930s and 1940s. Life and career Caniglia was born in Naples and studied at the Music Conservatories of Naples with Agostino Roche. She made ...

, then

Herva Nelli Herva Nelli (January 9, 1909May 31, 1994) was an Italian-American operatic soprano. Biography Named after the French socialist Gustave Hervé, she was born in Florence, where she attended a convent school. At the age of ten, however, she and her ...

, 1948), ''Andrea Chénier'' (with Renata Tebaldi and Enzo Mascherini, 1948), ''Fidelio'' (with

Delia Rigal Delia Rigal is the stage name of Delia Dominga Mastrarrigo (October 6, 1920 - May 8, 2013), an Argentine soprano who performed at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires in the period 1943-1955, La Scala in Milan and the Metropolitan Opera in New York ...

, 1949), ''Boris Godounov'' (as the Pretender, with Boris Christoff, 1949), ''Raskolnikov'' (1950), ''Lucrezia Borgia'' (opposite

Caterina Mancini Caterina Mancini (10 November 1924 – 21 January 2011) was an Italian dramatic coloratura soprano, primarily active in Italy in the 1950s. Mancini was born at Genzano di Roma. She made her debut in 1948, as Giselda in ''I Lombardi'', in Flo ...

and

Miriam Pirazzini Miriam Pirazzini (21 August 1918 – 26 December 2016) was an Italian mezzo-soprano and occasionally soprano. She made her formal debut in Rome, in 1944, as Laura Adorno in ''La Gioconda''. For the next twenty years, she was one of Italy's forem ...

, 1951), ''The Rake's Progress'' (with Dame

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, (9 December 19153 August 2006) was a German-born Austro-British soprano. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and is renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta, as well as the op ...

, 1951), ''Proserpina y el Extranjero'' (1952), ''Wozzeck'' (as the Drum Major, with

Tito Gobbi Tito Gobbi (24 October 19135 March 1984) was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation. He made his operatic debut in Gubbio in 1935 as Count Rodolfo in Bellini's '' La sonnambula'' and quickly appeared in Italy's major oper ...

and Dorothy Dow, conducted by

Dimitri Mitropoulos Dimitri Mitropoulos ( el, Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος; The dates 18 February 1896 and 1 March 1896 both appear in the literature. Many of Mitropoulos's early interviews and program notes gave 18 February. In his later interviews, howe ...

, 1952), ''Cagliostro'' (1953), ''Der Freischütz'' (with

Victoria de los Ángeles Victoria de los Ángeles López García (1 November 192315 January 2005) was a Catalan Spanish operatic lyric soprano and recitalist whose career began after the Second World War and reached its height in the years from the mid-1950s to the mid- ...

, conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini, 1955), ''La figlia di Iorio'' (conducted by

Gianandrea Gavazzeni Gianandrea Gavazzeni (25 July 19095 February 1996) was an Italian pianist, conductor (especially of opera), composer and musicologist. Gavazzeni was born in Bergamo. For almost 50 years, starting from 1948, he was principal conductor at La Sca ...

, 1956), Malipiero's ''I capricci di Callot'' (led by

Nino Sanzogno Nino Sanzogno (13 April 1911 – 4 May 1983) was an Italian conductor and composer. Life Sanzogno was born in Venice, where he studied the violin with Hermann Scherchen and composition with Gian Francesco Malipiero at the Liceo Musicale. He late ...

, 1968), ''The Bassarids'' (1968), ''Wozzeck'' (now as the Captain to Ticho Parly's Drum Major, conducted by

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...

, 1971), ''Morte dell'aria'' (at the Piccola Scala, 1971), and ''Le nozze di Figaro'' (with

José van Dam Joseph, Baron Van Damme (born 27 August 1940 in Brussels), known as José van Dam, is a Belgian bass-baritone. At the age of 17, he entered the Brussels Royal Conservatory and studied with Frederic Anspach. A year later, he graduated with diplo ...

and

Mirella Freni Mirella Freni, OMRI (, born Mirella Fregni, 27 February 1935 – 9 February 2020) was an Italian operatic soprano who had a career of 50 years and appeared at major international opera houses. She received international attention at the Gl ...

as the Contessa, 1974). In 1947, he appeared in Vienna, as Don José in ''Carmen'', and in London, at the Cambridge Theatre, as the Duca di Mantua in ''Rigoletto'', Rodolfo in ''La bohème'', Cavaradossi in ''Tosca'', and sang

Riccardo Riccardo is a male given name, Italian version of Ricardo or Richard. It also may be a surname. It means "Powerful Leader". It may refer to: People A–L *Riccardo Antoniazzi (1853–1912), Italian violin maker *Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985 ...

in ''Un ballo in maschera'' at Edinburgh, in 1949. He made his debut at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

in 1952, as Pollione in ''

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Astronomy *Norma (constellation) *555 Norma, a minor asteroid * Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy Geography *Norma, Lazi ...

'', opposite Maria Callas. He also appeared in Rio de Janeiro in 1950, and Chicago in 1954. However, the main part of his career was in Italy, notably in Milan, Rome, Naples, and Florence. He created roles in many contemporary works, notably

Ildebrando Pizzetti Ildebrando Pizzetti (20 September 1880 – 13 February 1968) was an Italian composer of classical music, musicologist, and music critic. Biography Pizzetti was born in Parma in 1880. He was part of the "Generation of 1880" along with Ottorino ...

's ''Cagliostro'' and ''La figlia di Iorio'', and

Juan José Castro Juan José Castro (March 7, 1895September 3, 1968) was an Argentine composer and conductor. Born in Avellaneda, Castro studied piano and violin under Manuel Posadas and composition under Eduardo Fornarini, in Buenos Aires. In the 1920s he was ...

's ''Proserpina y el Extranjero''. He participated in a film of ''Il tabarro'' for Italian television. One of the leading tenors of the post-war period, he had a fine voice and was an accomplished singing-actor. He retired from the stage in 1974 (Don Basilio in ''Le nozze di Figaro'', at La Scala), and published his autobiography, ''Un trono vicino al sol'', in 1978.

Studio Discography

* Verdi: ''Don Carlos'' (Caniglia, Stignani, Rossi Lemeni; Previtali, 1951) Cetra * Cherubini: ''Médée'' (Callas, Scotto, Pirazzini, Modesti; Serafin, 1957)

Ricordi Ricordi may refer to: People *Giovanni Ricordi (1785–1853), Italian violinist and publishing company founder * Giulio Ricordi (1840–1912), Italian publisher and musician Music *Casa Ricordi, an Italian music publishing company established i ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

Sources

* ''Le guide de l'opéra, les indispensables de la musique'', R. Mancini & J-J. Rouvereux, Fayard, 1986, {{DEFAULTSORT:Picchi, Mirto 1915 births 1980 deaths Italian operatic tenors 20th-century Italian male opera singers Musicians from Florence