Obituary: Tenor Giuseppe Giacomini Dies at 80

By Francisco Salazar

Tenor Giuseppe Giacomini has died at the age 80

Born on Sept. 7, 1940, Giacomini went on to study with Elena Ceriati, Marcello del Monaco, and Vladimiro Badiali and had success in song competitions.

He would go on to make his debut in 1966 in Vercelli in “Madama Butterfly” and by 1969, he was also performing around Italy. In 1970, he made his international debut in Berlin and it would be followed by debuts in Lisbon, Barcelona, Vienna, and Munich.

In the following years, he would return to Italy to triumph at the major houses in Milan, Turin, and Rome, and would make his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1976. That same year he went to Paris where made a huge impact and obtained contracts to sing such works as “Macbeth,” “Don Carlo,” “Il Trovatore,” “Pagliacci” and “Tosca.” In 1980 he would make his Royal Opera debut where he sang in the 90s frequently.

Throughout his career Giacomini had many unique milestones, including the world premiere of “La Lupa,” and a performance of Des Grieux at the 100th-anniversary performance of “Manon Lescaut.” He sang for the Royal Family, sang for Gorbachev in Moscow, performed in a historic “Aida” in Cairo, and sang in “Turandot” at the opening of the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988.

He was a recipient of the title of Kammersänger in Vienna, the Gold Viotti, the Giovanni Zenatello Prize, the C.A.Capelli Prize, the Gold Mascagni, Giovanni Martinelli Prize, and is also Commendatore of the Ordine di San Gregorio Magno.

The tenor sang well into the 2000s and celebrated his 60th birthday at the Covent Garden in “Tosca” and in 2010 toured China with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Mr. Muhai Tang.

Giacomini left several recordings including a “La Forza del Destino” from the Metropolitan Opera, “Cavalleria Rusticana” with Jessye Norman, “Tosca” with Carol Vaness, “Norma” with Renata Scotto,” and “Otello” with Margaret Price.

Here he is in “La Forza del Destino.”

Here he is in the recording studio with Jessye Norman:

Here he is singing a duet from “Otello.”

Categories

News