Ruggero Raimondi
Born
October 3, 1941 (83 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Ruggero Raimondi (born 3 October 1941) is an Italian bass-baritone opera singer who has also appeared in motion pictures.
Ruggero Raimondi was born in Bologna, Italy, during World War II. His voice matured early into its adult timbre, and at the age of 15, he auditioned for conductor Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, who encouraged him to pursue an operatic career. He began vocal studies with Ettore Campogalliani, and was accepted at age 16 as a student at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan. He then continued his studies in Rome, under the guidance of Teresa Pediconi and Armando Piervenanzi.
After having won the National Competition for young opera singers in Spoleto, he made his debut in the same city in the role of Colline in La bohème in the Festival dei Due Mondi. Subsequently, an opportunity arose for him at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome when he was called upon to substitute in the role of Procida in Giuseppe Verdi's I vespri siciliani, and he received enormous success from the public and the critics. The young singer was very shy and stiff at first, but his early directors helped him, and he was soon an accomplished opera actor.
Raimondi's career soon extended to the major opera houses in Italy, such as La Fenice in Venice, the Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro Comunale in Florence and abroad, beginning with the Glyndebourne Festival (Don Giovanni in 1969). His La Scala debut was as Timur in Turandot in 1968, his Metropolitan Opera debut was as Silva in Ernani in 1970, and his Covent Garden debut was as Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra in 1972. In 1975, he made his Paris Opera debut as Procida, followed by the title role in Boris Godunov, and his Salzburg Festival debut in 1980 as the King in Aida. In 1986, he first directed a production of Don Giovanni, and decided to continue his career as a director as well.
Some of his most important roles have been King Philip in Verdi's Don Carlos; Fiesco; the title roles in Boris Godunov (including the Andrzej Żuławski film) and Attila; Silva; Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen (including the Francesco Rosi film, 1984, with Plácido Domingo and Julia Migenes); the title role in Don Giovanni (including the Joseph Losey film, 1979); Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro; and Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte; the title role in Don Quichotte by Massenet; and Scarpia in a recording of Tosca later filmed live from Rome, with Plácido Domingo and Catherine Malfitano, conducted by Zubin Mehta. He also made the television film Six Characters in Search of a Singer.[citation needed] In 2008, Raimondi made his television debut in the mini-series Le Sanglot des anges on French TV, in which he played the role of an Italian opera singer. In July 2011 he played the role of Pagano in Verdi's I Lombardi alla prima crociata on the rooftop of Milan Cathedral. The concert was organized by the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification.
Source: Article "Ruggero Raimondi" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

My Out-Laws
Grand-Father
2019

Tosca
2014

Rigoletto a Mantova
Sparafucile
2010

Le Sanglot des anges
Carlo di Vanelli · (4 episodes)
2008

Don Pasquale
2007

Giuseppe Verdi - Falstaff
2007

Puccini: Tosca (Arena di Verona)
Il barone Scarpia
2006

Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Don Basilio
2005

Così fan tutte
Don Alfonso
2005

Puccini: Tosca
Baron Scarpia
2004

Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Lindorf / Coppélius / Dappertutto / Miracle
2004

Alfredo Kraus, Ruggero Raimondi and Katia Ricciarelli in Concert
Self
2004

Rossini: Il turco in Italia (Opernhaus Zurich)
Selim
2002

Tosca
Baron Scarpia
2001

Gran Gala di Verdi
2001

The Colors of the Devil
Bellisle
1997

Mozart:The Requiem from Sarajevo
Baritone
1993
Tosca: In the Settings and at the Times of Tosca
Il Barone Scarpia
1993

Boris Godounov
Boris Godounov
1989

Sacrée soirée
Self · (1 episode)
1987

Tosca
Scarpia
1986

Le Nozze di Figaro - The Met
1985

Faust
Méphistophélès
1985

Carmen
Escamillo
1984

Il viaggio a Reims
Don Profondo
1984

Ernani
Don Ruy Gómez de Silva
1983

Life Is a Bed of Roses
Count Michel Forbek
1983

The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala
Self
1983

The Trout
Party Guest
1982

Verdi: Requiem
Self - Bass
1982

Georges Bizet: Carmen
Escamillo
1980

Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
1979
Assassinio nella cattedrale
Thomas Becket

Champs-Elysées
Self · (1 episode)
1982

Numéro un
Self · (1 episode)
1975

Le Grand Échiquier
Self · (2 episodes)
1972

Le Grand Échiquier
Self - Main Guest · (2 episodes)
1972