14 Facts About Anselmo Colzani

Anselmo Colzani was an Italian operatic baritone who had an international opera career from the late 1940s through 1980.

Anselmo Colzani particularly excelled in the Italian repertory and was most associated with the works of Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini.

Anselmo Colzani began his career in Italy in 1947 where he quickly became a regular presence at that country's best opera houses, including La Scala.

Anselmo Colzani's parents encouraged him in musical pursuits as a child but he did not pursue seriously until years later.

Anselmo Colzani took part in the creation of Darius Milhaud's David, in 1955, and sang Thoas in Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride, opposite Maria Callas in 1957.

Anselmo Colzani made his first appearance at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in 1954 as Telramund and returned there many times throughout his career.

Anselmo Colzani appeared regularly at the opera houses in Genoa, Naples, Palermo, and at the Verona Arena.

Anselmo Colzani sang several more roles with that house that season including Amonasro in Verdi's Aida, Gianciotto in Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini, Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, and Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca.

In March 1960 Anselmo Colzani was approached by Rudolf Bing, General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, with an invitation to join the roster at the Met after the sudden death of Leonard Warren during a performance of La forza del destino left a vacancy at the house.

Anselmo Colzani agreed and on April 7,1960, Colzani made his debut at the Met in the title role of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra with Renata Tebaldi as Amelia, Richard Tucker as Gabriele Adorno, Jerome Hines as Jacopo Fiesco, and Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting.

Anselmo Colzani stayed with the company for sixteen more seasons, portraying such roles as Amonasro, Barnaba in Ponchielli's La Gioconda, Don Carlo in Verdi's La forza del destino, Enrico in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Gerard in Giordano's Andrea Chenier, Iago, Jack Rance in Puccini's La fanciulla del west, Scarpia, Tonio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, and the title roles in Falstaff, Macbeth, Nabucco, and Rigoletto among others.

Anselmo Colzani retired to Milan where he died after a long illness in 2006.

Anselmo Colzani had two daughters, Bianca and Miriam, from his first marriage which ended when his first wife died at a very young age.

Anselmo Colzani was married to his second wife, Ada, for more than 50 years.