1. Cesare Valletti was an Italian operatic tenor, one of the leading tenore di grazia of the postwar era.
12 Facts About Cesare Valletti
1. 2.
Cesare Valletti made his debut in Bari, as Alfredo in La traviata, in 1947.
3.
Cesare Valletti came to prominence in 1950, when he sang in Il turco in Italia, opposite Maria Callas, in Rome.
4.
In 1951, Valletti went to Mexico City to sing La traviata with Maria Callas.
5.
Cesare Valletti partnered her in the famous Visconti production of La sonnambula, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, at La Scala in 1955, and again in La traviata at Covent Garden in 1958.
6.
Cesare Valletti left the Met and thereafter refused numerous offers to return.
7.
Cesare Valletti extended his range to art song, and became a highly respected recitalist.
8.
Cesare Valletti officially retired in 1967, but returned in 1968 to appear at the Caramoor Festival in New York.
9.
Cesare Valletti was married to Nicoletta Braibanti, a granddaughter of Italian composer Ildebrando Pizzetti.
10.
In May, 2000, Cesare Valletti died of a heart attack in Genoa, Italy, while undergoing treatment for liver cancer.
11.
Cesare Valletti can be heard on "live recordings" in the two aforementioned historical performances of La sonnambula and La traviata with Maria Callas.
12.
Cesare Valletti can be heard in a best-selling RCA Victor recording of Madama Butterfly which paired him with Anna Moffo.