Giorgio Tozzi was associated with the Metropolitan Opera for many years and sang principal bass roles in nearly every major opera house worldwide.
13 Facts About Giorgio Tozzi
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Giorgio Tozzi studied at DePaul University with Rosa Raisa, Giacomo Rimini and John Daggett Howell.
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Giorgio Tozzi later studied singing in New York City with Beverley Peck Johnson.
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In July 1958, Tozzi recorded an album alongside Dame Julie Andrews in the operetta Rose Marie.
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Giorgio Tozzi was the recipient of three Grammy Awards: in 1960 the Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance, Operatic or Choral for The Marriage of Figaro with Erich Leinsdorf; in 1961 the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for Puccini's Turandot, with Erich Leinsdorf; and in 1963 the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for Sir Georg Solti's recording of Verdi's Aida.
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Giorgio Tozzi sang the bass part in the recording of Sir Thomas Beecham's version of Handel's Messiah for RCA Victor in 1959.
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In 1980, Giorgio Tozzi earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his work as Tony in The Most Happy Fella.
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Giorgio Tozzi was a professor at the Juilliard School, Brigham Young University, and Indiana University.
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Giorgio Tozzi served as Distinguished Professor of Voice at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music from 1991 until he retired in 2006.
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Giorgio Tozzi acted on television and appeared on several TV shows in the 1970s and 1980s, including The Odd Couple, Baretta, Kojak, and Knight Rider.
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In 1997, Giorgio Tozzi published a novel, The Golem of the Golden West.
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Giorgio Tozzi first married Catherine Dieringer, who died in 1963; in 1967 he married Monte Amundsen, a singer, with whom he had a son and a daughter.
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Giorgio Tozzi died on May 30,2011, in Bloomington, Indiana, aged 88, of a heart attack.