Ruggero Raimondi

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 (opposite Mirella Freni as Aida, Piero Cappuccilli as Amonasro, and Jose Carreras as Radames, with Karajan conducting). In 1986, he first directed a production of Don Giovanni, and decided to continue his career as a director as well. Raimondi is especially well-known for his Rossini and Mozart roles, although he has also sung a lot of other bass roles in various repertories. 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. 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.

Verdi Rigoletto (Molinari Pradelli - MacNeil, Grist, Gedda Rome Opera) EMI 1968 Verdi Don Carlo (Guilini- Caballe, Domingo, Milnes, Verret) EMI 1970 Verdi Simon Boccanegra (Levine, Cappuccilli, Domingo, Ricciarelli) RCA 1973 Verdi I Vespri Siciliani (Levine, Milnes, Domingo, Arroyo) RCA 1974 Verdi Macbeth (Multi, Milnes, Cossotto, Carreras) EMI 1976 • Mozart: Don Giovanni | Sony | 1978 • Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro | Decca | 1985 • Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov | Erato | 1989 • Puccini: Turandot | Deutsche Grammophon | 1981 • Puccini: Tosca | Deutsche Grammophon | 1979 • Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia | Deutsche Grammophon | 1993 • Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia | EMI | 1973–74 • Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia (w/bonus DVD) DVD | Decca | 1993 • Rossini: Il viaggio a Reims | Deutsche Grammophon | 1984 • Rossini: La Cenerentola| Decca | 1987 • Rossini: L'italiana in Algeri | Deutsche Grammophon | 1989 • Verdi: Aida | Deutsche Grammophon | 1981 • Verdi: I vespri siciliani | RCA Red Seal | 1973 • Verdi: Attila | Philips | 1972 • Verdi: Don Carlos | Deutsche Grammophon | 1985 • Verdi: Un ballo in maschera | Deutsche Grammophon | 1980 • Verdi: I masnadieri | Phillips | 1975

• Monaco: Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit (November 1999)