Singers on Singing: Ruggero Raimondi
The great bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi rose to world fame both as an actor and a singer not long after making his debut in Spoleto in 1964 in the role of Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème. He quickly became in the highest demand for his vocal mastery and stage command, with top conductors such as Carlo Maria Giulini, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and Riccardo Muti and cutting edge stage directors such as Jean-Pierre Ponelle, Piero Faggioni, Luca Ronconi and Giorgio Strehler engaging him as their choice interpreter of roles particularly in operas from the Italian, French and Russian repertoire.
His career extended into leading film appearances, not only when cinema directors Joseph Losey, Francesco Rosi, Andrej Zulawski and Benoit Jacquot engaged him for their pioneering opera films but also when Alain Resnais and Joseph Losey cast him in their dramatic feature films.
In 2003 he recorded a conversation in which he discussed his life in music spanning the period from his earliest childhood memories right up to the time of his interview. Recorded extracts from his performances of the operas he discusses in detail during his conversation are included in the feature presented here, which was broadcast in 2003 in an abbreviated form. It appears here in its original uncut version for the first time.
–Jon Tolansky
Host:
Jon Tolansky
Musical excerpts included in this feature:
- “Ella giammai m’amo” from Don Carlos (Verdi)
- “Per traversare i di dolenti in cui viviamo” from Don Carlos (Verdi), with bass Giovanni Foiani
- “Qui me rendra ce mort?” from Don Carlos (Verdi), with tenor Plácido Domingo
- “Deh vieni alla finestra” from Don Giovanni (Mozart)
- “Skorbit dusha!” (The Coronation Scene) from Boris Godunov (Mussorgsky)
- “Carevicha skorej!” from Boris Godunov (Mussorgsky)
- “Un flot azuré bat ses grèves…” from Don Quichotte (Massenet)
- “Tre sbirri, una carozza” from Tosca (Puccini)
Classical Legends: In Their Own Words
With Angela Gheorghiu, Mirella Freni, Grace Bumbry, Jon Vickers, Nicolai Gedda, Giuseppe di Stefano, Roberto Alagna, Ruggero Raimondi, and John Tomlinson
EMI Classics: 5099960897220
Verdi: Don Carlos (1970)
Ruggero Raimondi, bass-baritone
Plácido Domingo, tenor
Claudio Abbado, conductor
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
Deutsche Grammophon: 0289 415 3162 9 GH 4
Mozart: Don Giovanni (1979)
Ruggero Raimondi, bass-baritone
Lorin Maazel, conductor
Orchestre de l’Opéra de Paris
Sony: 7527262
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov (1991)
Ruggero Raimondi, bass-baritone
Mstislav Rostropovich, conductor
Oratorio Society of Washington
Choral Arts Society of Washington
National Symphony Orchestra of Washington
Erato (Warner Classics): 256468017
Opera Scenes and Arias
Ruggero Raimondi, bass-baritone
Jean-Marie Frémeau, bass-baritone
Michèle Le Bris, soprano
Emil Tchakarov, conductor
Orchestre du Théâtre National de l’Opéra de Paris
Erato (Warner Classics): 2564695645
Puccini: Tosca (2000)
Ruggero Raimondi, bass-baritone
Angela Gheorghiu, soprano
Antonio Pappano, conductor
Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra
EMI Classics: 0724355717320