He was born in Milan
on April 21, 1923, the eldest of three brothers of Giovanni Franzini and
Teodolinda Mapelli. He studied painting with Aldo Carpi at the Accademia di
Brera and in 1948 he moved to Paris where, he attend the old Matisse. In 1951
he returned to Italy to participate in an opera competition for new voices and
won it. His official debut in the world of opera took place in 1951 at the Teatro
Nuovo in Milan in Felice Lattuada’s opera "The precious ridiculous"
by and continued his theatrical activities until 1974. He worked with the
symphonic orchestras of Rai and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia,
singing as a soloist under the direction of Mario Rossi, Vittorio Gui, Alfredo
Simonetto, Lovro Von Matačić, Riccardo Chailly and others. In 1966 he recorded
for the Decca the ballet "Pulcinella" by Igor Stravinsky, with the
Orchester de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet. In 1972 he
underwent a criminal trial for slapping the concert master during the
rehearsals of Strawinsky's opera "Mavra" at the Teatro San Carlo in
Naples. He also was a well known painter, who used the pseudonym Saturnino.
Struck by a heart attack he died on January 27, 2003 at the Bassini hospital in
Cinisello Balsamo.
No comments:
Post a Comment