Benedetti, Michele

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Benedetti, Michele

Benedetti, Michele, Italian bass; b. Loreto, Oct. 17, 1778; place and date of death unknown. He settled in Naples, where he appeared in the first Italian mounting of La vestale in 1811. He won the esteem of Rossini, who chose him to create there the roles of Elmiro Barberigo in Otello, ossia II Moro di Venezia (1816), Idraste in Annida (1817), Mosè in Mosè in Egitto (1818), Ircano in Ricciardo eZoraide (1818), Douglas d’Angus in La donna del lago (1819), and Leucippo in Zelmira (1822). He also created roles in operas by Pacini, Mayr, Mercadante, and Bellini.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire