Cappuccilli, Piero

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Cappuccilli, Piero

Cappuccilli, Piero, admired Italian baritone; b. Trieste, Nov. 9, 1929. He studied with Luciano Doaggio in Trieste. In 1957 he made his operatic debut at Milan’s Teatro Nuovo as Tonio. On March 26, I960, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Germont père, but then pursued his career in Europe. In 1964 he made his first appearance at Milan’s La Scala as Donizetti’s Ashton, and subsequently sang there regularly with notable success. He made his debut at London’s Covent Garden as Germont père in 1967, and returned there in 1976 as a member of the La Scala company. In 1969 he made his first appearance at the Chicago Lyric Opera as Francesco in I Due Foscari. He made his debut at the Salzburg Festival as Posa in 1975. In 1978 he sang Simon Boccanegra in Paris. While continuing to sing in various Italian operatic centers, he also appeared as a guest artist throughout Europe. Among his other fine roles were lago, Renato, Rigoletto, Nabucco, Escamillo, and Macbeth.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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