Stracciari, Riccardo
Stracciari, Riccardo
Stracdari, Riccardo, Italian baritone; b. Casalecchio di Reno, near Bologna, June 26, 1875; d. Rome, Oct. 10, 1955. He studied with Ulisse Masetti in Bologna, where he made his operatic debut as Marcello in 1898. He was a member of La Scala in Milan (1904–06); also sang at Covent Garden in London (1905). He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. on Dec. 1, 1906, as Germont père; remained on the roster until 1908; then returned to Europe, continuing his career there and in South America. He returned to the U.S. to sing with the Chicago Opera (1917–19) and in San Francisco (1925); continued to make appearances in Italy until 1944; also was active as a teacher from 1926, his most eminent student being Boris Christoff. He sang all the major baritone roles in the operatic repertoire, his most famous being Rossini’s Figaro, which he sang more than 900 times.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire