Ralph Lambert
His real name was Ralph Lear; on stage, he was Ralph Lambert, Raffaele Lambert or Raphael Lambert. Not much is publicly known about him. A 1955 Otello performance at the Teatro Comunale in Florence, where he replaced sick Ramón Vinay after act 1 with roaring success, was considered his breakthrough, but that breakthrough seems to have been a flash in the pan: another engagement in Florence, as Pollione at the Maggio Musicale; three performances of Verdi's Requiem at the Vienna Musikverein under Erich Kleiber's baton in November 1955; six performances at the Vienna State Opera in 1956 (one Radames, two Calafs, three Cavaradossis); and back he fell into obscurity. He later resurfaced as voice teacher Ralph Lear-Lambert in Florida. He must have been active in Italy already before that "breakthrough" 1955 Otello, since he recorded I masnadieri for the Italian radio in 1951.
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