Marcello Giordani

His real name was Marcello Guagliardo. His father was an opera buff, and encouraged his singing ambitions. He started as a comprimario. In 1996, he won the singing competition in Spoleto, and sang his first main role there as Duca. In 1988, he made his debut at La Scala as Rodolfo, but for the time being, it remained just one single performance; he returned to La Scala only ten years later (and never sang much there). From 1989, he spent much of his time in the USA; via places like Portland, Seattle, Houston or Costa Mesa, he arrived first at Chicago and San Francisco, and in 1993 at the Met. The Met was to become the center of his activity: he sang 241 performances there until 2016.

He also sang a whole lot at the Vienna Staatsoper: 72 performances from 1992 to 2016. Other than that, he appeared at the Arena di Verona, at La Fenice, at the Macerata and Torre del Lago festivals, in Catania, Trieste, Bologna, Parma, Geneva, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, in Hamburg, Detroit, Washington, Los Angeles or Barcelona.

I was and am totally unable to understand how he could make any career at all with his totally ill-placed, pinched, wobbling voice.

Reference 1, reference 2, reference 3: Kutsch & Riemens

I wish to thank Helmut Krautschneider for the picture (bottom).