Nicola Martinucci

Martinucci studied with various teachers in Milano, Marcello Del Monaco among them. He made his debut in Milano, too, at the Teatro Nuovo in 1966 as Manrico.

It took him about ten years in the provinces to become well-known; then he would sing a lot at La Scala (not least several season opening performances in the 1980s), at the Arena di Verona (every year from 1982 to 2006), in Rome, Venice, at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, in Catania, Macerata, Bologna, Piacenza, Parma, Torino, Trieste or at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. Abroad, he appeared regularly at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf and Duisburg), already from 1973, at the Vienna Staatsoper (1982–2003), Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Metropolitan Opera (1988–95), in Budapest, Dublin, İstanbul, Tehran or Taipei.

His repertory included most of the Italian standard roles for dramatic tenor, but also a lot of Poliuto, and even Assad in Goldmark's Die Königin von Saba.

I heard him a few times at the Vienna Staatsoper; his voice was stentorian, and not much else. Forte was his forte, differentiation or characterization were not.

Reference 1: Kutsch & Riemens, reference 2

I wish to thank Thomas Silverbörg for the recordings.