Pier Miranda Ferraro was born in Altivole (Treviso) on October 30th, 1924. His real name was Pietro Silvio Ferraro but he took
his wife's name, Miranda, as part of his stage name.
He studied singing with Mirko Bonomi at the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello in Venice and later with Aureliano Pertile at the
Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan.
His debut took place in 1951 as Rodolfo in La bohème at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan. During the three following years,
he sang in several theatres in Italy. In 1953, he sang Cavaradossi to the Tosca of Renata Tebaldi at the Teatro Municipale in Reggio
Emilia. In 1954, he was already singing at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
In 1955 he sang in Spain for the first time. At the Coliseo Albia in Bilbao, he replaced Mario Del Monaco as Radames in Aida.
He sang later at the Teatro Victoria Eugenia in San Sebastián as Rodolfo in La bohème. In October, he sang in
Monterrey (Mexico) in Andrea Chénier and Il trovatore.
In March 1956, he made his debut in the USA at the New York City Center Opera singing Tosca and Il trovatore. In May
and June 1956, he sang in South America and made his debut at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires as Pinkerton in Madama
Butterfly. He was also Radames in Aida. From Argentina, the company went to Brazil to sing in Rio de Janeiro and
São Paulo in August and September. Ferraro was heard as Radames and Cavaradossi. In October 1956, he sang at the Teatro
Marini in Alessandria, in Tosca with the Chilean soprano Claudia Parada.
He sang in January 1957 at the Teatro Piccinni in Bari: La forza del destino and Tosca with Claudia Parada. In April,
he sang his first Russian opera, Khovanshchina (sung in Italian) at the Teatro Municipale in Reggio Emilia, and in May he
sang another Russian role in Knjaz Igor by Borodin, at the Teatro Regio in Turin, with Boris Christoff. In September 1957, he
sang Alvaro in La forza del destino for the RAI Roma radio station with Anita Cerquetti.
Early in 1958 he undertook a new role, Ernani, singing two performances at the Teatro Municipale in Piacenza, with Claudia Parada and
Giuseppe Taddei. On 26 February 1958, another new role, Rodolfo in Luisa Miller at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.
In March, he sang Aida at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, with Mary Curtis Verna. After singing at the Teatro Colón
in July and August 1958 in Madama Butterfly, Aida and Carmen, he went to the San
Francisco Opera to sing Don Carlo and La forza del destino in September.
He started the 1958/1959 season singing at the Municipale in Piacenza, Aida with Claudia Parada, Dora Minarchi and Franco
Piva. His debut at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan also took place during that season. He sang three roles: Amenofi in Rossini's
Mosè (he took the role over from Gianni Raimondi); Calaf in Turandot (after Giuseppe Di Stefano, Franco Corelli
and João Gibin); and the title role in Ernani (after Franco Corelli).
On 27 January 1959, he sang the role of Gualtiero in Il pirata with Maria Callas, in a concert performance in New York's
Carnegie Hall. A second performance, with the same cast, took place at the Constitution Hall in Washington D.C., on 29 January. In
March 1959, he sang again at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, now in Aida and then the same opera at the
Grand-Théâtre in Monte Carlo.
From 5 to 10 September 1959, he recorded the role of Enzo in La Gioconda for EMI in Milan, with Maria Callas and Piero
Cappuccilli. He sang in Santiago de Chile in September and October 1959: Alvaro in La forza del destino, Don José in
Carmen and Manrico in Il trovatore. Back in Italy, a new role and a new theatre: Arrigo in I vespri siciliani at
the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, four performances from 13 November 1959.
In March/April 1960, he sang Aida in Vienna and in Milan (La Scala), replacing Mario Del Monaco. In May 1960, he sang the role
of "Il figlio" in the uncommon opera La madre by Donato Di Veroli for the RAI Napoli, with the soprano Elena Todeschi as "The
mother". In June 1960, he was again Radames at the Vienna State Opera, and in July at the Arena Flegrea in Naples.
In September he visited Spain for the second time and sang at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo: Ernani and Manon Lescaut;
and in December, he sang Aida and Carmen at the Liceu in Barcelona.
In March 1962, he sang at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa in Tosca with Antonietta Stella and Giangiacomo Guelfi. He sang
La forza del destino in September at the Kursaal in Lugano, and in December 1962 another new role, Folco in Mascagni's
Isabeau at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, with Marcella Pobbe (3 peformances).
In July 1963, he sang an open air performance of Carmen on Plaza Mayor in Madrid, and on 24 July 1963, in another open air
performance, the main role in Verdi's Otello (I think for the first time) at the Parco Marsaglia in Sanremo. On 30 July, he
sang the title role in Mascagni's Guglielmo Ratcliff for the RAI Roma, and in October he sang in Switzerland, in Lausanne,
Il trovatore. In November he was in Treviso singing Otello.
He sang for the last time for the RAI Torino on 25 February 1964, and for the first time in his career a Wagnerian role:
Rienzi.
The year 1965 started with more performances of Otello at the Teatro Municipale in Piacenza, and he was for the second time
in Monte Carlo, now to sing Dick Johnson in La fanciulla del West, with Antonietta Stella and Giangiacomo Guelfi. In July, he
sang in the summer season of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
In January 1966, he sang at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania (Don Carlo), and then many performances of Otello in
Brescia, Naples, Padua and Venice.
In 1967, he sang La fanciulla del West at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and Otello at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in
Madrid.
On 11 September 1968, Ferraro sang Otello at the Théâtre du Champs-Élysées in Paris.
In March 1969, he sang his second Wagnerian role: Tannhäuser at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. He was invited to sing again in
South America, now in Brazil as a member of the San Carlo Opera Company. He sang the role of Ismaele in Nabucco with
Giangiacomo Guelfi in the title role. There was one performance at the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro and one performance at the
Teatro Municipal in São Paulo.
In December 1970, he sang the role of Samson in Samson et Dalila at the Teatro San Carlo, sharing the five performances with
Mario Del Monaco.
During his last years as a singer, he won a certain reputation as Otello (some sources mention that it was a role that he sang
300 times, but I have my doubts about it... considering that Vinay sang it only 246 times and Del Monaco only 218 times....). He sang
the role in 1970 at the Teatro Romano in Benevento and at the Castello di Lombardia in Enna.
He sang only once at the Royal Opera House London, on Monday, 10 May 1971, the role of Otello. He was not originally cast in the
role. He replaced James McCracken, who was said to be indisposed on that night.
The cast for Otello in London was as follows:
Montano, former governor of Cyprus – George Macpherson
Cassio, captain under Otello – David Hughes
Iago, ensign or ancient under Otello – Peter Glossop
Roderigo, a Venetian gentleman – John Dobson
Otello, moor of Venice, governor of Cyprus – Pier Miranda-Ferraro (instead of James McCracken)
Desdemona, his bride – Gwyneth Jones
Emilia, her companion and Iago's wife – Elizabeth Bainbridge
A herald – Glynne Thomas
Lodovico, ambassador of Venice – Gwynne Howell
In 1972 he sang it at the Teatro Masini in Faenza, and in June 1972 he was invited to sing it in Tehran (Iran). The same year, he
sang for the last time at La Scala. In 1973 he sang Otello in Budapest. In the '70s, he sang the role in Philadelphia,
Hartford and Newark.
In May 1974, he visited Spain for the last time and sang Otello in Valencia, and in October 1975 at The Hague in Holland.
Pier Miranda Ferraro, in the last part of his career, still added two new roles to his repertoire.
In 1970, he sang the role of Erik in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer in Catania, and in 1977 in Naples Der Besuch
der alten Dame by Gottfried von Einem (both in Italian).
In his last career years, Ferraro also sang in London, Brussels and Liège, though I have been unable to find the details of
his performances. Ferraro's farewell to stage was as Otello in Lecco in 1981.
After retiring from the stage, he was a professor of singing at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan for fifteen years. He won
a good reputation as a reliable teacher. Afterwards, he taught at the Accademia Viotti in Vercelli, at the Laboratorio Lirico
Internazionale di Zogno, at the Accademia Internazionale Katia Ricciarelli in Parma, and was invited to give master classes, from
Milan to Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing. In 1985, he started a managing agency for young singers and opera professionals. This company was
later co-run by his daughter Beatrice Ferraro.
In 2003, he was distinguished with the "Giuseppe Lugo Prize" as one of the greatest tenors of the twentieth century.
Pier Miranda Ferraro died of a cardiac arrest in his sleep, at his home in Milan, on January 18th, 2008. He was 83 years old. He
was survived by his wife, four children and 16 grandchildren.
Repertory
La bohème (Rodolfo) 1951
Tosca (Cavaradossi) 1953
Aida (Radames) 1955
Andrea Chénier (Chénier) 1955
Il trovatore (Manrico) 1955
Madama Butterfly (Pinkerton) 1956
La forza del destino (Alvaro) 1957
Khovanshchina (Andrej Khovanskij) 1957
Knjaz Igor (Vladimir)
Ernani (Ernani) 1958
Luisa Millar (Rodolfo) 1958
Carmen (Don José) 1958
Don Carlo (Don Carlo) 1958
Il pirata (Gualtiero) 1959
La Gioconda (Enzo Grimaldo) 1959
Moïse et Pharaon (Aménophis) 1959
Turandot (Calaf) 1959
I vespri siciliani (Arrigo) 1959
La madre (Il figlio) 1960
Manon Lescaut (des Grieux) 1960
Isabeau (Folco) 1962
Otello (Otello) 1963
Guglielmo Ratcliff (Ratcliff) 1963
Rienzi (Rienzi) 1964
La fanciulla del West (Dick Johnson) 1965
Tannhäuser (Tannhäuser) 1969
Nabucco (Ismaele) 1969
Der fliegende Holländer (Erik) 1970
Samson et Dalila (Samson) 1970
Norma (Pollione) 1973
Der Besuch der alten Dame (Bürgermeister) 1977
Note: Though his family claimed that he sang 45 roles, I have found out only 31 roles. Which, when and where did he sing the other
fourteen roles? A mystery... I hope someone will be able to solve it. This is similar to the Del Monaco
website stating that he sang Otello over 400 times, while the book on Del Monaco recommended by the site can only account for less
than 300.
Discography
He recorded the role of Enzo Grimaldo in the second discographical version of La Gioconda with Maria Callas (1959) for EMI,
and the role of Folco in Mascagni's Isabeau with Marcella Pobbe (1962) for the Cetra label (live from Sanremo, 12 January
1962). His voice can also be appreciated in live performances of Il pirata (with Callas, January 1959), Guglielmo
Ratcliff (RAI 1963), La forza del destino (with Cerquetti, Protti, Simionato, Christoff, Capecchi, Sanzogno, RAI Roma, 29
September 1957) on the Myto Label.
Juan Dzazópulos, March 2008
Additional live performances provided by Daniele Godor:
- Tosca, with Stella and Guelfi, Capuana; Genova, 26 March 1962
- Aida, with Nilsson, Simionato and MacNeil, Sanzogno; Scala, 21 April 1960
- Otello with Taddei and Albanese, Silipigni; Trento, 23 April 1973
- Otello with Protti and Santunione, Gavarini; Piacenza, 01 October 1965
- Norma with Caballe and Cortez, Rescigno; Napoli 11 May 1971
- Carmen with Madeira, Beecham; 1958
