Delfo Menicucci

Delfo Menicucci had a short career: he already started teaching in 1987, and his last traceable appearances in opera date back to 1991, when he was merely 37 years old. On stage, he was exclusively active as a bass-baritone; why, how, and when he decided to be a tenor is not clear, but in any case, it must have been after the end of his career... so he was a tenor only in (occasional) concerts, primarily together with his students.

Here's what Mr. Nouvion wrote about him:
Incredibly, he teaches singing. He sounds awful and the same for his students. He conducted many masterclasses, not least in Japan, where he probably can charge very high fees for destroying the voices of his students.

He studied singing with Cathy Berberian 1980/1981, Leyla Gencer 1981/1983, Rodolfo Celletti 1981/1983, Rina Del Monaco 1988/1991, Sara Sforni Corti 1991/1995, and Giuseppe Di Stefano 1989.

He taught at several conservatories, such as: Milano – Conservatorio Statale "Giuseppe Verdi" and Scuola Civica, Lucca – Conservatorio "Luigi Boccherini", Pescia – Scuola Comunale, and Viareggio – Scuola Comunale.

According to his former website (now defunct) he had a repertory of 62 roles, first as a baritone then as a tenor and had appeared on the following stages:
Genova – Teatro Comunale: 1980, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1990
Torino – Teatro Regio: 1984, 1991
Palermo – Teatro Massimo: 1987
Venezia – Teatro La Fenice: 1982
Martina Franca – Festival: 1982
Parma – Teatro Regio: 1981, 1982 (could not find his name in the Regio chronology)
Torre del Lago – Festival: 1980, 1986
Modena – Teatro Comunale: 1980
Como – Teatro Sociale: 1982
Sassari – Teatro Verdi: 1988/1997
Mantova – Teatro Sociale: 1990
Lucca – Teatro del Giglio: 1980, 1990
Timişoara – Deutsches Staatstheater: 1995

Among his students is Andrea Bocelli (no surprise here).

He has published a book:
"SCUOLA DI CANTO LIRICO E MODERNO" (ed. Omega, Torino), trattato vocale sulla "Tecnica di Affondo". D'impianto scientifico, costato sei anni di lavoro e di ricerca, con prefazioni di Andrea Bocelli e del prof. Franco Fussi, contenente un CD di esempi vocali indispensabili alla comprensione della tecnica descritta.