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One of the greatest tenors of the 20th Century, Giuseppe di Stefano, has died at his home near the Italian city of Milan at the age of 86.
Sicilian-born di Stefano was famed for his powerful voice and his duets with the late Maria Callas.
He was best known for his roles in Verdi's Rigoletto and Donizetti's Luica di Lammermoor.
He never fully recovered after being attacked while on holiday in Kenya in 2004.
He had two operations after being hit on the head by unknown assailants.
He suffered the blow whilst trying to defend his wife as the assailants attempted to steal her necklace.
During a career that began in the 1950s, di Stefano sang at prestigious opera houses including Milan's La Scala, New York's Metropolitan, Vienna and Berlin.
Rome saw his last performance in 1992.
He was described by the late Luciano Pavarotti as "the maestro".
Sicilian-born di Stefano was famed for his powerful voice and his duets with the late Maria Callas.
He was best known for his roles in Verdi's Rigoletto and Donizetti's Luica di Lammermoor.
He never fully recovered after being attacked while on holiday in Kenya in 2004.
He had two operations after being hit on the head by unknown assailants.
He suffered the blow whilst trying to defend his wife as the assailants attempted to steal her necklace.
During a career that began in the 1950s, di Stefano sang at prestigious opera houses including Milan's La Scala, New York's Metropolitan, Vienna and Berlin.
Rome saw his last performance in 1992.
He was described by the late Luciano Pavarotti as "the maestro".
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Re: Opera's di Stefano dies aged 86
Tue, November 3, 2009 - 7:53 PMI fell in love with Di Stefano's voice when I was in college - but even then he was at the end of his career. I wrote to him % La Scala, Milan - and he wrote back, in Italian!
He sang a performance of "La Boheme" in Newark, NJ in the early 70's and I was there, front row center, after hitch-hiking in a snow storm across Pennsylvania. I sneaked back stage between acts 2 and 3 and shook his hand, backed into Jerome Hines (whose wife was singing Mimi) and was shooed away by a frighteningly overly made-up Madame Licia Albanese.
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Re: Opera's di Stefano dies aged 86
Wed, November 4, 2009 - 3:11 PMHis career actually began in Switzerland in the mid-40's and he made his debut at the MET before 1950. There are commercial recordings of him singing arias from 1947 and RCA did a highlights recording of La Boheme with Albanese, Munsel, DiStefano and Warren in 1949.
