Ruggero Raimondi

Ruggero Raimondi studied at the Milano Conservatoire and at the National Academy of St Cecilia in Rome.

In 1964, he made his debut at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto as Colline in Puccini’s La bohème and performed the role of Jean Procida in Verdi’s Les vêpres siciliennes at the Rome Opera. Since 1965 till 1968, he appeared in operas by Rossini, Verdi, Cherubini, Ponchielli, and Mozart at La Fenice. In 1969, he made his debut with La Scala. In 1970, he appeared for the first time at Metropolitan Opera (Verdi’s Ernani) and contributed to three recordings of Verdi’s Requiem: under the batons of Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, and John Barbirolli. In 1972, he made his debut with the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden (Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra). In 1970—1980s, he cooperated with Herbert von Karajan, Riccardo Muti, James Levine, performing roles in Italian, French, and Russian operas: Verdi’s Don Carlos, Attila, Macbeth, Gounod’s Faust, Bizet’s Carmen, and Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. In 1979, he made his debut as Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca. In 1981–1988, he performed many roles in Rossini’s operas including Mosè in Egitto, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, L’italiana in Algeri, Il turco in Italia, and Il viaggio a Reims. In 1989, he performed in the opening ceremony of the Bastille Opera. In 1994, he took part in performance of Mozart’s Requiem in Sarajevo in memory of those who had perished in the Bosnian War. In 1996, he made his debut as Iago in Verdi’s Otello. In 2001–2010, he appeared in venues of Zurich, Washington, Liège, and other cities, performing his much-celebrated roles as well as roles in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia and Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann. In 2006, he made his debut as Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.

Ruggero Raimondi has cooperated with many renowned directors, conductors, and singers. The singer appeared at the Salzburg Festival, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Rossini Festival in Pesaro, Vienna Festival, Glyndebourne Festival, Santander Festival, Chorégies d’Orange, and Musiques en Fête Festival in Orange. He regularly performs in concerts and gives masterclasses.

Ruggero Raimondi has recorded many CDs of different genres and appeared on screen (Don Giovanni, 1979, Carmen, 1984, Boris Godunov, 1989, Tosca, 1992, and others). He staged Le nozze di Figaro in Valencia in 2011 and Attila at the Liège Opera in 2013, at the Bilbao Theatre in 2014 and at the Monte-Carlo Opera in 2016, as well as Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust in Liège.

Special Prize of the Campoamor Theatre „For Significant Contribution to Art“ (2011)
Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit (Monaco, 1999)
Grammy Award „For the Best Opera Recording“ (Carmen, 1984)