Leo Nucci (born 16 April 1942) is an Italian operatic

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

, particularly associated with Verdi and '' Verismo'' roles.

Biography

Born at Castiglione dei Pepoli, near

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Nucci studied with Giuseppe Marchese. He made his stage debut in 1967 in

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; ) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is south of Trevi, north of Terni, southeast of Perugia; southeast of Florence; and north of Rome. H ...

as Figaro in '' Il barbiere di Siviglia''. He then joined the chorus of

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

in Milan, going on to make his solo debut there in 1975, as Rossini's Figaro. Nucci's career quickly took an international turn. He debuted at London's

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

in 1978, as Miller in '' Luisa Miller'', and at New York's

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

in 1980, as Renato/Ankarström in '' Un ballo in maschera''. Renato was his debut role at the Paris Opéra in 1981, and at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

in 1989, under Herbert Von Karajan. His career is remembered for high-profile performances in opera including appearances with

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

Joan Sutherland Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano known for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s to the 1980s. She possessed a voice ...

and

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

. On 6 June 2003, Nucci performed at the Herbert von Karajan memorial concert under the baton of conductor James Allen Gähres in Congress-Centrum Ulm, together with the singers Stella Grigorian and Vera Schoenberg with Italian opera arias and duets. In January 2016, he performed at La Scala of Milan as Rigoletto in ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...

'' with Nadine Sierra as Gilda. On 10 October 2019, Nucci sang during the celebrations for the anniversary of

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

, in

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

. Nucci has enjoyed a long and successful career. His repertoire encompasses the entire Italian repertory from

bel canto , )—with several similar constructions (, , , pronounced in English as )—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing, and whose definitions have often been misunderstood. ''Bel canto'' was not only seen as a vocal technique ...

to verismo, and his technique and acting abilities are displayed in Verdi – notably as

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

, Count di Luna, Giorgio Germont,

Rodrigo Rodrigo () is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian name derived from the Germanic name ''Roderick'' ( Gothic ''*Hroþareiks'', via Latinized ''Rodericus'' or ''Rudericus''), given specifically in reference to either King Roderic (d. 712), the la ...

, Amonasro, Iago, and Falstaff. He has sung the role of Rigoletto alone more than 500 times.

Personal life

He is married to

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Adriana Anelli, with whom he has a daughter.

Videography

* '' The Metropolitan Opera Gala 1991'', Deutsche Grammophon DVD, 00440-073-4582

Notes

Sources

* ''Grove Music Online'', Elizabeth Forbes, May 2008

External links

*
Video of the final rehearsal of ''Un ballo in maschera''
at the Salzburg Festival 1989 in the Online Archive of the Österreichischen Mediathek {{DEFAULTSORT:Nucci, Leo 1942 births Living people People from the Metropolitan City of Bologna Italian operatic baritones 20th-century Italian male opera singers 21st-century Italian male opera singers