Nicola Martinucci (born 28 March 1941) is an Italian opera singer, particularly noted for his performances in the spinto tenor of roles Calaf in ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' ( ; see #Origin and pronunciation of the name, below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it ...

'', Radamès in ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...

'', and the title role in ''

Andrea Chénier ''Andrea Chénier'' () is a verismo opera in four acts by Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica, and first performed on 28 March 1896 at La Scala, Milan. The story is based loosely on the life of the French poet An ...

''.Bagnoli, Giorgio (1993)
"Martinucci, Nicola"
p. 293. ''The La Scala Encyclopedia of the Opera''. Simon and Schuster. Goodwin, Noël (1992)
"Martinucci, Nicola"
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Retrieved via

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

5 March 2017 (subscription required for full access).

Life and career

Martinucci was born in

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

, Italy. He did not begin studying singing until his 20s. With the encouragement of Mario Del Monaco he studied in Milan with Marcello Del Monaco (Mario's brother) and with Sara Sforni. He made his debut in 1966 at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan as Manrico in '' Il Trovatore''. In 1966 he had won the Viotti International Music Competition which led to further debuts in Italian opera houses. He later appeared

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 ...

from 1983 where he reprised the role of Manrico as well as singing Calaf, Radamès, Luigi in ''

Il tabarro ''Il tabarro'' (''The Cloak'') is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on 's play ''La houppelande''. It is the first of the trio of operas known as ''Il trittico''. The first performance was given ...

'' and Oronte in '' I Lombardi'';

La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (; "The Phoenix Theatre") is a historic opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th cen ...

where he appeared from 1984 as Calaf, Radames, and Cavaradossi in ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

''; and the

Arena di Verona The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre located in the historic center of Verona, an iconic symbol of the Venetian city alongside the figures of Romeo and Juliet. It stands as one of the grand structures that defined Roman architecture and i ...

, where he between 1982 and 1986 he sang Radamès, Calaf, and Andrea Chenier.''

La Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

'' (24 March 1993)
"Martinucci al posto di Pavarotti"
Retrieved 5 March 2017 Outside his native Italy, Martinucci made his debut at the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...

in Buenos Aires in 1976 as Des Grieux in ''

Manon Lescaut ''The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut'' ( ) is a novel by Antoine François Prévost. It tells a tragic love story about a nobleman (known only as the Chevalier des Grieux) and a common woman (Manon Lescaut). Their decisio ...

'' and appeared there again in 1977 as Calaf, in 1978 in the title role of ''

Don Carlo ''Don Carlos'' is an 1867 five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the 1787 play '' Don Karlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...

'', and in 1979 as Rodolfo in ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

''. He made his debut 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 1985 as Dick Johnson in '' La fanciulla del West''. His

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 ...

debut came in 1988 when he sang Calaf with

Ghena Dimitrova Ghena Dimitrova (, 6 May 1941 – 11 June 2005) was a Bulgarian operatic soprano. Her voice was known for its power and upper extension, which she used to great effect in operatic roles such as Turandot in a career spanning four decades. Early ...

as Turandot. He went on to appear there until 1995 as Radamès, Dick Johnson,

, and Manrico. His last performance at the Met was as Turiddu in ''

Cavalleria rusticana ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; ) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 Cavalleria rusticana (short story), short story of the same name and subsequent ...

''. In his later years, Martinucci has taught masterclasses in singing and served on the juries of several singing competitions. His daughter Leyla is also an opera singer. Several of Martinucci's performances have been released on video, including ''

'' and ''

'' from the Arena di Verona.Crutchfield, Will (7 September 1984)
"A Verona 'Turandot' With Bulgarian Star"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Retrieved 5 March 2017.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinucci, Nicola 1941 births Living people Italian opera singers