Franco Corelli - The Perfect Italian Tenor

Few tenors are as iconic as Franco Corelli. Born on April 8, 1921 in Ancona, he initially set out to follow in the footsteps of his father and studied naval engineering at the University of Bologna. During his studies, he entered a vocal competition as an amateur singer and was encouraged to pursue his voice further. He entered the Pesaro Conservatory of Music, though he never enjoyed voice lessons and famously noted that he was self-taught as a singer. In 1951, Corelli earned a debut at Spoleto and a year later he debuted in Rome. In 1953, he sang with Maria Callas for the first time and in 1954, he had his debut at La Scala. Over the ensuing years, he made debuts in Vienna, Berlin, San Francisco, and London. In 1961, he debuted at the Metropolitan Opera, where he would sing for the ensuing 14 years. Upon retiring in 1976, he became a famed voice teacher, though he briefly came out of retirement to sing a few concerts in 1980 and 1981. He died in 2003, leaving a legacy as one of the greatest