Titta Ruffo

about

Titta Ruffo (June 9, 1877 - July 5, 1953), was an Italian opera star who had a major international singing career. Known as the "Voce del leone" ("voice of the lion"), he was greatly admired, even by rival baritones, such as Giuseppe De Luca, who said of Ruffo: "His was not a voice, it was a miracle" (although not often published is the second part of De Luca's conclusion "...which he [Ruffo] bawled away..."), and Victor Maurel, the creator of Verdi's Iago and Falstaff. Maurel said that the notes of Ruffo's upper register were the most glorious baritone sounds he had ever heard (see Pleasants, cited below). Indeed Walter Legge, the prominent classical record producer, went so far as to call Ruffo "a genius". ]Career Born Ruffo Titta in Pisa (he reversed his forename and surname for the stage), Ruffo was the son of an engineer. He studied voice with several teachers, but he was an independent thinker and, basically, his vocal method was self-taught. Ruffo made his operatic debut in 1898 at the Teatro Constanzi in Rome as the Herald in Wagner's Lohengrin. After a slow start, his career took off in the early 1900s and he quickly achieved international renown due to the power and ardency of voice and acting. His other major debuts occurred in the following venues and years: Buenos Aires (1902), London (1903), Milan (1904), Lisbon (1907), and the Paris Opéra (1911). Ruffo made his American debut in Philadelphia in 1912 and sang extensively in Chicago. He reached the New York Metr

top songs

albums

Prima Voce: Recordings from 1907-1926

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Titta Ruffo Edition

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Titta Ruffo - The early recordings 1906 - 1912

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Opera's Super Villains

Great Voices Of The Century

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Italian Opera Legend

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Opera for ever new additions

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Lebendige Vergangenheit - Titta Ruffo

Titta Ruffo

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Grandes Voces Del Teatro Read De Madrid

Hamlet Arias

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The Symposium Opera Collection, Vol. 18 (1906-1927)

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