Covent Garden chief executive David Webster, with Maria Callas and Renato Cioni
Renato Cioni, the great Tuscan tenor, died today in his home town of Portoferraio, on the island of Elba, where he was born almost 85 years ago.
His career took off in the mid 1950s when he sang in a television production of Madama Butterfly with Anna Moffo, and Pinkerton was the role with which he made his début at La Scala in 1961 under the baton of Gianandrea Gavazzeni. During a production of Lucia di Lammermoor by Zeffirelli in Venice, Cioni met Joan Sutherland, and went on to record Lucia and Rigoletto with her in 1961.
In 1964 he took part in two legendary productions: he was invited by Franco Zeffirelli to share the stage with Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi in his Tosca at Covent Garden, and he sang in La Traviata at La Scala with Mirella Freni and Anna Moffo, with Herbert von Karajan in the pit.… [continue reading]
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