Capecchi, Renato

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Capecchi, Renato

Capecchi, Renato, Italian baritone; b. Cairo (of Italian parents), Nov. 6, 1923; d. Milan, June 30, 1998. He was a student in Milan of Ubaldo Carrozzi. After making his debut on the Italian Radio (1948), he made his stage debut as Amonasro in 1949 in Reggio Emilia. From 1950 he sang at Milan’s La Scala. On Nov. 24, 1951, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Germont père, remaining on its roster until 1954. In 1975 he returned there, and then made occasional visits until 1994. Between 1953 and 1983 he was a regular guest at the Verona Arena. In 1962 he made his debut at London’s Covent Garden as Melitone, and sang there again in 1973. In 1977 and 1980 he appeared as Falstaff at Glyndebourne. His guest appearances took him not only all over Italy but to Berlin, Paris, Munich, Moscow, Stuttgart, Stockholm, and other European music centers. His vast repertoire included hundreds of roles, ranging from the traditional to the contemporary. He was particularly successful as a buffo artist, winning special praise for his portrayals of Rossini’s Figaro, Dr. Bartolo, Dulcamara, Don Pasquale, and Gianni Schicchi.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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