Nucci, Leo
Nucci, Leo
Nucci, Leo, prominent Italian baritone; b. Castiglione dei Pepuli, near Bologna, April 16, 1942. He studied with Giuseppe Marchesi and Ottaviano Bizzarri. He made his operatic debut as Rossini’s Figaro in Spoleto (1967). After singing in the chorus of Milan’s La Scala (1969–75), he attracted attention with his portrayal of Schaunard in La Bohème at Venice’s Teatro La Fenice (1975); then was engaged as a member of La Scala, where he appeared as Rossini’s Figaro, Rodrigo in Don Carlos, Miller in Luisa Miller, Marcello, and Sharpless. In 1978 he made his first appearance at the Vienna State Opera and at London’s Covent Garden; he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Renato in Un ballo in maschera on Feb. 22, 1980. He first sang at the Paris Opera and the Chicago Lyric Opera in 1981. In 1985 he appeared as Rigoletto in Wiesbaden. In 1991 he sang lago in concert performances of Otello in Chicago and N.Y. He was engaged as Dulcamara in Turin in 1994, and in 1996 as Rossini’s Figaro in Verona. He also sang in San Francisco, Berlin, Rome, Hamburg, and Geneva.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire