Francesco Ellero d'Artegna

Born in Ravascletto, high in the Carnia of Friuli, on 15 December 1948, Francesco Ellero d'Artegna came to singing by way of the piano, the clarinet and the saxophone, and studied in Trieste and with Ettore Campogalliani in Mantua. His debut at the Arena di Verona in 1981 was in Nabucco, and Verdi held the centre of a career that ranged across true bass, bass-baritone and dramatic baritone writing — Colline and Don Basilio among the lighter roles — at La Fenice, the San Carlo, Bologna, the Petruzzelli and the Metropolitan. He has sung under Abbado, Colin Davis, Muti, Prêtre and Mehta, and his work is preserved in audio and video releases. He has staged opera himself, including Aida at Avenches, Attila, Oberto and Maria di Rohan, and teaches vocal technique in masterclasses. With a touring company he sang in Verdi's Aida at Solothurn on 28 June 2013. He studied in Udine and Mantua, and after his Arena debut appeared at La Scala in 1986 for Aida, coming back there for I Lombardi and Luisa Miller. With the Genoa company and Luciano Pavarotti he sang in Beijing. Philip II, Fiesco, Timur and Seneca belong to the same repertoire, as does Scarpia on the baritone side, and Il trovatore, La bohème and L'incoronazione di Poppea are among the recordings.