Death of a splendid Italian tenor, 85
mainThe death is reported of Umberto Grilli, an Italian tenor who often deputised for Pavarotti and enjoyed an international career.
In retirement he founded the Pediconi-Grilli singing competition.
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Oh, dear, dear Umberto …he was Il Duca when I sang Rigoletto at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste in 1986…. He was a fine singer and a lovely man and a dear friend… He also sang at Glyndebourne in the 1960s where my wife Nuala Willis first met him ….
There is a magnificent live recording of highlights from Mefistofele, with a radiant Virginia Zeani, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, and Umberto Grilli as Faust. Grilli gives a melifluously sung performance, his arias sensitively delivered, and I wish that recordings of him were more plentiful.