Carlo Cossutta - Biography - Rise To International Success

Rise To International Success

The year 1964 proved to be a milestone in Cossutta's career. It marked the beginning of his reigning years at the Teatro Colón where he portrayed four roles in 1964: the title role in the world premiere of Alberto Ginastera's Don Rodrigo, Gabriele Adorno in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, Kalaf in Ferruccio Busoni's Turandot, and the title role in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Edipo Re. That same year he launched his international opera career, making his European debut in London with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden as the Duke of Mantua in a lauded production of Verdi's Rigoletto.

From 1965 to 1970 Cossutta was the Teatro Colón's principle dramatic tenor, singing such diverse roles as Alfredo, Enzo Grimaldo in Ponchielli's La Gioconda, Jason in Luigi Cherubini's Médée, Ottone in Claudio Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Riccardo in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, and Uldino in Verdi's Attila among others. During this time his international career continued. He made his American debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company on November 5, 1965 singing Alfredo opposite Dorothy Kirsten's Violetta and Manuel Ausensi's Germont. He returned to Covent Garden in 1965 to sing Turridu in Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and again in 1968 to portray the title hero in Verdi's Don Carlos. In 1970 he appeared as the tenor soloist in a production of Verdi's Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

After 1970 Cossutta's international career blossomed. He continued to appear at the Teatro Colón regularly through 1998 but with less frequency than in the 1960s as his international career became more important. On January 6, 1971 he made his debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin singing Alfredo to Beverly Sills's Violetta. In the 1971-1972 season, Cossutta made his debuts at La Scala, the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi, the Festival dei Due Mondi, and the Opéra National de Paris. On September 23, 1972 he made his first appearance at the San Francsico Opera singing Radames in Verdi's Aida. On February 17, 1973 Cossutta made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City singing Pollione in Bellini's Norma with Montserrat Caballé in the title part, Fiorenza Cossotto as Adalgisa, Giorgio Tozzi as Oroveso, Charles Anthony as Flavio, and conductor Carlo Felice Cillario. In the August 1973 he made his first appearance at the Arena di Verona Festival, returning there again in the summer of 1974. On November 3, 1973 he made his debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, singing Don Carlos with Sherrill Milnes as Rodrigo and Pilar Lorengar as Elisabeth. He returned to Chicago to sing Gabriele Adorno (1974), Fernando in La favorite (1975), and Otello (1975). He sang the title role in Verdi's Otello for the first time at Covent Garden in 1974, a role which became one of his signature parts during the next decade. He also made his Moscow debut that year as Radames during a European tour with La Scala.

In 1975 Cossutta sang Manrico in Verdi's Il trovatore at the Palais Garnier, returning there in 1979 to sing Ismaele in Verdi's Nabucco. In 1977, Cossutta took part in a highly lauded complete recording of Otello with Margaret Price as Desdemona, Gabriel Bacquier as Iago, and Sir Georg Solti conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. That same year he sang for the first time with the Vienna State Opera singing Pollione once again to Caballé's Norma, and made the first of many appearances at the Hamburg State Opera where he was a regular guest through the end of his career. In 1978 Cossutta substituted for the younger tenor Plácido Domingo in a San Francisco Opera performance of Otello; Domingo returned the favor some years later in 1983. In 1979 Cossutta returned to the Met to sing Pollione again, this time to Shirley Verrett's Norma.