Giorgio Tozzi

Giorgio Tozzi, born George John Tozzi on January 8, 1923, in Chicago, Illinois, was an American operatic bass whose career spanned Broadway, opera, film, television, and academia. He died on May 30, 2011, in Bloomington, Indiana, at the age of 88, following a heart attack.

Tozzi received his early musical training at DePaul University, studying with Rosa Raisa, Giacomo Rimini, and John Daggett Howell. He subsequently pursued vocal studies in New York City under Beverley Peck Johnson. His professional stage debut came in 1948, when he appeared on Broadway in Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia, taking the role of Tarquinius. That production marked the beginning of a Broadway career that extended through 1979. Among his stage credits was The Most Happy Fella, in which he played the role of Tony, a performance that earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical in 1980 as well as a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Musical that same year.

Beyond Broadway, Tozzi built an extensive career at the Metropolitan Opera and performed principal bass roles at major opera houses around the world. His signature parts included Figaro in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Philip II in Verdi's Don Carlos, Hans Sachs in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Méphistophélès in Gounod's Faust. In 1957, he sang the title role in a nationally broadcast performance of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov with the NBC Opera Theatre. The following year, he created the role of The Doctor in Samuel Barber's Vanessa. Also in 1958, he recorded the operetta Rose Marie alongside Dame Julie Andrews, an album conducted by Lehman Engel with the New Symphony Orchestra of London. That same year, he provided the singing voice for the character of Emile de Becque, portrayed on screen by Rossano Brazzi, in the film version of South Pacific. Tozzi subsequently performed the role of de Becque himself in various revivals and road tours of the show, including a production at Lincoln Center in the late 1960s.

Tozzi received three Grammy Awards during his recording career. In 1960, he won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance, Operatic or Choral for a recording of The Marriage of Figaro conducted by Erich Leinsdorf. In 1961, he received the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for Puccini's Turandot, also with Leinsdorf. A third Grammy for Best Opera Recording followed in 1963 for Sir Georg Solti's recording of Verdi's Aida, which featured Leontyne Price and Jon Vickers. He also contributed the bass part to Sir Thomas Beecham's recording of Handel's Messiah for RCA Victor in 1959. In 1964, he appeared on CBS Television in Berlioz's oratorio L'enfance du Christ, performing the role of Herod under conductor Alfredo Antonini. His television work extended into the 1970s and 1980s, with appearances on The Odd Couple, Baretta, Kojak, and Knight Rider.

In 1997, Tozzi published a novel titled The Golem of the Golden West. He held teaching positions at the Juilliard School, Brigham Young University, and Indiana University, where he served as Distinguished Professor of Voice at the Jacobs School of Music from 1991 until his retirement in 2006. Tozzi was married twice. His first wife, Catherine Dieringer, died in 1963. In 1967 he married Monte Amundsen, a singer, with whom he had a son and a daughter.