Italo Tajo

Italo Tajo was an Italian operatic bass born on 25 April 1915 in Pinerolo, Piedmont, Italy, who died on 28 March 1993 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He trained in violin and voice at the Music Conservatory of Turin under Nilde Stichi-Bertozzi, and made his stage debut in 1935 as Fafner in Das Rheingold under the direction of Fritz Busch. At Busch's invitation, Tajo subsequently joined the chorus at Glyndebourne, where he also took on comprimario roles.

Returning to Italy in 1939, Tajo became a member of the Rome Opera, and in 1942 participated in the Italian premiere of Alban Berg's Wozzeck. That same year he appeared with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino as Leporello in Don Giovanni, a role he would revisit throughout his career. He had joined the roster of Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1940, remaining a regular presence there until 1956. In 1953, he appeared at the Teatro Comunale Florence as both Count Rostov and Field-Marshal Kutuzov in a near-complete Italian-language premiere of Prokofiev's War and Peace. He later performed in the world premiere of Luigi Nono's Intolleranza 1960 in Venice in 1961.

Following the war, Tajo's career expanded internationally, with debuts in Paris, London, Edinburgh, and Buenos Aires. He debuted at the Chicago Opera Company in 1946, and 1948 brought his first appearances at both the San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he opened as Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville alongside Giuseppe Valdengo. His subsequent Met roles included Figaro, Leporello, Dulcamara, Don Pasquale, and Gianni Schicchi. Though he built a particular reputation in comic roles, Tajo also sang dramatic parts including Verdi's Attila and Banco and Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov. He created the role of Samuel in Darius Milhaud's David, and originated roles in operas by Berio, Lualdi, Malipiero, and Nono.

Tajo appeared on Broadway between 1954 and 1956, with credits including Fanny. In 1957, he replaced Ezio Pinza in the role of Emile de Becque in South Pacific, and later appeared in Kiss Me, Kate.

His recording work, though relatively limited in volume, included the celebrated 1950 RCA Victor Rigoletto with Leonard Warren, Erna Berger, and Jan Peerce, conducted by Renato Cellini. He recorded The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni for Cetra, and can be heard in live broadcasts of Macbeth opposite Maria Callas, conducted by Victor de Sabata, as well as the Florence War and Peace. In the late 1940s he appeared in film versions of The Barber of Seville, L'elisir d'amore, and Lucia di Lammermoor. A 1955 television production of Don Pasquale was later released on DVD by Hardy Classic Video. In 1988, he appeared as Benoit and Alcindoro in a San Francisco Opera film production of La bohème, directed by Francesca Zambello and starring Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti, released on Kultur video. In October 1983, he sang an excerpt from Don Pasquale as a special guest at the Metropolitan Opera Centennial Celebration.

Tajo continued performing into his seventies, taking on character roles at the Metropolitan Opera such as Geronte, Benoit, Alcindoro, and the Sacristan. His final stage appearance was as the Sacristan in Tosca at the Met in 1991. In 1966, he joined the faculty of the University of Cincinnati, where he played a central role in establishing an opera workshop. Among his notable students were soprano Kathleen Battle and baritone Tom Fox.