Giuseppe Di Stefano (24 July 1921 – 3 March 2008) was an Italian operatic tenor who sang professionally from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. He was known as the ”Golden voice” or ”The most beautiful voice”, as the true successor of Beniamino Gigli. He was also known for his long-term performance and recording association and brief romantic episode with the soprano Maria Callas.
Giuseppe di Stefano Italian tenor 1921- 2008

After serving in the Italian military (and briefly taking lessons from the Swiss tenor Hugues Cuénod), Di Stefano made his operatic debut in 1946 in Reggio Emilia as Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon, the role in which he made his La Scala debut the following year. He made his New York debut at the Metropolitan Opera 1948 as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto  after singing the role in Riccione with Hjördis Schymberg that summer. He went on to perform regularly in New York for many years.

In 1957, Di Stefano made his British debut at the Edinburgh Festival as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore and his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, debut in 1961, as Cavaradossi in Tosca.Giuseppe Di Stefano was born in Motta Sant’Anastasia, a village near Catania, Sicily, in 1921.  He was the only son of a carabiniere turned cobbler and his dressmaker wife. Di Stefano was educated at a Jesuit seminary and briefly contemplated entering the priesthood.

As a singer, Di Stefano was admired for his excellent diction, unique timbre, passionate delivery and, in particular, for the sweetness of his soft singing. In his Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast debut in Faust, he attacked the high C forte and then softened to a pianissimo. Sir Rudolf Bing said in his memoirs that this was the most beautiful sound he had heard come out of a human throat during his many years as general manager of the Metropolitan Opera.

During his years of international celebrity, Di Stefano won a gold Orfeo, an Italian musical award.

In 1973, Di Stefano accompanied Maria Callas on her final recital tour that ended in 1974: critics remarked that both were losing their voices, but the public reaction was enthusiastic everywhere. It was during this period the two had a brief romantic relationship. Di Stefano’s final operatic role was as the aged Emperor in Turandot, in July 1992.

In November 2004, Di Stefano was critically injured in his home in Diani Beach, Kenya, after a brutal beating by unknown assailants.  Di Stefano was ambushed in his car with his wife, Monika Curth, as they prepared to drive from their villa in Diani, a coastal resort near Mombasa on the Indian Ocean. The singer was still unconscious a week after the attack and was fed intravenously, and underwent several operations.

After two surgeries in Mombasa, Di Stefano was flown to the San Raffaele clinic at Milan in December 2004, where he slipped into a coma. Eventually he awakened from coma, but his health never fully improved.  He died in his home in Santa Maria Hoè, north of Milan, on 3 March 2008 at the age of 86.

Luciano Pavarotti said he modeled himself after Di Stefano, a fact that gained much attention after Pavarotti’s death in September 2007. He was also the tenor who most inspired José Carreras.

Metropolitan Opera

[Met Performance] CID:147200  Rigoletto {282} Metropolitan Opera House; 02/25/1948 Debut: Giuseppe Di Stefano Reviews Chapter: Debut of Giuseppe Di Stefano

[Met Performance] CID:147340 Rigoletto {283} Lyric Theatre, Baltimore, Maryland; 03/9/1948

[Met Performance] CID:147440 Manon {159} Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts; 03/17/1948

[Met Performance] CID:147550 Manon {160} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/27/1948 Review

[Met Performance] CID:147680 Manon {161} Fair Park Auditorium, Dallas, Texas; 04/9/1948

[Met Performance] CID:147790 Manon {162} Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California; 04/20/1948 Review

[Met Performance] CID:147990 Manon {163} Public Auditorium, Cleveland, Ohio; 05/10/1948 Review

[Met Performance] CID:149250 Mignon {100} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/23/1948 Reviews

[Met Concert/Gala] CID:149450 Gala Performance Metropolitan Opera House; 01/11/1949

[Met Performance] CID:149470 Rigoletto {288} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/13/1949 Reviews

[Met Performance] CID:149520 Mignon {102} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/17/1949 Review

[Met Performance] CID:149570  Opera News La Traviata {311} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/22/1949 Broadcast Review

[Met Performance] CID:149590 L’Elisir d’Amore {63} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/23/1949 Review

[Met Performance] CID:149650 Rigoletto {289} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/28/1949 Review

[Met Performance] CID:149720  Gianni Schicchi {40} Salome {25} Metropolitan Opera House; 02/4/1949 Debuts: Ljuba Welitsch, Fritz Reiner, Reginald Tonry Jr. Review

[Met Performance] CID:149820 Gianni Schicchi {41} Salome {26} Metropolitan Opera House; 02/14/1949

[Met Performance] CID:149880 L’Elisir d’Amore {66} Metropolitan Opera House; 02/19/1949

[Met Performance] CID:149930 Gianni Schicchi {42} Salome {27} Metropolitan Opera House; 02/24/1949 Debut: Frank Murray

[Met Performance] CID:149960 Opera News Falstaff {64} Metropolitan Opera House; 02/26/1949 Broadcast Review

[Met Performance] CID:149990 Gianni Schicchi {43} Salome {28} American Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 03/1/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150010 Falstaff {65} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/3/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150060 Falstaff {66} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/7/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150070 La Bohème {425} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/8/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150120 Gianni Schicchi {45} Salome {30} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/12/1949 Broadcast

[Met Performance] CID:150240 Gianni Schicchi {46} Salome {31} Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts; 03/24/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150260 Mignon {103} Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts; 03/26/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150370 Mignon {104} Cleveland Public Auditorium, Cleveland, Ohio; 04/5/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150480 La Bohème {428} Metropolitan Opera House; 04/14/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150530 Mignon {105} Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia; 04/19/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150580 Mignon {106} Fair Park Auditorium, Dallas, Texas; 04/23/1949 Review

[Met Performance] CID:150670 La Bohème {429} Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California; 05/1/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150720 L’Elisir d’Amore {69} Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California; 05/6/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150770 Mignon {108} Denver Auditorium, Denver, Colorado; 05/10/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150850 Mignon {110} Purdue Hall of Music, Lafayette, Indiana; 05/18/1949

[Met Performance] CID:150880 La Bohème {433} Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri; 5/21/1949 Review

[Met Performance] CID:152000 Der Rosenkavalier {129} Metropolitan Opera House; 11/21/1949 Opening Night {65} Edward Johnson, General Manager Debuts: Erna Berger, Peter Klein, Lois Hunt Telecast Review

[Met Performance] CID:152090 Der Rosenkavalier {130} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/3/1949 Broadcast

[Met Performance] CID:152210 Der Rosenkavalier {131} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/14/1949

[Met Performance] CID:152300 Faust {469} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/23/1949

[Met Performance] CID:152380 Faust {470} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/31/1949 Broadcast

[Met Performance] CID:152440 Rigoletto {296} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/6/1950

[Met Performance] CID:152480 Faust {471} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/9/1950

[Met Performance] CID:152630 L’Elisir d’Amore {73} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/23/1950

[Met Performance] CID:152660 Gianni Schicchi {47} Salome {32} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/26/1950 Debut: Paul Schöffler Review

[Met Performance] CID:152780 Gianni Schicchi {48} Salome {33} Metropolitan Opera House; 02/6/1950

[Met Performance] CID:152800 La Bohème {438} Metropolitan Opera House; 02/7/1950

[Met Performance] CID:153260 Faust {476} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/23/1950

[Met Performance] CID:153320 Faust {477} Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts; 03/28/1950

[Met Performance] CID:153460 Rigoletto {301} Metropolitan Opera House; 04/8/1950

[Met Performance] CID:153490 Faust {478} Cleveland Public Auditorium, Cleveland, Ohio; 04/12/1950

[Met Performance] CID:153600 Rigoletto {302} Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri; 04/22/1950

[Met Performance] CID:153640 Faust {479} Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia; 04/26/1950

[Met Performance] CID:153660 La Bohème {444} Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, Tennessee; 04/27/1950

[Met Performance] CID:153680 Faust {480} Dallas, Texas; 04/29/1950 There was a blackout in the auditorium during Méphistophélè’s invocation to the night in Act III.

[Met Performance] CID:153810 La Traviata {329} Civic Opera House, Chicago, Illinois; 05/10/1950

[Met Performance] CID:153860 Faust {482} Eastman Theatre, Rochester, New York; 5/15/1950

[Met Performance] CID:155110 La Traviata {332} Metropolitan Opera House; 11/19/1950

[Met Performance] CID:155280 Il Barbiere di Siviglia {227} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/6/1950

[Met Performance] CID:155380  Opera News Il Barbiere di Siviglia {228} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/16/1950 Broadcast

[Met Performance] CID:155440 Il Barbiere di Siviglia {229} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/22/1950

[Met Performance] CID:155530 Il Barbiere di Siviglia {230} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/30/1950

[Met Performance] CID:155620 Il Barbiere di Siviglia {231} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/8/1951

[Met Performance] CID:155800 Faust {489} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/24/1951

[Met Performance] CID:155870 Il Barbiere di Siviglia {233} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/30/1951

[Met Performance] CID:155920 Il Barbiere di Siviglia {234} Metropolitan Opera House; 02/3/1951

[Met Performance] CID:156330 La Bohème {446} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/10/1951 Debut: Carlo Tomanelli

[Met Performance] CID:156390  Opera News La Bohème {447} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/17/1951 Broadcast

[Met Performance] CID:156440 La Bohème {448} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/21/1951

[Met Performance] CID:156500 Faust {493} Lyric Theatre, Baltimore, Maryland; 03/27/1951

[Met Performance] CID:156530 La Bohème {449} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/30/1951

[Met Performance] CID:156630 La Traviata {344} Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts; 04/9/1951

[Met Performance] CID:156650 La Bohème {452} Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts; 04/11/1951

[Met Performance] CID:156700 Faust {494} Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts; 04/14/1951

[Met Performance] CID:156840 Faust {495} Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, Tennessee; 04/26/1951

[Met Performance] CID:156880 Il Barbiere di Siviglia {242} Fair Park Auditorium, Dallas, Texas; 04/29/1951

[Met Performance] CID:156900 Faust {496} City Auditorium, Houston, Texas; 05/1/1951

[Met Performance] CID:156960 Faust {497} Northrup Memorial Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota; 05/6/1951

[Met Performance] CID:156990 Faust {498} Purdue Hall of Music, Lafayette, Indiana; 05/9/1951

[Met Performance] CID:158090 La Bohème {454} Metropolitan Opera House; 11/24/1951 Review

[Met Performance] CID:158140 La Bohème {455} Metropolitan Opera House; 11/29/1951 Review

[Met Performance] CID:158220 Manon {164} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/7/1951 Debuts: Frances Cavicchio, Gilbert Reed Review

[Met Performance] CID:158260 La Traviata {350} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/11/1951

[Met Performance] CID:158300  Opera News Manon {165} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/15/1951 Broadcast

[Met Performance] CID:158390 Rigoletto {312} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/22/1951

[Met Performance] CID:158420  Manon {166} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/26/1951 Review

[Met Performance] CID:158480 Manon {167} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/1/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159090 La Bohème {462} Metropolitan Opera House; 02/26/1952 Debut: Brenda Lewis Review

[Met Performance] CID:159110 Manon {169} Metropolitan Opera House; 02/28/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159190 Madama Butterfly {316} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/6/1952 Review

[Met Performance] CID:159290  La Bohème {463} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/15/1952 Broadcast

[Met Performance] CID:159370 La Bohème {464} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/22/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159440 Madama Butterfly {317} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/29/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159490 La Traviata {356} Metropolitan Opera House; 04/4/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159530 Manon {170} Metropolitan Opera House; 04/7/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159590 La Traviata {357} Metropolitan Opera House; 04/12/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159640 La Bohème {465} Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio; 04/18/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159710 Manon {171} Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts; 04/23/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159760 La Bohème {466} Boston Opera House, Boston, Massachusetts; 04/27/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159810 La Traviata {359} Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia; 05/1/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159860 Madama Butterfly {320} Birmingham, Alabama; 05/6/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159900 La Bohème {468} Dallas, Texas; 05/10/1952

[Met Performance] CID:159970 Rigoletto {321} Minneapolis, Minnesota; 05/16/1952

[Met Performance] CID:170140 Carmen {531} Metropolitan Opera House; 11/30/1955 Review

[Met Performance] CID:170230 Faust {536} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/9/1955 Review

[Met Performance] CID:170260 Carmen {532} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/12/1955

[Met Performance] CID:170320 Faust {537} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/17/1955

[Met Performance] CID:170350 Faust {538} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/21/1955

[Met Performance] CID:170410 Carmen {533} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/27/1955 Review

[Met Performance] CID:170530 Rigoletto {359} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/7/1956 Review

[Met Performance] CID:170580 Tosca {335} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/13/1956 Debut: Tito Gobbi Reviews

[Met Performance] CID:170620 Faust {539} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/16/1956 Review

[Met Performance] CID:170670 Carmen {534} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/21/1956 Broadcast

[Met Performance] CID:170700 Tosca {337} The American Academy of Music, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 01/24/1956 Review

[Met Performance] CID:170970 Tosca {339} Metropolitan Opera House; 02/20/1956 Debut: Daniele Barioni Review

[Met Performance] CID:201080 Les Contes d’Hoffmann {108} Metropolitan Opera House; 01/27/1965 Review

[Met Concert/Gala] CID:351280 National Council Concert Metropolitan Opera House; 04/07/1967 First Appearance: Linda Phillips, Costanza Cuccaro, Leo Goeke

[Met Performance] CID:244480 Der Rosenkavalier {253} Metropolitan Opera House; 03/8/1976 Debut: Tatiana Troyanos, Kendall Quinn Review

[Met Performance] CID:351994  New Production Il Trittico {60} Il Tabarro {66} Suor Angelica {60} Gianni Schicchi {124} Metropolitan Opera House; 04/20/2007 Debuts: Jack O’Brien, Douglas W. Schmidt, Jess Goldstein, Jules Fisher, Peggy Eisenhower, Anne-Carolyn Bird, Leah Wool, Olga Mykytenko, Donato Di Stefano Broadcast/Streamed Review

[Met Performance] CID:352000 Il Trittico {61} Il Tabarro {67} Suor Angelica {61} Gianni Schicchi {125} Metropolitan Opera House; 04/23/2007

[Met Performance] CID:352009 Opera News Il Trittico {62} Il Tabarro {68} Suor Angelica {62} Gianni Schicchi {126} Metropolitan Opera House; 04/28/2007 HD Simulcast

[Met Performance] CID:352016 Il Trittico {63} Il Tabarro {69} Suor Angelica {63} Gianni Schicchi {127} Metropolitan Opera House; 05/01/2007 Broadcast/Streamed

[Met Performance] CID:352024 Il Trittico {64} Il Tabarro {70} Suor Angelica {64} Gianni Schicchi {128} Metropolitan Opera House; 05/04/2007

[Met Performance] CID:352028 Il Trittico {65} Il Tabarro {71} Suor Angelica {65} Gianni Schicchi {129} Metropolitan Opera House; 05/07/2007 Broadcast

[Met Performance] CID:352034 Il Trittico {66} Il Tabarro {72} Suor Angelica {66} Gianni Schicchi {130} Metropolitan Opera House; 05/10/2007

[Met Performance] CID:352037 Il Trittico {67} Il Tabarro {73} Suor Angelica {67} Gianni Schicchi {131} Metropolitan Opera House; 05/12/2007

[Met Performance] CID:352455 La Bohème {1195} Metropolitan Opera House; 04/01/2008 Broadcast/Streamed

[Met Performance] CID:353178  Il Trittico {68} Il Tabarro {74} Suor Angelica {68} Gianni Schicchi {132} Metropolitan Opera House; 11/20/2009 Debut: Stefano Ranzani, Saimir Pirgu, Neel Ram Nagarajan, Joyce El-Khoury Broadcast/Streamed Review

[Met Performance] CID:353196 Il Trittico {69} Il Tabarro {75} Suor Angelica {69} Gianni Schicchi {133} Metropolitan Opera House; 11/25/2009 Broadcast

[Met Performance] CID:353205 Il Trittico {71} Il Tabarro {77} Suor Angelica {71} Gianni Schicchi {135} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/01/2009

[Met Performance] CID:353212 Il Trittico {72} Il Tabarro {78} Suor Angelica {72} Gianni Schicchi {136} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/05/2009

[Met Performance] CID:353220 Il Trittico {73} Il Tabarro {79} Suor Angelica {73} Gianni Schicchi {137} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/09/2009

[Met Performance] CID:357062 Il Trittico {74} Il Tabarro {80} Suor Angelica {74} Gianni Schicchi {138} Metropolitan Opera House; 12/12/2009 Broadcast

Recordings with Maria Callas

Di Stefano sang the tenor leads in several of the most famous recordings of Maria Callas, all of which were for EMI. Together they recorded the following complete operas:

• Lucia di Lammermoor – 1953
• I puritani – 1953
• Cavalleria rusticana – 1953
• Tosca – 1953
• Pagliacci – 1954
• Rigoletto – 1955
• Il trovatore – 1956
• La bohème – 1956
• Un ballo in maschera – 1956
• Manon Lescaut – 1957

A series of duets with Di Stefano and Callas was recorded by the Philips label in the period November–December 1972, with Antonio de Almeida conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. These recordings were not published officially, but a ’pirate’ version did appear.

Other recordings

Besides his recordings with Callas, he also made complete EMI sets of Madama Butterfly (opposite Victoria de los Ángeles, 1954) and La traviata (with Antonietta Stella and Tito Gobbi, 1955).

For English Decca he recorded L’elisir d’amore with Hilde Gueden and Fernando Corena (1955), La Gioconda (with Zinka Milanov and Leonard Warren, 1957), La forza del destino (1958) and a second Tosca (with Leontyne Price and Giuseppe Taddei, Herbert von Karajan conducting, 1962).

For Ricordi (Ricordi MRO 104/105), he made a complete stereo Lucia di Lammermoor with Renata Scotto, Ettore Bastianini and Ivo Vinco in 1958, with Nino Sanzogno conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala, Milan.

In 1995, VAI issued an approved version of La bohème, from a 1959 performance in New Orleans, with the tenor starring opposite Licia Albanese, Audrey Schuh, Giuseppe Valdengo and Norman Treigle. Additionally, in 1962 the tenor recorded excerpts from Massenet’s Manon, with Anna Moffo, conducted by René Leibowitz.

In 1951, Di Stefano sang in a performance of Verdi’s Requiem, at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, the other soloists being Herva Nelli, Fedora Barbieri and Cesare Siepi. It was released as a recording by RCA.

Read more

• Wikipedia 
• AllMusic
• Naxos
• Medicine Opera
• Metropolitan Opera
• Hampsong Foundation
• Great Opera Singers
• Italy org
• Giuseppe di Stefano Officiale web-site
• Obituary in The Guardian
• Obituary in New York Times
• Obituary in The Independent
• Youtube