Lodovico Graziani

Lodovico Graziani (14 November 1820 – 15 May 1885) was an Italian operatic tenor. According to John Warrack and Ewan West, writing in The Oxford Dictionary of Opera: "His voice was clear and vibrant, but he lacked dramatic gifts." He is now mainly remembered for having created the role of Alfredo Germont in the world premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata in 1853.

Graziani was born in Fermo, Italy, into a musical family. Three of his brothers also became professional singers, in particular his younger brother Francesco Graziani, who became a well known baritone and spent much of his career singing for the Royal Italian Opera (Covent Garden) in London. Lodovico studied with Cellini and made his debut in 1845 in Bologna in Carlo Cambiaggio's Don Procopio. In 1846 he was heard at the Regio Teatro degli Avvalorati in Livorno as Elvino in Vincenzo Bellini's La sonnambula. He made his debut at La Scala on 14 August 1847 in the title role of Gaetano Donizetti's Dom Sébastien.

In 1851, at the Théâtre-Italien's Salle Ventadour in Paris, Graziani sang Gennaro in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia with Marianna Barbieri-Nini in the title role and Fortini as the Duke of Ferrara. The following season he went to La Fenice in Venice where he was heard as Idreno in Rossini's Semiramide, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, the title role of Verdi's Stiffelio, and in the premieres of several operas by minor Italian composers. In his second season there, on 6 March 1853, he created the role of Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata. The production was poorly received, and Verdi, who was depressed and disappointed, described Graziani's singing as "marmoreal" and "monotonous", although most of the blame for the opera's lack of success was reserved for the baritone Felice Varesi, who sang Giorgio Germont. Graziani had not been well — one performance was cancelled because of his indisposition. Later in his career, in other Verdi roles, Graziani was more successful.

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