Enzo Florimo

Italian-Swedish opera singer (bass baritone) living in Gothenburg, born on September 30, 1930 in Mammola, Italy. Enzo is his artist name and his real name is Vincenzo Florimo. He is trained in both solo singing and violin playing at the Conservatory of Music in Pesaro 1950–56. Playing the violin led to overexertion, which led to hand surgery. Then he had to give up playing the violin and instead devoted himself wholeheartedly to singing. The debut took place at the Messina opera festival in 1960. There, Florimo met an impresario who selected an ensemble to perform as a guest with Tosca in Scandinavia. Here, Florimo played the role of Sciarrone, i.a. at the Royal Opera House. In Stockholm, Enzo's niece worked in a delicatessen. Kjerstin Dellert was one of the customers and she wondered who Enzo was. Dellert arranged for him to audition for opera director Set Svanholm, which led to involvement in the Opera Choir. Enzo learned Swedish and took singing lessons for Arne Sunnegårdh. Svanholm thought that Enzo was needed in the choir and he was only allowed to do minor roles. However, Enzo Florimo made his debut at Drottningholm's Castle Theater in 1962 as Dr. Bartolo in Paisiello's Barber in Seville. Arne Tyrén thought that Enzo was being treated step-motherly by the Royal Opera and contacted the manager of the Stora Teatern in Gothenburg, Bernhard Sönnerstedt, and after an audition there he got engaged. The intention was that he would have made his debut as Osmin in Enleveringen in the seraglio, but it was first instead an appearance as the Landgrave in Tannhäuser. At Stora Teatern, Enzo was involved in 1963–84, but he came to play as a guest until the operation was transferred to the Gothenburg Opera. At Storan, Enzo played over 100 roles, most of them supporting roles, and he was particularly appreciated for his imaginative interpretations of buffa roles, mainly in Rossini operas, such as e.g. Mustafà in The Italian in Algiers, Don Magnifico in Cinderella (at the Swedish premiere in 1964 and in another production 20 years later), Raimbaud in Le comte Ory, Dr. Bartolo in The Barber of Seville, but also as Leporello in Don Giovanni, Papageno in The Magic Flute, the title role in The Marriage of Figaro. The title role in Gianni Schicchi, Dulcamara in Kärleksdricken, Kecal in Brudkapet and Falstaff in Otto Nicolai's Merry Wives in Windsor are also not to be forgotten. He also portrayed a number of dramatic roles such as Ramfis in Aida at Scandinavium, the Devil in Jaromír Weinberger's opera Schwanda the bagpiper, both Sparafucile and Rigoletto in Verdi's opera, Filip II in Don Carlos (in a concert performance), Mefistofeles in Faust, Scarpia in Tosca, The merchant in Aulis Sallinen's The Red Line at the Swedish premiere in 1980 and not least as the father-in-law Boris in Dimitri Shostakovich's Katarina Ismajlova. Here, director David Radok managed to transform Enzo into performing a character that was far from his own personality. After retirement, Enzo got more time for guest appearances. At the Royal Opera, he sang Dr. Bartolo in Göran Järvefelt's production of The Barber of Seville and made a cameo as Falstaff. At Den Norske Opera in Oslo he sang Dulcamara in Kärleksdrycken, the title role in Don Pasquale and also Taddeo in The Italian in Algiers opposite Ann Hallenberg's Isabella and Terje Stensvold as Mustafà. At the Drottningholm Theater he played Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte directed by Michael Hampes (1984). The production is available on DVD (Arthaus). On the same stage, he played an intriguing Dr. Bartolo in Figaro's Wedding with Margareta Hallin as Marcellina and Torbjörn Lillieqvist as Don Basilio – a more coordinated and lisping trio has probably never been experienced in the tours around Figaro's imminent wedding. In Malmö, Enzo participated when Hans Gefor's opera Vargen kommar was first performed in 1997. He also sang in Bellini's Lucrezia Borgia in the Berwaldhallen when Joan Sutherland played the title role. In Berwaldhallen, he was both emcee and soloist when Hans Hiort produced Omaggio a Bellini, a concert with Lucia Aliberti and Salvatore Fisichella. An all-Swedish ensemble participated in Bellini's first work Adelson e Salvini at the opera in Catania in 1985, where Thomas Lander and Bengt Gustavson sang the main roles and where Enzo played Bonifacio.