Rinaldo Grassi

Rinaldo Grassi (Tenor) (Milan 1885 - ? 1946) He received his education at the Milan Conservatory where he was a pupil of Leoni. In 1904 he made his stage debut at the Teatro Coccia of Novara as Rodolfo to Puccini’s ‘’La Boheme’’. In 1905 he had the first success at the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara as well as at the Teatro Sociale in Treviso as Faust in ‘’La dannatione di Faust‘’ of Berlioz. In 1906 he appeared with success at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan as Giorgio in Mascagni’s ‘’Amica’’. In 1907 he performed at the Teatro San Carlo in Napoli in Verdi’s ‘’La Traviata’’ togheter with Darclee Heraclea and Eugenio Giraldoni. The same year Grassi made his La Scala debut where as a partner of Eugenia Burzio and Pasquale Amato he sang in Puccini’s ‘’Tosca’’. In the 1908-09 season he appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in ‘’Madame Butterfly’’, ‘’Tosca’’, ‘’La Boheme’’ and ‘’Cavalleria Rusticana’’. In 1912 he made guest appearance at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires singing the role Faust’’ in ‘’Mefistofele’’. At the Teatro Regio in Turin he sang the role of Dick Johnson in the premiere there of Puccini’s ‘’La Fanciulla del West’’ (1911). At the Teatro Dal Verme, Milan he appeared on 6. 3. 1920 in the premiere of Pedrollo’s ‘’L'Uomo che ride’’. He married the soprano Bianca Tamagno-Grassi (1883-1914), a niece of the heroic tenor Francesco Tamagno (1851-1905). She died at the height of her career, at the age of 31, after a car accident.