Franco Calabrese (22 July 1923 in Palermo – 13 November 1992 in Lucca)[1] was an Italian bass singer.
[2] In 1952, he debuted at La Scala as Angelloti in the famous de Sabata Tosca.
[3] He was particularly renowned for his Mozart and Rossini roles, and notably those of Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte and the Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro.
[4] Calabrese appeared in this latter role in the noted 1955 recording, with Sesto Bruscanini, Graziella Sciuti and the Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra, under the baton of Vittorio Gui.
[5] After retiring from singing, he taught stagecraft at the same Boccherini Institute in Lucca,[2] where his students included, among others, Graziano Polidori, Giancarlo Ceccarini, Francesco Facini and Enrico Facini.