Co-founder of Dallas Opera dies at 92 in Italy

The co-founder of the Dallas Opera has died at a hospital in Viterbo, Italy. Nicola Rescigno was 92.

Jonathan Pell, the Dallas Opera director of artistic administration, says he received a phone call Monday afternoon from Rescigno's nephew, who had been informed of his uncle's death by the hospital.

Pell says Rescigno had been in the hospital to have surgery for a broken leg. He says Rescigno "went to sleep and didn't wake up."

Rescigno and the late Lawrence V. Kelly founded the Dallas Opera in 1957. Pell says the pair attracted well-known performers such as Maria Callas.

He says plans to honor Rescigno by the Dallas Opera will be announced later.

Biography

Nicola Rescigno was an Italian-American conductor, particularly associated with the Italian opera repertory.

Born in a musical family, he studied with Pizzetti, Giannini and Polacco. He made his debut in 1943, conducting La traviata, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He then toured the USA with the San Carlo Opera Company and served as music director for the Connecticut Opera and Havana Opera.

In 1953, he co-founded the Chicago Lyric Opera, where he was music director from 1954 to 1956, and conducted the American debut of Maria Callas there. In 1957, he co-founded the Dallas Opera where he served as artistic director and principal conductor from 1957 to 1990. While at the Dallas Opera, he conducted the U.S. debuts of such singers as Montserrat Caballé, Plácido Domingo, Dame Joan Sutherland, Teresa Berganza, Magda Olivero, Jon Vickers, and stage director Franco Zeffirelli. He presented there the American premieres of Handel's Alcina and Vivaldi's Orlando furioso. He also conducted the world premieres of Virgil Thomson's Fantasy in Homage to an Earlier England (1966) and Dominick Argento's The Aspern Papers (1988).

He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1978, conducting Don Pasquale (with Beverly Sills, in John Dexter's production), followed by L'elisir d'amore (1980), L'italiana in Algeri (with Marilyn Horne and Rockwell Blake, 1981), and La traviata (1981-82). Rescigno also conducted at the San Francisco Opera. He conducted at most of the major opera houses of Italy, and made guest appearances at Glyndebourne, London, Paris, Vienna, Zurich, Buenos Aires, etc.

He was closely associated with Callas, having been one of her favourite conductors, and recorded several albums of operatic arias with her for EMI, from 1958 to 1969. He also recorded an album of Verdi arias with Robert Weede (in 1953), excerpts from Francesca da Rimini (with Mario del Monaco and Olivero, 1969), and complete sets of Tosca (with Mirella Freni, 1978) and Lucia di Lammermoor (with Edita Gruberova, 1983). Also available, on DVD, are a 1959 concert from Hamburg with Callas, and a 1981 performance of L'elisir d'amore from the Met, with Judith Blegen and Luciano Pavarotti.

He was the uncle of the conductor Joseph Rescigno.

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