V1642. ANSELMO COLZANI: Arias & Duets (w.Wilson, Corridori & Campora) from Lucia, Ernani, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, Forza & La Gioconda. (Austria) Preiser 89731, recorded 1952-57. - 717281897310

CRITIC REVIEWS:

“A pupil of the bass Zambelli….[Colzani] became an international artist when he replaced the great Leonard Warren in SIMON BOCCANEGRA at the Met. He triumphed in the rôle and then remained at the Met for some 16 seasons. Scarpia became one of his most important rôles, and he sang it opposite almost every top-ranking soprano of that period.”

- Vivian A. Liff, AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, Nov./Dec., 2010

“[Colzani] may never have quite entered the pantheon of great Italian baritones, but Anselmo Colzani was never that far off. He also had to contend with an era in which the likes of Tito Gobbi, Ettore Bastianini and Giuseppe Taddei bestrode the world’s opera stages….He was in demand internationally too, making his Metropolitan Opera début in 1960, where he played Simon Boccanegra. There was a great deal of pressure on the new arrival, as the Met’s favourite baritone, Leonard Warren, had died weeks before. If Colzani never became the next Warren, he did become a Met regular. He sang 272 performances there over the next 16 seasons.”

- James Inverne, GRAMOPHONE, June, 2006