Back Titta Ruffo Catalan Titta Ruffo German Titta Ruffo Spanish Titta Ruffo Finnish Titta Ruffo French טיטה רופו HE Titta Ruffo Hungarian Տիտտա Ռուֆֆո HY Titta Ruffo Italian ティッタ・ルッフォ Japanese
Titta Ruffo | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Titta Ruffo, c. 1920s | |
| Born | Ruffo Cafiero Titta 9 September 1877 Pisa, Italy |
| Died | 5 July 1953 (aged 75) Firenze, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Occupation | Operatic baritone |
| Years active | 1898–1931 |
Titta Ruffo (9 June 1877 – 5 July 1953), born as Ruffo Cafiero (double forename) Titta, was an Italian operatic baritone who had a major international singing career. Known as the "Voce del leone" ("voice of the lion"), he was greatly admired, even by rival baritones, such as Giuseppe De Luca, who said of Ruffo: "His was not a voice, it was a miracle" (although not often published is the second part of De Luca's conclusion "which he [Ruffo] bawled away..."), and Victor Maurel, the creator of Verdi's Iago and Falstaff. Maurel said that the notes of Ruffo's upper register were the most glorious baritone sounds he had ever heard (see Pleasants, cited below). Indeed Walter Legge, the prominent classical record producer, went so far as to call Ruffo "a genius".