Anselmo Colzani as Iago in Otello Metropolitan Opera Photo by Louis Melancon

Description

Anselmo Colzani as Iago in Verdi's Otello
Anselmo Colzani (March 28, 1918 – March 19, 2006) was
an Italian operatic baritone
who
had an international opera career from the late 1940s
through 1980. He particularly excelled in the Italian repertory and was most associated with the works of Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini. He began his career in Italy in 1947 where he quickly became a regular presence at that country's best opera houses, including La Scala. In the mid-1950s he began appearing at major opera houses throughout Europe and the United States. In 1960 he joined the roster at the Metropolitan Opera where he spent most of his time through 1978. Opera News commented that while his voice may have "lacked the sheer beauty [of other baritones], his performances had an Italianate urgency and forthright thrust that were unique, which established himself as a powerful, striking presence."
Louis Mélançon
(1901-1974) was the in-house
photographer
for the Metropolitan Opera from 1947 to his death in 1974.