Ruggero Raimondi, Beau Joueur‪.‬

Considered by many the greatest basso cantante of his generation, Ruggero Raimondi has often been called the "Italian Chaliapin." Born in Bologna in 1941, he has sung in all the world's major opera houses, making his professional debut in 1964 at the Rome Opera in Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani. Raimondi's 32-year career has been marked by a willingness to undertake roles both diverse and difficult. His repertoire - Figaro, Mephisto, Philippe ll in Don Carlos, Don Quichotte, Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra, Basilio or Attila, the Count in The Marriage of Figaro, or Falstaff. And then there is his much acclaimed Boris Godunov - filmed in 1989 by Andrzej Zulawski.