In the days before there were “Kings”, Franco Corelli was hailed “The Prince of Tenors”. There were good reasons for this epithet – he possessed a dazzling clear timbre, a powerful spinto voice capable of spinning the finest and longest diminuendo on a top Bb, (just check out his Ah, leve toi soleil! from Roméo et Juliette) or listen to his Bb morendo on the last note of Celeste Aïda). These  remain unsurpassed. His charismatic, passionate stage presence, and equally stunning movie star good looks, made him a much sought after leading man and one of the most celebrated tenors of his time.

According to himself, Corelli learnt his craft by listening to recordings and imitating the style and effects of the great tenors who proceeded him, such as Caruso, Gigli, Lauri-Volpi and Pertile. He claimed not to have had many voice teachers, and only to have had occasional lessons with Arturo Melocchi who was an exponent of the lowered larynx technique and by the way, also the star tenor Mario Del Monaco’s teacher.

He is said to have observed Del Monaco first hand very carefully, and to have modified the lowered larynx technique to enable himself to let his larynx ‘float’ thus giving him far more flexibility of subtle expression with his voice.

During the years between 1961-1975, he had a long and fruitful career at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as well as singing in the major opera houses of Europe. Many of his extensive recordings, especially the live recordings, belong to the opera collectors must have list. After his retirement from the stage, he became a popular voice teacher in New York.

Franco Corelli recollected that he met the love of his life, Loretta de Lelio during a rehearsal of Adriana Lecouvreur in 1952 when he was singing the role of Maurizo, and she the minor soprano role of Mademoiselle Jouventot. Loretta was a great stabilising factor, a coach and support to his career, and life. Unlike him, Loretta grew up in the opera world with her father being the renowned bass Umberto di Lelio.  This family vocation gave her the insight and understanding of the inner machinations of the business which helped him negotiate his career.