Longtime Chicago Lyric Opera Artistic Director Passes Away

This was first reported over the summer but his accomplishments should be duly noted. 

A brilliant, idiomatic interpreter of the Italian repertoire and the longtime artistic director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bartoletti was a beloved figure in the cultural life of his adopted city for more than a half-century. Educated in Italy, Bartoletti made his professional debut in Florence, leading Rigoletto at the Teatro Communale in 1953. He made his Lyric debut in 1956, stepping in for Tullio Serafin to conduct Il Trovatore with Jussi Björling, Ettore Bastianini, Herva Nelli and Claramae Turner. In his first Lyric season, Bartoletti also paced Renata Tebaldi as Tosca and Mimì and Eleanor Steber as Violetta.

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