Cesare Siepi was born in Milan on February 10th 1923. He was an Italian opera singer, considered one of the finest basses of the post-war period. A deep, warm timbre, a full, resonant, wide-ranging lower register, characterised his voice. Although renowned as a Verdian bass, his tall, striking presence and the elegance of phrasing made him a natural for the role of Don Giovanni. Siepi’s repertoire encompassed Italian and German opera. His voice was described as a basso cantante, a „singing bass“ with a higher range than other basses.

Born in Milan, he began singing as a member of a madrigal group at 14 and made his concert debut at 17. He often claimed to have been largely self-taught, having attended the music conservatory in his home city for a short time.

He made his stage debut as early as 1941 as Sparafucile in Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi at Schio, near Vicenza. After that, he fled to Switzerland in 1943 to avoid being conscripted by the Nazi occupying forces.

After the end of the war, his career immediately took off. Siepi resumed his career, singing Silva in Verdi’s Ernani at La Fenice in Venice. In 1946 he sang Zaccaria in Verdi’s Nabucco at the re-opening of La Scala, where he continued to sing for many years.

In 1947, Siepi sang in the first performance of Pizzetti’s L’oro and, the following year, took part in the 30-year memorial celebrations of the death of Arrigo Boito, singing the title role of the composer’s Mefistofele and Simon Mago in Nerone, conducted by Toscanini. In the same year, his international career took off. So, in 1947 he sang at the Liceu in Barcelona in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, but his reputation was established in 1950 when Sir Rudolf Bing brought him to the Metropolitan Opera in New York to open the 1950 season as King Philip II in Don Carlos. He remained principal bass at the Metropolitan Opera until 1974, adding roles such as Boris Godunov and Gurnemanz (Parsifal by Richard Wagner).

In 1953, Siepi debuted at the Salzburg Festival with a legendary production of Don Giovanni conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler, staged by Herbert Graf, and designed by Clemens Holzmeister. He made a huge impact in the opera title role, which perhaps became his best-known role. 

In 1962 Siepi sang Don Giovanni and Philip II at Covent Garden. His Don Giovanni was elegant and attractive as well as sinister and, occasionally, frightening, while as Philip, he expressed the authority of the King and the man’s loneliness in equal measure.

He was a frequent guest at the Vienna State Opera. In 43 performances, he sang Don Giovanni more often than any other singer in modern times (except Eberhard Wachter).

In 1967, Siepi was Don Giovanni in a controversially received production staged by Otto Schenk and designed by Luciano Damiani that showed Mozart’s masterpiece in the light of the commedia dell’arte, emphasizing the comic and ironic elements of this opera.

In Vienna, he also sang Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia by G.Rossini), Colline (La Bohème me by G.Puccini), Fiesc (Simon Boccanegra by G.Verdi), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro by W.A.Mozart), Padre Guardiano (La forza del destino by G.Verdi in 1947 in a new production conducted by Riccardo Muti), Gurnemanz (Parsifal by R.Wagner), Mephistopheles (Faust by C.Gound), Filippo II (Don Carlos by G.Verdi) and Ramphis (Aida by G.Verdi). His final performance in Vienna was in Norma (in the role of Oroveso) at the Austria Centre Vienna in 1994.

He was a particularly fine recital artist, especially in Community Concerts under Columbia Artist Management, and a sensitive interpreter of German Lieder. Siepi sang in 1986 at a recital at UCLA, where he performed pieces by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and others.

“He sings easily and tastefully with a voice that has become extinct. He is a true basso“, wrote Bernheimer in a review.

Siepi enjoyed a long career and performed regularly until the 1980s, including lead roles in the ill-fated Broadway musicals Bravo Giovanni! and Carmelina. 

Siepi’s formal farewell to the operatic stage occurred at the Teatro Carani in Sassuolo on April 21st, 1989.

He died in Atlanta, Georgia on July 5th, 2010.