Greatest Opera Singers in History

1. Enrico Caruso

Soundtrack | Match Point

Enrico Caruso (b. Errico Caruso) was born on February 25, 1873, in Naples, Italy. He was the third of seven children to a poor alcoholic father. He received little primary education and briefly studied music with conductor Vicenzo Lombardini. His early income was from singing serenades.

Caruso made ...

2. Beniamino Gigli

Soundtrack | The Skeleton Key

Beniamino Gigli was born in Recanati, Italy, on March 20, 1890, into a poor family. He possessed a fine singing voice and, after struggling to make a living for many years, he eventually made his operatic debut as a tenor on October 15, 1914, appearing in "La Giaconda" in Rovigo, Italy. Over the ...

3. Tito Schipa

Actor | Tre uomini in frak

Tito Schipa was born on December 27, 1888 in Lecce, Italy. He was an actor, known for I Sing for You Alone (1933), A Good Woman (2004) and Lorenzo's Oil (1992). He was married to Antoinette Michel and Diana Prandi. He died on December 16, 1965 in New York City, New York, USA.

4. Giacomo Lauri Volpi

Soundtrack | A Good Woman

Giacomo Lauri Volpi was born on December 11, 1892 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was an actor, known for A Good Woman (2004), Das Lied der Sonne (1933) and Il caimano del Piave (1951). He was married to Maria Asuncion Ros (opera singer). He died on March 17, 1979 in Valencia, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain.

5. Mario Del Monaco

Soundtrack | The Untouchables

Mario Del Monaco was born on July 27, 1915 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He was an actor, known for The Untouchables (1987), Wall Street (1987) and The Warrior's Way (2010). He was married to Rina Filippini. He died on October 16, 1982 in Mestre, Venice, Veneto, Italy.

6. Renata Tebaldi

Soundtrack | Moonstruck

Renata Tebaldi was and is surely one of the best Spinto soprano voices that any century has ever heard. She made her operatic debut, through bombed streets in 1944 in Mefistofele, as Elena. Then was hand picked for the reopening of La Scala, 46 by Toscanini. It was there that the legendary "Voice ...

7. Giuseppe Di Stefano

Soundtrack | L'immortel

Giuseppe Di Stefano was born on July 24, 1921 in Motta Sant'Anastasia, Sicily, Italy. He was an actor, known for 22 Bullets (2010), Goodfellas (1990) and Wall Street (1987). He was married to Maria Di Stefano (Girolami) and Monika Curth. He died on March 3, 2008 in Santa Maria Hoè, Lombardy, Italy.

8. Maria Callas

Soundtrack | Ghost in the Shell

This volatile opera diva was born Sophie Cecilia Kalos in New York City to Greek émigrés on December 2, 1923. Her father set up a pharmacy and changed the family name from Kalogeropoulos to Callas. As a child Maria studied the piano. When her parents separated (she was 14 at the time), her mother ...

9. Franco Corelli

Soundtrack | Angel Heart

Franco Corelli was born on April 8, 1921 in Ancona, Marche, Italy. He was an actor, known for Angel Heart (1987), The Immigrant (2013) and The Killing Fields (1984). He was married to Loretta Di Lelio. He died on October 29, 2003 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

10. Kirsten Flagstad

Soundtrack | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Born in Stranstuen, Hamar, Norway, Norwegian soprano Kisten Flagstad's father was a conductor, and her mother was a singing coach and pianist as well as her first teacher. Flagstad continued her studies in Oslo with Ellen Schyte-Jacobsen and in Stockholm with Dr. Gillis Bratt. While still a student...

11. Fritz Wunderlich

Soundtrack | Marathon Man

Fritz Wunderlich was born on September 26, 1930 in Kusel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He was an actor, known for Marathon Man (1976), Der Barbier von Sevilla (1959) and Opernführer (1965). He was married to Eva Wunderlich. He died on September 17, 1966 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

12. Sergei Lemeshev

Actor | Muzykalnaya istoriya

Sergey Lemeshev is a Soviet opera singer (lyric tenor), actor, director, teacher.

From a peasant family. Parents - Yakov Stepanovich and Akulina Sergeevna, were uneducated people. They had many children, but only two survived - Sergey and his younger brother Aleksey. His father died when Sergey was ...

13. Tito Gobbi

Soundtrack | Wall Street

Tito Gobbi was one of the greatest Italian baritones of the 20th century. His most memorable roles were Scarpia (in Puccini's Tosca) and Verdi's Falstaff, among dozens of Italian operas that he recorded. He was also one of the best actors among opera singers, a talent which enabled him to both act ...

14. Christa Ludwig

Soundtrack | Fatal Attraction

Christa Ludwig was born on March 16, 1928 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for Fatal Attraction (1987), La haine (1995) and Fidelio (1963). She was married to Paul-Emile Deiber and Walter Berry. She died on April 24, 2021 in Klosterneuburg, Austria.

15. Joan Sutherland

Actress | Live from the Metropolitan Opera

Joan Sutherland was born on November 7, 1926 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She was an actress, known for The Metropolitan Opera Presents (1977), Spectre (2015) and Carlito's Way (1993). She was married to Richard Bonynge. She died on October 10, 2010 in Montreux, Switzerland.

16. Ettore Bastianini

Soundtrack | Copycat

Ettore Bastianini was born on September 24, 1922 in Siena, Tuscany, Italy. He was an actor, known for Copycat (1995), The Warrior's Way (2010) and Playing with Fire (1975). He died on January 25, 1967 in Sirmione, Lombardy, Italy.

17. Birgit Nilsson

Soundtrack | Army of Thieves

Birgit Nilsson was born on May 17, 1918 in Västra Karup, Skåne län, Sweden. She was an actress, known for Army of Thieves (2021), Da 5 Bloods (2020) and Tristan und Isolde (1974). She was married to Bertil Niklasson. She died on December 25, 2005 in Västra Karup, Skåne län, Sweden.

18. Alfredo Kraus

Soundtrack | The Family Man

Alfredo Kraus was born on November 24, 1927 in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain. He was an actor, known for The Family Man (2000), Analyze This (1999) and Gayarre (1959). He was married to Rosa ?. He died on September 10, 1999 in Madrid, Spain.

19. Jussi Björling

Soundtrack | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Jussi Björling was born on February 2, 1911 in Stora Tuna, Dalarnas län, Sweden. He was an actor, known for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Atonement (2007) and Funny Games (2007). He was married to Anna-Lisa Berg. He died on September 9, 1960 in Siarö, Stockholms län, Sweden.

20. Victoria de los Ángeles

Soundtrack | Rat Race

Victoria de los Ángeles was born on November 1, 1923 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. She was an actress, known for Rat Race (2001), Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) and Atonement (2007). She was married to Enrique Magriñá Mir. She died on January 15, 2005 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

21. Licia Albanese

Actress | Otello

Licia Albanese was born on July 23, 1909 in Bari, Apulia, Italy. She was an actress, known for Otello (1948), Serenade (1956) and Great Performances (1971). She was married to Joseph A. Gimma. She died on August 15, 2014 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.

22. Lauritz Melchior

Soundtrack | The Lost City of Z

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1890, Lauritz Melchior was a prominent opera singer who was a latecomer to the silver screen. From the 1920s through the 1940s, he was a leading opera singer across Europe. From 1924-1939, he excelled in Wagnerian roles in Covent Garden at the Royal Opera House in ...

23. Cesare Siepi

Actor | Mozart's Don Giovanni

Cesare Siepi was born on February 14, 1923 in Milan, Italy. He was an actor, known for Mozart's Don Giovanni (1955), NBC Television Opera Theatre (1949) and Civilisation (1969). He was married to Louellen Sibley. He died on July 5, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

24. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

Soundtrack | Closer

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf was born on December 9, 1915 in Jarotschin, Prussia, Germany [now Jarocin, Wielkopolskie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Closer (2004), Der Rosenkavalier (1961) and Nacht ohne Abschied (1943). She was married to Walter Legge. She died on August 3, 2006 in Schruns, ...

25. Leontyne Price

Soundtrack | Romeo + Juliet

Leontyne Price was born on February 10, 1927 in Laurel, Mississippi, USA. She is an actress, known for Romeo + Juliet (1996), The Metropolitan Opera Presents (1977) and NBC Television Opera Theatre (1949). She was previously married to William Warfield.

26. Richard Tucker

27. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Soundtrack | Children of Men

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was born on May 28, 1925 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Children of Men (2006), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and The Marriage of Figaro (1976). He was married to Julia Varady, Christina Pugel-Schule, Ruth Leuwerik and Irmgard Poppen. He died on May 18, ...

28. Irina Arkhipova

Actress | Le trouvère

Irina Arkhipova was a mezzo-soprano in the great Russian tradition, best known as Carmen in the classical opera.

She was born Irina Konstantinova Arkhipova on December 2, 1925, in Moscow, Russia. Her father, Konstantin Ivanovich Vetoshkin, was a renown construction engineer in Moscow. Her mother, ...

29. Luciano Pavarotti

Soundtrack | Yes, Giorgio

Luciano Pavarotti was a best-selling classical singer and humanitarian known for his most original and popular performances with the 'Three Tenors' and 'Pavarotti & Friends'.

He was born on October 12, 1935, in Modena, Emilia-Romagna, in Northern Italy. He was the first child and only son of two ...

30. Plácido Domingo

Soundtrack | The Book of Life

Although born in Madrid, Spain, Placido Domingo spent a major portion of his life living in Mexico City where he graduated from the Mexico City Conservatory. His first operatic performance was in a staging of La Traviata in Monterrey playing Alfredo. He was then a Tenor for the Israel National ...

31. Julia Migenes

Actress | Carmen

Julia Migenes was born on March 13, 1949 in Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for Carmen (1984), No Way Out (1987) and Mack the Knife (1989).

32. Ruggero Raimondi

Actor | Carmen

Ruggero Raimondi was born on October 3, 1941 in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He is an actor, known for Carmen (1984), Boris Godounov (1989) and Don Giovanni (1979).