Franco Corelli - Ch’ella mi creda (Cetra, 1955)

Dead Tenors’ Society devotes the month of April to Franco Corelli (1921-2003) in honor of his 100th birthday! This legendary artist was born in Ancona to a ship builder and his wife. There may have been a bit of musical pedigree in Corelli’s background. According to some sources, his grandfather, brother and two of his uncles all pursued singing careers with varying degrees of success. Although vocally gifted himself, young Corelli originally planned to follow in his father’s footsteps and studied naval engineering at the University of Bologna. While there, he entered a vocal competition at the urging of a friend. Although Corelli didn’t win, judges convinced him to enter the Pesaro Conservatory to pursue vocal studies. The academic approach to vocalism didn’t appeal to the young tenor and he soon withdrew from the conservatory. Although Corelli later studied briefly with Arturo Melocchi (the teacher of Mario del Monaco) and Giacomo Lauri Volpi, he was, for all practical purposes, a self-taught singer, an