One day after Franco Corelli's passing, Franco Bonisolli, another Tenor,
who often elicited spirited comparisons between the two, also passed.

Corelli was loved for his passion and verve. Bonisolli was considered more traditional, and "correct".

Corelli is of course more well known to Americans because his two decade career at the New York Met, whereas Bonisolli spent his career mostly in Europe, particularly at the Vienna State Opera.
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FRANCO BONISOLLI, 65, LEADING TENOR WITH VIENNA STATE OPERA

From Times Wire Reports
October 31, 2003

Franco Bonisolli, an Italian tenor who performed with the Vienna State Opera for decades, has died at the age of 65, the opera house said Thursday.

Bonisolli died during the night, opera spokeswoman Margarete Arnold said. She did not identify the cause of death or say where he died.

Bonisolli made his opera debut as Ruggero in Puccini's "La Rondine" at Italy's Spoleto Festival in 1962, later singing the part of the Prince in Prokofiev's "The Love for Three Oranges."

His debut with the Vienna State Opera came in 1968, and he eventually performed with top opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, where he made his debut in 1970. He appeared in 25 performances at the Met over the next two decades.

He performed at the Vienna State Opera for the last time in 2000 as Manrico in "Il Trovatore," the opera house said.

Bonisolli was born May 25, 1938, in the northern Italian city of Rovereto.

Franco Bonisolli, 65; Leading Tenor With Vienna State Opera
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-passings31.1oct31,1,4932525.story
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Franco Bonisolli
25 May 1938 - 30 Oct 2003
Written by Joern H Anthonisen

Bonisolli's was a beautiful commanding voice, richly sounding and deep, with the required power and thrust, and yet with comfortable high notes. His repertory proves a versatile tenor with performances and recordings equally in the bel canto repertory as in the dramatic tenor repertory.

Italian tenor Franco Bonisolli was born in Rovereto, Italy, on 25 May 1938, and commenced his vocal studies under the tenor Alfredo Laretto. In 1961 he won the International Song Contest at Spoleto and made his professional debut shortly after as Ruggiero in Puccini's La Rondine at the Teatro Nuovo of Spoleto in 1962. In 1963, after his Alfredo at the Festival of Spoleto, he was invited by the composer Gian Carlo Menotti to sing the Prince in Prokofiev's "L'Amour des trois oranges," yet again in Spoleto, which helped forwarding his career and he soon apppeared in roles such as Nemorino of 'Elisir d'amore, Rodolfo in La Bohème, the duke in Rigoletto, Des Grieux in Manon, Offenbach's Hoffmann, Giacomo in 'La Donna del Lago (Rossini) and Cleomene in Rossini's 'L'Assedio di Corinto, this latter part to much success at his La Scala debut in 1969.

By the turn of the new decade he had also become a member of the Vienna State Opera (1968), starred at the San Francisco Opera in 1969 and then he debuted at the Met as Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) in 1971 with subsequent performances as Faust (Gounod), the duke in Rigoletto and La Traviata's Alfredo, although his American debut had been at the Dallas Civic Opera in November 1965, where he sang the role of Alfredo in La Traviata, to Montserrat Caballé's Violetta. From New York he travelled to opera houses in Bordeaux, Lyon, Toulouse, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Hamburg and Bruxelles.

In 1974 he was successful at the Opera of Paris in Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani and towards the 80's there was a gradual change of repertory with Bonisolli's successful approach to the more taxing Verdian tenors as Manrico in Il Trovatore and Alvaro in La Forza del Destino. He eventually also assumed the role of Otello and Giordano's Andrea Chenier, both of which he recorded, as well as a fine Canio in Pagliacci (recorded for HMV).

During the 80's he made apperances in Monte Carlo (Faust, Gounod 1981) at the Berlin Opera (La Fanciulla del West, 1982), the festivals of Verona (Il Trovatore, 1985; La Gioconda 1986; Aida and Turandot 1988-89), and he made his Covent Garden debut as Calaf (Turandot) in 1987.

During the 90's performances have been less frequent but Bonisolli still performs into his 60's (Fedora and Il Trovatore at the Staatsoper in Vienna October 1999 and February 2000 respectively). He passed away on 30 October 2003 at only 65 years of age.

Grandi Tenori.com: Franco Bonisolli
http://www.grandi-tenori.com/tenors/bonisolli.php