Baritone Renato Bruson Receives the Verga Prize for 2024

The prize celebrates an artist who has furthered the work of the writer Giovanni Verga

Each year, the Verga Prize is awarded to artists associated with the work of the nineteenth-century Sicilian writer Giovanni Verga. The prize's 2024 edition has been awarded to the Italian baritone Renato Bruson.

Throughout his career, the 88-year-old baritone singer has been closely associated with the role of Alfio in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, which has a libretto written by Verga.

Born in Padua in 1936, Renato Bruson first learned to sing at the conservatory there as a child, and pursued a career in music despite a marked lack of support from his family. He made his debut in Verdi's Il Trovatore at the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale in Spoleto in 1960.

Bruson is particularly associated with the title roles in Rigoletto, Macbeth, and Don Giovanni, but has also appeared as Renato in Un ballo in maschera, Antonio in Linda di Chamonix, and Ezio in Attila. In 1978 he received the coveted title of Kammersänger from the Vienna State Opera.

The Verga prize is awarded by the Municipality of Parma, the Verga 100 Organization and Festival Verghiano, in collaboration with Dreamworld Pictures. Bruson will soon receive the honor in an award ceremony at Parma's Teatro Regio.

Previous recipients of the prize include the renowned tenor Plácido Domingo, for his singing the role of Turiddu (also in Cavalleria Rusticana).