The great Italian baritone, conductor and teacher, Claudio Desderi, passed away in Florence on Saturday 30 June. I was fortunate to have known him for nearly 30 years, and to have seen his masterly interpretations of Falstaff and Leporello. I will never forget my first experience of watching his inspirational master classes at the Scuola di Musica in Fiesole, preparing young Italian singers for the Mozart-Da Ponte Project. At that time I was working at the Britten-Pears School and we invited the whole company to Snape to perform the three operas; the cast included Patricia Ciofi, Umberto Chiummo and Maria Costanza Nocentini. This was the beginning of a long friendship and many happy times in his company. I feel privileged in recent years to have represented him for master classes and to have seen his continued dedication to young singers perfecting their craft. JOHN OWEN
Remembering Claudio Desderi 1943-2018
