Nicola Filacuridi (Greek: Νικόλαος Φυλακουρίδης,Nikólaos Phylakourídēs) (Alexandria 1 June 1920 –Sydney 12 February 2009) was anEgyptian-born operatictenor ofGreek origin, who had an illustrious career in Italy in the 1950s.
Filacuridi was born inAlexandria,Egypt into a family of Greek origin. He first studied in his native city withEttore Cordone and made his debut at theCairo Opera in 1945, as Turiddu inCavalleria rusticana. Shortly after this, he left for Italy to continue his studies withFederico Del Cupolo.
He made his Italian stage debut inSavona, asAlfredo, in 1949. The following year, he appeared at theRome Opera as Maurizio inAdriana Lecouvreur. He then sang at all the major opera houses of Italy, Trieste, Venice, Parma, Turin, Florence, Naples, etc. He made hisLa Scala debut in 1953, in a contemporary workLeonore 40/45 byRolf Liebermann, and took part in the premiere of theDialogues of the Carmelites in 1957. He also sang inPaul Hindemith'sMathis der Maler in 1958. Throughout the 1950s he was very active singing on Italian radio and television (RAI) appearing notably in productions ofLucia di Lammermoor, oppositeAnna Moffo,La traviata, oppositeRosanna Carteri andCarlo Tagliabue,Adriana Lecouvreur, oppositeMarcella Pobbé andFedora Barbieri, andUn ballo in maschera, again with Pobbé.
In 1954 he starred in the role of Pinkerton in the film adaptation ofMadama Butterfly directed byCarmine Gallone and shot on location inItaly. According to the information regarding this film version, although Filacurudi acted the role of Pinkerton, it was actually sung by another Italian tenor,Giuseppe Campora.
He also began making guest appearances outside Italy, notably at theMonte Carlo Opera, atLa Monnaie in Brussels, theVienna State Opera, theRoyal Opera House in London, and the festivals ofAix-en-Provence andGlyndebourne. He also appeared in Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, theDallas Opera oppositeMaria Callas and theSydney Opera House.
In 1964 Filacuridi decided to retire from the stage and move with his family in Australia. His last appearances on that year were at a production ofCarmen of theElizabethan Theatre Trust Opera Company and later inNew Zealand where he interpreted again the character of Pinkerton inMadama Butterfly.
After quitting the stage, Filacuridi embarked in a new and very successful career as a real estate agent in Australia.
Filacuridi sang a wide range of roles in operas such as;Rigoletto,Un ballo in maschera,La bohème,Tosca,Les contes d'Hoffmann,Louise,Werther,Idomeneo, andLohengrin. He also created roles in contemporary works such asIl cappello di paglia di Firenze byNino Rota andLa Guerra byRenzo Rossellini. He sang some 65 roles throughout his career.
