Fernando Corena was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on 22/12/1916 to an Italian mother and a Turkish father. He turned his attention to music after winning a vocal contest. He first studied voice in Geneva (1937-38) and then in Milan under Enrico Romani. After his Milan debut, he sang at the Swiss Radio and the Municipal Theatre in Zurich. During WWII he returned to Switzerland (1939-45). After the war, he made his official professional debut in Trieste as Varlaam (Boris Godunov) and in Zurich as Dalant (Der fliegende Holländer) (1947). He later sang in opera houses in Italy, performing roles such as Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Escamillo (Carmen) and Scarpia (Tosca) at La Scala Milan and the Florence Maggio Musicale, (May Music Festival) (1948). He appeared at the Edinburgh Festival in the title role of Falstaff (1953), at the Metropolitan Opera New York as Leporello (Don Giovanni) (1954), etc. He collaborated for many years with the Metropolitan Opera of New York (1954-1978) and at the same time with the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera) (1963-81). His repertoire consisted mainly of Italian operas. He sang in premieres of several contemporary Italian works and was distinguished mainly as baritone in comic roles. He also interpreted the following roles: Benoit (La bohème), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Dr. Dulcamara (L'elisir d'amore), Don Bartolo in the operas Le nozze di Figaro and Il barbiere di Siviglia, etc. His final appearance (723rd) was in 1978 at the MET in the title role of Don Pasquale. He has recorded a series of operas. He died in Lugano, Switzerland, on 26/11/1984. He appeared once in a GNO production, as Fra Melitone in La forza del destino (Odeοn of Herodes Atticus, 1970). // Last update of the biography: November 2020 - The list of the productions below is complete.