“Franco Zeffirelli, revered Italian director, dies aged 96”

[By:”Chris Wiegand”]

“Italian equally celebrated as director of films, theatre and opera over 60-year career

Franco Zeffirelli, one of Italy’s most revered artistic figures, has died at the age of 96.

In a career spanning more than 60 years, Zeffirelli was staggeringly prolific and equally celebrated as a director of films, theatre and opera. Several of his stage productions became successes on screen – most notably a vibrant version of Romeo and Juliet which starred a young Judi Dench at the Old Vic in London and led to an Oscar-winning box-office smash in the late 1960s.

Franco Zeffirelli – a life in pictures

Shakespeare inspired other hit movies for Zeffirelli: The Taming of the Shrew with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Hamlet with Mel Gibson and Glenn Close, and a film of Verdi’s Otello with Plácido Domingo. His lavish opera productions brought sensational performances by Joan Sutherland and Maria Callas; 25 years after the latter’s death he directed a biopic, Callas Forever, starring Fanny Ardant. His filmed operas reached large TV audiences and he was celebrated as a great populariser.(...)” (Lido em: CNN 2019-06-15)