Gianni Raimondi (17 April 1923 – 19 October 2008) was an Italian lyric tenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.\r Born in Bologna, Raimondi studied at the Music Conservatory of his native city with Antonio Melandri, and Gennaro Barra-Caracciolo and in Mantua with Ettore Campogalliani. He made his stage debut in 1947 in Rigoletto at the Teatro Consorziale in Budrio, a small town near Bologna. The following year he made his debut at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, as Ernesto in Donizetti's Don Pasquale.