Giulietta Simionato was an Italian mezzo-soprano. Her career spanned the period from the 1930s until her retirement in 1966.
Fiorenza Cossotto is an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano.
Ghena Dimitrova was a Bulgarian operatic soprano. Her voice was known for its power and extension used in operatic roles such as Turandot in a career spanning four decades.
Hariclea Darclée was a celebrated Romanian operatic spinto soprano of Greek descent who had a three-decade-long career.
Mirella Parutto is an Italian operatic soprano and later mezzo-soprano.
Viorica Cortez is a noted Romanian-born mezzo-soprano, later French by naturalisation. Starting her operatic and concert career in the mid-1960s, she went on to become one of the most prominent female performers of the '70s and '80s. An example of professional longevity, she is present on some of the most prestigious European opera scenes.
Miriam Pirazzini was an Italian mezzo-soprano and occasionally soprano. She made her formal debut in Rome, in 1944, as Laura Adorno in La Gioconda. For the next twenty years, she was one of Italy's foremost mezzo-sopranos.
Gianna Pederzini was an Italian mezzo-soprano.
Eugenia Tadolini was an Italian operatic soprano. Admired for the beauty of her voice and stage presence, she was one of Donizetti's favourite singers. During her career she created over 20 leading roles, including the title roles in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix and Maria di Rohan and Verdi's Alzira. She was born in Forlì and studied music there and in Bologna before making her debut in Florence in 1828. She sang in all of Italy's leading opera houses, as well as in Paris, Vienna, and London before retiring from the stage in 1852. She spent her remaining years first in Naples, where she had been the Teatro San Carlo's reigning prima donna for many years, and then in Paris, where she died of typhoid fever at the age of 63. From 1827 to 1834, she was married to the Italian composer and singing teacher, Giovanni Tadolini.
Giulia Novelli was an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano.
Giuseppina Pasqua was an Italian opera singer who performed throughout Italy and Europe from the late 1860s through the early 1900s. She began her career as a soprano when she was only 13, but later retrained her voice as a mezzo-soprano. She sang in several world premieres, but is most remembered today for having created the role of Mistress Quickly in Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff. The composer wrote the role specifically for her and dedicated the act 2 aria "Giunta all' albergo" to Pasqua. She was married to the baritone Astorre Giacomelli.
Maria Capuana was an Italian mezzo-soprano who had a major international opera career during the first half of the 20th century. She possessed a voice with a dark timbre that she used with great expression.
Maria Spezia-Aldighieri (1828–1907) was an Italian operatic soprano who had an active international career from 1849 up into the 1870s. She excelled in the coloratura soprano repertoire and was particularly admired for her portrayals in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi. Her performance of Violetta in Verdi's La traviata at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice in 1854 is credited with popularizing the opera after it had initially flopped at its premiere in 1853. She was married to baritone Gottardo Aldighieri and is the great grandmother of singer George Aaron.
Ada Adini was an American operatic soprano who had an active international career from 1876 up into the first decade of the 20th century. She possessed a large, expressive voice which enabled her to sing a broad range of roles that extended from the coloratura soprano repertoire to dramatic soprano parts. She made five recordings with Fonotipia Records in Paris in 1905.
Jadranka Jovanović is a Serbian operatic mezzo-soprano who has an active career natively and internationally. Associated with the National Theatre in Belgrade, she has also been a member of the National Assembly of Serbia since 2016.
Corrado Miraglia was an Italian operatic tenor and in his later years a voice teacher and theatrical agent. He is best known today for having created the role of Ismaele in Verdi's opera Nabucco, although he sang in the world premieres of several other lesser-known works. He was married to the opera singer Giuseppina Brambilla.
Adalgisa Giana was an Italian operatic soprano.
Armida Parsi-Pettinella (1868–1949) was an Italian mezzo-soprano who is remembered for her performances in Italy, especially from 1895 at La Scala, where she was repeatedly successful in the title role of Samson et Dalila until 1910. She also performed in Paris, Madrid, Buenos Aires and Monte-Carlo.
Adalgisa Gabbi was an Italian operatic soprano. After her 1875 debut in Lecco as Maria in Filippo Marchetti's Ruy Blas, she first made a name abroad, performing in Poland, Latin America, and London. It was not until the late 1880s that she established herself in Italy, performing in Turin, Naples, and in Milan, where she appeared in December 1889 at La Scala as Eva in the Italian premiere of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Fausta Labia was an Italian operatic soprano who was active mainly from 1892 to 1908. She made her debut in Naples in April 1892 as Valentine in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots. After engagements at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm (1893–95) and Lisbon (1896), she returned to Italy where she performed first in Turin, Rome and Bologna. Thereafter notable performances included the title role in Mascagni's Iris at La Fenice in Venice (1900) and Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre at Milan's La Scala (1901).
