Luisa Villani (1884, San Francisco - 1961, Milan) was an Italian operatic soprano of American birth. She is best remembered for creating the role of Fiora in the world premiere of Italo Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re at La Scala in 1913.
Luisa Villani (1884, San Francisco - 1961, Milan) was an Italian operatic soprano of American birth. She is best remembered for creating the role of Fiora in the world premiere of Italo Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re at La Scala in 1913.
Born in San Francisco, California, Villani was the daughter of Italian opera singers Giuseppina Zeppilli and Vincenzo Villani who were on a North American concert tour when she was born. [1] Her grandfather was the Italian tenor Giuseppe Villani who had notably created the role of Peri in the world premiere of Antônio Carlos Gomes's Il Guarany at La Scala in 1870. [1] Her father was a baritone and her uncles were also opera singers; the baritone Giuseppe Villani and the bass Roberto Villani. Roberto Villani was the father of soprano Renata Villani and the husband of opera singer Maria Santoliva-Villani. [1] Luisa's mother, a contralto, was the aunt of the famous soprano Alice Zeppilli. [1]
Villani moved with her parents to Milan, Italy at a young age, and was trained in that city by her father. [2] She made her professional opera debut in 1907 at La Scala as Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice opposite Maria Gay in the role of Orfeo. [1] [2] She next appeared at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome in the roles of Desdemona in Giuseppe Verdi's Otello and Eva in Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg . [2] [1]
In 1909 Villani joined the roster of singers of Ivan Abramson's short lived New York City based Italian Grand Opera Company who were engaged for the Fall 1909 opera season at the Academy of Music under the management of Antonio Ferrara. [3] [4] She arrived in the United States on the SS La Lorraine on March 21, 1909 [4] Villani performed two leading roles in the Italian Grand Opera's season at the Academy of Music in September 1909: Mimi in Puccini's La bohème and Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly . [3] On February 8, 1910, she portrayed the title role in the United States premiere of William Legrand Howland's Sarrona, or, The Indian Slave at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway. [5]
Villani toured North America with both the Bessie Abott Opera Company in 1910 and Henry Wilson Savage's opera company in 1911. [1] With the latter company she notably performed the role of Minnie in the first English language production of Giacomo Puccini's La fanciulla del West at the Poll's Theater in Bridgeport, Connecticut on October 27, 1911. [6] She also performed at the Teatro Arbeu in Mexico City as Mimi in Puccini's La bohème in 1910, [7] and appeared with the Boston Opera Company as Leonora in Il trovatore in November 1910 with Carlo Galeffi as the Count di Luna. [8]
In 1913 Villani returned to Milan where she was once again committed to La Scala. There she created the role of Fiora in the world premiere of Italo Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re on April 10, 1913. She returned to the United States later that year to join the roster of artists at the Boston Opera Company where she was a resident artist until the company's demise in 1915. [9] [1] She also performed at her His Majesty's Theatre, Montreal as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana in 1913, [10] and at the Gran Teatro de La Habana in 1914. [1] In 1915 she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly . [1] She then joined Max Rabinoff's Boston National Opera for performances in 1915–1916 season; including going on tour with the company to Cleveland for performances of the role of Maddalena di Coigny in Andrea Chénier . [11] She continued performing and touring with Rabinoff's Boston company in 1917; notably portraying the title role in Aida at the Lyric Theatre in Baltimore with company in January 1917 with Giovanni Zenatello as Rhademes. [12] In 1917 she also starred in multiple opera productions staged at Columbia University, including portraying the title role in Tosca . [13]
In 1918 Villani returned to Italy where she continued to perform. She also had a second career as a voice teacher in Florence before living her final years at the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti in Milan where she died in 1961. [1]
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
Renata Scotto was an Italian soprano, opera director, and voice teacher. Recognised for her sense of style, her musicality, and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered to have been one of the preeminent opera singers of her generation.
Mirella Freni, OMRI was an Italian operatic soprano who had a career of 50 years and appeared at major international opera houses. She received international attention at the Glyndebourne Festival, where she appeared as Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni and as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore.
Hariclea Darclée was a celebrated Romanian operatic spinto soprano of Greek descent who had a three-decade-long career.
Rosa Raisa was a Polish-born and Italian-trained Russian and Jewish operatic dramatic soprano who became a naturalized American. She possessed a voice of remarkable power and was the creator of the title role of Puccini's last opera, Turandot, at La Scala, Milan.
L'amore dei tre re is an opera in three acts by Italo Montemezzi. Its Italian-language libretto was written by playwright Sem Benelli who based it on his play of the same title.
Rosina Storchio was an Italian lyric coloratura soprano who starred in the world premieres of operas by Puccini, Leoncavallo, Mascagni and Giordano.
Carmen Melis was an Italian operatic soprano who had a major international career during the first four decades of the 20th century. She was known, above all, as a verismo soprano, and was one of the most interesting singing actresses of the early 20th century. She made her debut in Novara in 1905 and her career rapidly developed in her native country over the next four years. From 1909 to 1916 she performed with important opera companies in the United States; after which she was busy performing at many of Europe's most important opera houses. From 1917 until her retirement from the stage in 1935 she was particularly active at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome and at La Scala in Milan. After her singing career ended, she embarked on a second career as a voice teacher. Her most notable student was soprano Renata Tebaldi.
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Gabriella Tucci was an Italian operatic soprano who was particularly associated with the Italian repertory and performed at notable opera houses worldwide. She appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in 11 Verdi roles across 13 seasons, including Violetta in La traviata and Desdemona in Otello.
Ines Maria Ferraris was an Italian operatic soprano and pianist who sang for more than two decades at La Scala in addition to appearances on the international stage. Although popular in Italy, she had a particularly devoted fanbase throughout South America. A light lyric soprano with a pure and agile voice, Ferraris sang a wide repertoire that encompassed the verismo operas of Puccini, the Italian grand opera of Verdi, and the German operas of Richard Strauss. She is particularly remembered for portraying the role of Lisette in the world première of Puccini's La rondine in 1917.
Romilda Pantaleoni was an Italian dramatic soprano who had a prolific opera career in Italy during the 1870s and 1880s. She sang a wide repertoire that encompassed bel canto roles, Italian and French grand opera, verismo operas, and the German operas of Richard Wagner. She became particularly associated with the roles of Margherita in Boito's Mefistofele and the title role in Ponchielli's La Gioconda; two roles which she performed in opera houses throughout Italy. She is best remembered today for originating the roles of Desdemona in Giuseppe Verdi's Otello (1887) and Tigrana in Giacomo Puccini's Edgar (1889). Universally admired for her acting skills as well as her singing abilities, Pantaleoni was compared by several critics to the great Italian stage actress Eleonora Duse.
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Carolina White was an American operatic soprano who had an active performance career during the first three decades of the 20th century. After beginning her career as a concert soprano in Boston in 1905, she went to Europe where she established herself as a leading soprano in Italy and Switzerland, beginning at the Teatro di San Carlo in 1908. After appearing in major opera houses like La Scala and La Fenice, White left Europe in 1910 to join the roster of artists at the Chicago Grand Opera Company where she was a leading soprano through 1914. After this she was active primarily as a concert soprano up through 1922. She made several recordings for Columbia Records during the second decade of the 20th century.
Alice Zeppilli was a French operatic soprano of Italian heritage who had an active international singing career from 1901 to 1930. The pinnacle of her career was in the United States where she enjoyed great popularity between 1906 and 1914; particularly in the cities of Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia. She was popular in Monte Carlo where she performed frequently from 1904–19 and later worked as a singing teacher after her retirement from the stage. She made only one recording, a phonograph cylinder for Columbia Records consisting of the Gavotte from Jules Massenet's Manon and Olympia's Doll Aria from Jacques Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann.
Gemma Bosini was an Italian operatic soprano who had an active international performance career in 1909–1930. She is especially associated with the role of Alice Ford in Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff, a role which she performed more than 400 times on stage during her career. She is also remembered for being the first soprano to record the role of Mimì in Giacomo Puccini's La boheme in 1917. She also made complete recordings of Gounod's Faust and Lehar's The Merry Widow. After retiring from performance in 1930, she devoted herself to teaching singing and managing the career of her husband, baritone Mariano Stabile.
Olga Simzis was an operatic soprano who was active in the United States, Italy and Latin America from 1906 to 1941. She created the role of Ermyntrude in Pietro Mascagni's opera Isabeau in its world premiere conducted by the composer at the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires in 1911. She also sang the role of Gilda in some scenes of one of the first complete recordings of Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto, where she substituted the first-cast soprano Ayres Borghi-Zerni.
Virgilio Lazzari was an Italian operatic bass who had an active international performance career from 1908 to 1953. He had lengthy associations with the Chicago Civic Opera (1918–1932) and the Metropolitan Opera (1933–1950), and frequently performed at the Salzburg Festival during the 1930s. He appeared as a guest artist with opera houses internationally, including the Royal Opera House, the Teatro Colón, and the Teatro Carlo Felice among others.
Maria Carbone was an Italian operatic soprano. She created the lead female roles in two of Gian Francesco Malipiero's operas: the title role in Ecuba and Cleopatra in Antonio e Cleopatra.
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