Maria Spezia-Aldighieri
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Maria Spezia-Aldighieri | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Maria Spezia-Aldighieri | |
| Born | 1828 |
| Died | 1907 |
| Occupation | Italian operatic soprano |
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.
Life and career
Born Maria Spezia in
In 1854 Spezia-Aldighieri was invited by Verdi to portray the role of Violetta in , Verdi named Spezia Aldighieri as an ideal performer for the role of Cordelia.
In 1855–1856 Spezia-Aldighieri was committed to the
In 1861 Spezia-Aldighieri portrayed Abigaille opposite her husband in the title role of Verdi's Nabucco at both La Scala and the Teatro di San Carlo. In 1862 she sang Amelia to her husband's Renato in the Naples premiere of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. That same year she created roles in the world premieres of Vincenzo Moscuzza's Don Carlo (Elisabetta di Valois) and Enrico Bevignani's Caterina Blum at the Teatro di San Carlo. One of her last performances was at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in 1872 in the title role of Bellini's Norma. Some of the other roles she sang on stage were Amalia in I masnadieri, Desdemona in Otello, Gilda in Rigoletto, Giselda and Viclinda in Verdi's I Lombardi alla prima crociata, Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth, Lucrezia in Verdi's I due Foscari, Maria in Carlo Pedrotti's Mazeppa, and the title roles in Donizetti's Anna Bolena and Gemma di Vergy, Achille Peri's Giuditta, Verdi's Luisa Miller, and Pedrotti's Marion de Lorme.
She died in Colognola ai Colli in 1907.
