Ebe Stignani

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Ebe Stignani (born July 11, 1903 in Naples , † October 5, 1974 in Imola ) was an Italian opera singer with the voices of mezzo-soprano and alto .

Life

Stignani studied singing with Agostino Roche at the San Pietro a Majella Conservatory in her native Naples. She completed her training in July 1924. The director of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples at the time heard her at a school concert at the Conservatory and engaged her. Her stage career began in the 1924/1925 season. She made her debut at the Teatro San Carlo in January 1925 as Amneris in the opera Aida by Giuseppe Verdi . Other roles in her first season in Naples were Maddalena in Rigoletto and Meg Page in Falstaff . Her debut in Naples was so successful that she was followed by Arturo Toscaninifor the season 1926/1927 was committed to the Milan Scala . In December 1925 Stignani sang Adalgisa in the opera Norma by Vincenzo Bellini at the Teatro Piccinni in Bari . In January 1926 engagements followed at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice , also as Adalgisa and as Amneris. In April 1926 she sang Azucena in Giuseppe Verdi's Il trovatore and Principessa di Bouillon in Adriana Lecouvreur by Francesco Cilea at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples .

In October 1926 Stignani sang for the first time at La Scala in Milan. She took on the alto part in a concert performance of the Ninth Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven under the musical direction of Arturo Toscanini. She made her operatic debut at La Scala in 1926 as Princess Eboli in Don Carlo by Giuseppe Verdi. Other professional games in their first season in Milan were Amneris and Laura in La Gioconda . She even took on two real soprano roles: Ännchen in Der Freischütz and Gutrune in Götterdämmerung , both in Italian. In November 1928 the Preziosilla followed in Giuseppe Verdi's La forza del destino , in January 1929 the Ortrud in Richard Wagner's romantic opera Lohengrin and in February 1929 the Cathos in Le Preziose Ridicole by Felice Lattuada .

Stignani also took part in several world premieres at La Scala in Milan: In May 1928 she sang the role of "blonde lady" ( Una donna bionda ) in the world premiere of the opera Fra Gherardo by Ildebrando Pizzetti . In February 1937, the world premiere of the opera Lucrezia by Ottorino Respighi with the small role of “La Voce” followed. In 1938, 1946, 1948 and 1952 she sang Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni . In the season 1938/1939 she sang the role of Rubria in the rarely performed opera Nerone by Arrigo Boito . She then sang regularly at La Scala until 1956, where she developed into the leading contralto of the house. In the 1956/57 season she sang the last role there, Ulrica in Giuseppe Verdi Un ballo in maschera .

She performed several times in the Arena di Verona . In 1930 she sang there Marina in Boris Godunov . Further appearances followed in 1935 as Adalgisa, as well as in 1938 and 1949. In the summer of 1937 she sang Amneris in Giuseppe Verdi's Aida in the Caracalla Baths in Rome , and in 1939 the title role in Carmen . In 1937 she sang the Fenena in Giuseppe Verdi's early opera Nabucco and La vestale by Gaspare Spontini at the Maggio Musicale in Florence . In 1940 she sang the virtuoso coloratura part of Arsace in Semiramide by Gioacchino Rossini .

Guest performances also took her to the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires (1927 Adalgisa and Hansel, 1933 Marfa and Preziosilla, 1953 Princess Eboli and Amneris), to the Covent Garden Opera in London (debut in 1937 as Amneris, 1939 Amneris and Azucena, 1952 Azucena and Adalgisa, 1955 Amneris, 1957 Adalgisa), the San Francisco Opera , as well as at the Glyndebourne and Edinburgh festivals. Stignani has also made several guest appearances at the Teatro San Carlos in Lisbon . In April 1948 she sang the Santuzza there, in March 1949 the Ulrica and in 1950 the Amneris, each side with Mario del Monaco . In 1951 Stignani made a guest appearance at the Teatro San Carlo in Paris as Ulrica. In the 1955/56 season she also sang Ulrica at the Lyric Opera in Chicago .

In 1958 she officially ended her career at the Drury Lane Theater in London in the role of Azucena. However, she then appeared again in three performances in Dublin as Amneris. She later lived secluded in Imola.

voice

In her generation, Stignani was considered to be one of the leading interpreters of the dramatic mezzo-soprano field, especially in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi. She designed these parts with “intensity and dramatic fire”. Her singing style has been described as "grandiose and haunting". Stignani had a vocal range that reached into the "upper registers of the alto voice".

Her alto voice was famous for its large volume and for its virtuoso vocal technique. In addition to the richness of the sound, the "richness of nuances of their expressiveness and their exemplary vocal technique" were praised.

The musical oeuvre of Ebe Stignani, passed down through radio recordings, live recordings and records, has been largely re-released on CD in recent years, partly in special historical documentations.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ebe Stignani Italian mezzo-soprano, 1903 - 1974 biography (English) at cantibile-subito
  2. ↑ STIGNANI, EBE biography at Naxos
  3. ^ Roger Flury: Pietro Mascagni: a bio-bibliography p. 51, excerpts from Google Books
  4. ^ Sabrina Cherubini: Arrigo Boito's opera "Nerone": a masterpiece of Italian music theater pp. 100 and 102, excerpts from Google Books
  5. ↑ Ebe Stignani-Mezzosoprano biography at OPERACLICK
  6. ^ Ebe Stignani-Amneris biography on Club CD
  7. ↑ Ebe Stignani Biography Desmond Shawe-Taylor: Short biography of Ebe Stignani
  8. ^ The German distribution of voices (part 2) Homepage of Miklós Klajn
  9. ↑ Karl J. Kutsch and Leo Riemens: Large singer lexicon . Third, expanded edition. Munich 1999. Volume 5: Seidemann-Zysset, pp. 3349/3350. ISBN 3-598-11419-2 , p. 3350
personal data
SURNAME Stignani, Ebe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian opera singer (mezzo-soprano, alto)
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Naples
DATE OF DEATH 5th October 1974
Place of death Imola