Erminia Frezzolini

Erminia Frezzolini, lithograph by Josef Kriehuber , 1840

Erminia Frezzolini , also Erminia Frezzolini-Poggi (born March 27, 1818 in Orvieto , Italy , † November 5, 1884 in Paris ) was one of the most important Italian opera singers ( coloratura soprano ) of the 19th century.

Life

She was the daughter of Teresa Basiglio and Giuseppe Frezzolini . She received her first singing training from her father, later she learned from Manuel García the Elder. J. , Nencia Domenico Ronconi and Nicola Tacchinardi .

Erminia Frezzolini made her operatic debut in 1838 at the Teatro del Cocomero in Florence in the title role of Vincenzo Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda . With this role she was very successful and sang it in the next few years at nine different theaters, in Reggio Emilia , Pisa , Perugia , Bologna (1839), Turin , Vienna , Brescia (1840), Modena (1841) and most recently in 1847 in Genoa . Other important roles in Frezzolini's repertoire were the prima donna roles in Bellini's La straniera , in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , Anna Bolena and Gemma di Vergy , and in Elena da Feltre by Saverio Mercadante .

She was at La Scala in Milan for the first time in the 1839-40 season, where she sang in the world premiere of Mercadante's Le due illustri rivali alongside Teresa Brambilla and Napoleone Moriani , and later in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia . After a pregnancy, she went to the Queen's Theater in London in the spring of 1842 and then returned to La Scala, where she sang Giselda in the world premiere of Verdi's opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata on February 1, 1843 . Verdi also composed the virtuoso title role for her in Giovanna d'Arco , which was also premiered at La Scala in Milan on February 15, 1845.

Frezzolini celebrated further triumphs from 1846–47 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples as the first Camilla in Mercadante's Orazi e Curiazi ( premiere on November 10, 1846), as well as in La regina di Cipro by Giovanni Pacini and as Bellini's Norma .

An international career followed with appearances in Saint Petersburg (1847–48), London and Madrid (1850–51). From 1853 to 1857 she had an engagement at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris , where she sang Leonora in the French premiere of Verdi's Il trovatore in 1854 and Gilda in Rigoletto in 1857 . In 1858 and 1859 she was twice in the United States , where she gave concerts at the New York Academy of Music and performed at the Winter Garden Theater. In between she returned to Europe to sing the title role in Friedrich von Flotow's Martha in Paris .

Her voice began to decline from 1860, but she continued to sing in the opera and appeared in Paris in Verdi's Lombardi in 1863 and in Genoa and Milan as Amina in La sonnambula in 1864 .

Since the Frezzolini could not handle money, they got into trouble and were still forced to perform. Verdi tried to help her in Naples in 1868 with a concert that raised about 8,000 lire in her favor. The Frezzolini continued to give concerts until 1871 and then withdrew into private life.

She then gave singing lessons in Paris, where she died impoverished on November 5, 1884.

Erminia Frezzolini was briefly engaged to Otto Nicolai in 1840 and, after the engagement was dissolved, from 1841–1846 married to the Italian tenor Antonio Poggi . She later married a Doctor Vigoureux.

The street Via Erminia Frezzolini in Rome is named after her.

literature

KJ Kutsch , Leo Riemens : Large singer lexicon . Unchanged edition. First volume: A – L. K. G. Saur, Bern 1993, ISBN 3-907820-70-3 , p. 999.
Roberto Staccioli: Frezzolini, Erminia. In: Fiorella Bartoccini (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 50: Francesco I Sforza-Gabbi. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1998.

Web links

Frezzolini Erminia at Operissimo on the basis of the Great Singer Lexicon

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Frezzolini Erminia at Operissimo on the basis of the Great Singer Lexicon
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Roberto Staccioli: Frezzolini, Erminia. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani . Volume 50, 1998 (Italian; treccani.it [accessed June 20, 2020]).
↑ P. 21 and 31 in the CD booklet for the complete recording with Nelly Miricioiu , Alastair Miles u. a., Philharmonia Orchestra London under David Parry , 1993, Opera Rara: ORC 12.

personal data
SURNAME	Frezzolini, Erminia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Frezzolini-Poggi, Erminia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Italian opera singer (soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH	March 27, 1818
PLACE OF BIRTH	Orvieto , Italy
DATE OF DEATH	November 5, 1884
Place of death	Paris

[operissimo-1] Frezzolini Erminia at Operissimo on the basis of the Great Singer Lexicon

[Staccioli-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Roberto Staccioli: Frezzolini, Erminia. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani . Volume 50, 1998 (Italian; treccani.it [accessed June 20, 2020]).

[3] P. 21 and 31 in the CD booklet for the complete recording with Nelly Miricioiu , Alastair Miles u. a., Philharmonia Orchestra London under David Parry , 1993, Opera Rara: ORC 12.