Gina Cigna

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Gina Cigna (born March 6, 1900 in Paris , † June 26, 2001 in Milan ; born Genevieve Cigna ) was an Italian - French opera singer ( soprano ) and singing teacher.

Life

Education, career start and breakthrough

Cigna was born in Paris to a father of Italian origin. She first turned to the piano and studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Alfred Cortot . In 1923 she married the tenor Maurice Sens , who discovered her extraordinary voice. She then took singing lessons with Emma Calvé , Hariclea Darclée and Rosina Storchio . At first she tried her hand as a mezzo-soprano , but switched to soprano a little later.

She made her debut in 1927 at La Scala in Milan as Freia in Wagner's Rheingold . Here she performed under her married name Ginette Sens, but took the stage name Gina Cigna when she returned to La Scala two years later after engagements at other Italian opera houses to play Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni . This and the following role as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and the singer war on Wartburg helped her career to break through.

At the peak

In the next few years she showed her skills worldwide, including a. in Paris, New York City , Berlin , Vienna and Chicago , as well as in the major opera houses in Italy. She had important appearances in 1935 in the opera Norma in Bellini's native Catania on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death and in Aida in the Royal Opera House Covent Garden on May 12, 1937 , the coronation day of the British King George VI. The latter caused displeasure among some listeners, as they would have preferred to see the Englishwoman Eva Turner on stage.

Performances in operas by Giacomo Puccini took up the majority of her career: all in all, Cigna was seen around five hundred times in Turandot and around four hundred times in Tosca . She sang in two world premieres: one in Respighi's La fiamma in 1934 , and the other in Panizza's opera Bizancio in 1939 .

Moving away from the stage and final years

She had to end her career unexpectedly in 1947 when she suffered a heart attack as a result of a car accident. She then worked as a singing teacher; her students included Fiorenza Cossotto and Gena Dimitrova . She died at the age of 101 in Milan in 2001.

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personal data
SURNAME Cigna, Gina
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cigna, Genevieve (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-French opera singer (soprano) and singing teacher
DATE OF BIRTH March 6, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH June 26, 2001
Place of death Milan