Rosa Ponselle

Rosa Ponselle 1919

Rosa Ponselle with the aria Casta Diva from the opera Norma by Vincenzo Bellini .

Rosa Ponselle (born January 22, 1897 in Meriden , Connecticut , † May 25, 1981 in Baltimore , Maryland , actually Rosa Melba Ponzillo ) was an American opera singer ( soprano ).

Life

Rosa Ponselle was born in 1897 to Italian immigrants. From 1915 Ponselle appeared together with her older sister Carmela (1892-1977) as the Ponzillo Sisters in New York cinemas and cabarets ( Vaudeville ). The impresario William Thorner gave Carmela Ponzillo singing lessons and also heard Rosa Ponselle sing. Thorner provided her with contacts to the Metropolitan Opera . Rosa Ponselle, with her flawless coloratura soprano, was one of the greatest vocal talents in opera history. The tenor Enrico Caruso discovered and promoted the young singer and brought her to the Metropolitan Opera, where she made a sensational debut on the opera stage alongside Caruso (as Leonore in La forza del destino by Giuseppe Verdi ) in 1918 . Her performance was a great success and made Ponselle famous overnight. From 1918 to 1937, Rosa Ponselle was part of the Met ensemble for 19 seasons in a row without ever appearing on other US stages. In 1937 she surprisingly ended her active career and taught singing in Baltimore. Rosa Ponselle is one of the most outstanding singers in all of opera history. Her extraordinary, lush voice ( coloratura soprano ) was rich in color, extremely balanced and effortless when changing registers. From 1919 to 1926 she sang other acclaimed roles. The most important roles in her repertoire of 23 roles included Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana , Rezia in Carl Maria von Weber's Oberon , Elisabetta in Verdi's Don Carlos and Mathilde in Rossini's Wilhelm Tell . In 1927 Ponselle played her best role: the title role in Vincenzo Bellini's Norma . Further roles were Ponchielli's Gioconda, Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Verdi's Aida, Elisabetta in Don Carlos, Elvira in Ernani, Leonore in Il Trovatore and Violetta in La Traviata.

From 1929 to 1931 Ponselle sang three seasons in London at Covent Garden in the Royal Opera House turn Norma , and the role of Violetta in La traviata . The performances in London were also great successes for Ponselle. In 1933 she gave her only guest appearance in Italy. At the Opera House in Florence she played Julia in La vestale by Gaspare Spontini .

In 1935 she sang her last role at the Met, the Carmen by Georges Bizet . Contrary to expectations, Ponselle received harsh reviews for this gig. In 1937 she completed one last tour with Carmen's ensemble and then withdrew from stage life. The year before, she had married the American industrialist Carle A. Jackson, from whom she divorced in 1949. Ponselle moved to Baltimore and in the late 1940s got a managerial position with the early Baltimore Civic Opera . There she gave singing lessons and her students included Beverly Sills , Sherrill Milnes , Plácido Domingo , Richard Cassilly and James Morris . In 1954 she recorded various of her major roles on records. In addition to classical music, Ponselle also sang American folk songs such as "My Old Kentucky Home" and "Carry me back to old virginny".

Discography (selection)

American Recordings Vol. 1: Rosa Ponselle , 2006
The Columbia R , 2006
Casta Diva , 2006
Ponselle: Operas and Songs , 1997
Prima Voce: Ponselle , 1992
Prima Voce: Rosa Ponselle Vol. 3 , 1996
Prima Voce: Rosa Ponselle Vol. 2 , 1995
Songs and Operettas 1918-1939 , 2002

literature

Rosa Ponselle, James A. Drake: A Singer's Life , Doubleday, 1982 (English)
James A. Drake: Rosa Ponselle: A Centenary Biography , Amadeus Press, 2003 (English)
Beverly Sills, Mary Jane Phillips-Matz: Rosa Ponselle: American Diva , Northeastern University Press, 1997 (English)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Ponselle, pink
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ponzillo, Rosa Melba (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American opera singer (soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH	January 22, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH	Meriden , Connecticut
DATE OF DEATH	May 25, 1981
Place of death	Baltimore , Maryland