Mafalda Salvatini
Mafalda Salvatini ( born October 17, 1886 in Baia, † June 13, 1971 in Lugano) was an Italian opera singer (soprano ).
Mafalda Salvatini was the daughter of an officer of the Neapolitan army. Orphaned at the age of four, she came to boarding schools in Portici and Paris. Showed early her musical talent and so she received vocal studies with Pauline Viardot -Garcia and Jean de Reszke. Later she studied in Germany with Julius Lieban.
Salvatini gave her debut in 1908 at the Berlin State Opera in the title role of Verdi's Aida with Enrico Caruso, who allegedly at the end she wore on stage, so she took her applause. They remained at this theater until 1914 and sang Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore, the and the title role in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. In 1912 she was a guest at the Bavarian State Opera and in 1913 she made her debut at the Paris Opera as Valentine in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots.
From 1914 to 1923 Salvatini was one of the singers at the German Opera House. She sang Amelia in Verdi's Masked Ball, the Marta d' Albert lowlands, the Myrtocle in which the dead eyes, the Rachel in Halévy's La Juive, Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, the Senta in The Flying Dutchman, the title role in Carmen and Puccini Tosca.
From 1924 to 1926 she was at the Berlin State Opera, where they could be heard in the title role of Puccini's Turandot, the Berlin premiere in 1926 took place under the direction of Bruno Walter. Then she returned to the German opera, and remained there until her retirement in 1932.
Outside Berlin guested Salvatini in 1922 and 1928 at the Vienna State Opera. She joined in 1927 and 1928 at the Semperoper in Dresden and had performances at the Opera House in Riga. In the Netherlands and Belgium gave guest performances.
As Mafalda Salvatini came to Berlin in 1908, she married Walter Gérard, a Berlin-based researchers and entrepreneurs of Huguenot origin, with whom she had two sons: Rolf Gérard ( 1909-2011 ) and Horst Gérard ( 1912-2008 ).
1933 married Salvatini the Lithuanian ambassador in Berlin Jurgis Šaulys ( 1879-1948 ). At the outbreak of World War II they moved to Lugano in Switzerland, where Mafalda Salvatini 1971 died at the age of 84 years.