Adelina Patti
Adelina Patti, actually Adela Juana Maria Patti ( born February 18, 1843 in Madrid, † September 27, 1919 in Craig- y-Nos, Wales ) was a Spanish opera singer (soprano ) of Italian descent. The artist was regarded as one of the great coloratura sopranos of her time.
Life
Adelina Patti, daughter of the Italian singer Salvatore Patti and Caterina Barili - Patti, was a student of her brother Maurice Strakosch. At the age of seven, she is said to have sung the most difficult arias flawlessly from memory. In 1852 she appeared in New York for the first time to the public. Her operatic debut in 1859 as Lucia in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor Gaetano, a game ( the enormous demands on the coloratura soprano strength ), which was the cornerstone of her meteoric career. Because of her clear voice and impressive range, she received the most important roles in operas by Vincenzo Bellini, Gioachino Rossini and Giuseppe Verdi.
The artist sang at numerous European stages, in South America, and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. For a season, the " opera diva " was hired to Russia and there heaped as " court singer " with enormous wealth. Her host European games Adelina Patti traveled in a specially -made private train with 50 suitcases, a menagerie of pets, as well as her private secretary and personal chef.
No singer got higher salaries; she was indisputably the " Superstar" of Italian opera in the second half of the 19th century. For its announced for November 1903 " definitive, final " tour of the U.S., they should have demanded for 60 concerts and will each receive $ 5,000 plus profit sharing within six months.
About Adelina Patti's role as Violetta in Verdi's La traviata, a critic wrote on March 28, 1866
"With Miss Patti in my opinion, should only ever be played the first act of ' La Traviata ', which counts up to now to the most wonderful flower of her crown. The first act is like a noise. She sings with a perfect brilliance, with a fresh voice, youthful exuberance and luxurious Fioritur; make the hall to the ballroom ... For as much grace, splendor and virtuosity enthusiasm can never be big enough "
Witnesses
Oscar Wilde put the Adelina Patti in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, a monument:
" My dear Basil, how do I know that? murmured Dorian Gray, sipping some pale-yellow wine from the delicate, gold-rimmed cup of Venetian glass and looking to boot extremely bored. I was at the opera. You should also go. I have been there Henry's sister, Lady Gwendolen met. We were in her box. She is very charming and the Patti sang divinely. "
Family
Even her two sisters Carlotta Patti (1835-1889) and Amelia Patti (1831-1915) were respected singers. Her brother Carlo Patti ( 1842-73 ) was a famous violinist and conductor, who was, inter alia, at the Opera of New Orleans, and later in New York and St. Louis.
Adelina Patti was married three times, most recently by Baron Olof Rudolf von Cederström. Your retirement years she spent in a castle in Wales. Her grave is at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Literature (selection )
- John F. cone: Adelina Patti. Queen of Hearts. Scolar Press, Portland, Or 1993, ISBN 1-85928-004-8.
- Michel Parouty: Verdi's masterpiece " La Traviata" ( " Verdi et La Traviata"). Scherz Verlag, Bern 2001, ISBN 3-502-15555-0 ( 1 CD).
- Emile Mario Vacano: The novel of Adelina Patti. Publisher KLIC & Spitzer, Vienna 1875.
Discography (selection)
- Adelina Patti - The Symposium Opera Collection Vol 14
- Adelina Patti and Victor Maurel