One of Italy’s best-loved opera stars, Giulietta Simionato, died in Rome on Wednesday one week before her hundredth birthday.
Giulietta Simionato was born in Forlì [Emilia-Romagna] in 1910 and studied in Rome and Padua. In 1933 she won a Bel Canto competition in Florence and a La Scala audition followed. She joined La Scala in 1936 but, because her voice had not matured, was given secondary roles until 1947. In that year, she sang the title role in Ambroise Thomas’s Mignon in Genoa and became a star.
She became known for her wide vocal range and sang often at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was during a performance of Adriana Lecouvreur [Cilea] in Chicago that she famously fell on stage and broke her leg. A plaster cast was applied in the theatre and she finished the performance from a wheelchair.
Giulietta Simionato had an extensive recording career and was a close friend of Maria Callas. She retired from performing in 1966 but continued teaching and directing into her nineties.
La Scala told the Associated Press,
“Few 'family artists' have been so loved, and no book on the history of opera can consider itself complete without a chapter on her dazzling career".
Enjoy the following video - a tribute to Giulietta Simpionato:
Who is your favourite Italian opera singer?
