Alice Cucini
Encyclopedia
Alice Cucini was an Italian
contralto
who had a prolific opera
career in Europe
and South America
between 1891 and 1915. She was particularly associated with the role of Dalila in Camille Saint-Saëns
's Samson et Dalila, which she sang in numerous houses internationally. Among the first generation of musicians to be recorded, her voice is preserved on some of the very first Zonophone
records ever made (1900), some Pathé
recordings from 1902, and some HMV
recordings made in 1906 and 1910.
in Naples
as Lola in Cavalleria rusticana
, a role which she repeated later that year at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. She spent the next several years singing in performances throughout Italy, including productions in Trieste
, Milan
, Venice
, and Florence
. In 1897 she sang the role of Dalila in Camille Saint-Saëns
's Samson et Dalila at the Teatro Regio di Torino to great acclaim. Cucini became particularly associated with this role and portrayed in numerous productions throughout the next fourteen years, including the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
(1899), Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo (1900), Teatro Regio di Parma
(1902), Teatro Colón (1910), and a few performances of the role in Spain
.
In 1898 Cucini traveled to Russia
where she sang in several operas in Saint Petersburg
and portrayed the role of Gertrude in Ambroise Thomas
's Hamlet
in Odessa
. In 1901 and 1902 she sang at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires
and the Solís Theatre
in Montevideo
, notably portraying Amneris in Giuseppe Verdi
's Aida
and as Azucena in Verdi's Il Trovatore
. This was the beginning of a fruitful career in South America that lasted until 1910. In 1903 Cucini made an extensive tour of South America with lauded soprano Hariclea Darclée
. Over the next seven years she made frequent appearances in operas and concerts in major cities throughout South America. Her last season on that continent was in 1910 and was spent mainly at the Teatro Colón. That year she notably sang the title role in Gaspare Spontini
's La Vestale
and sang in the world premiere of Giocondo Fino's Il Battista along with Adelina Agostinelli and Giuseppe de Luca
.
After 1910, Cucini spent the remaining part of her career singing in major opera houses throughout Italy. During the final four years of her career, the only major opera house In Italy she did not appear in was La Scala
. She retired from the stage not too long after the outbreak of World War I
. She spent her last few years at a rest home for aged musicians that Verdi had donated to the city of Milan. She died there in 1949 after a long illness.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
contralto
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
who had a prolific opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
career in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
between 1891 and 1915. She was particularly associated with the role of Dalila in Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
's Samson et Dalila, which she sang in numerous houses internationally. Among the first generation of musicians to be recorded, her voice is preserved on some of the very first Zonophone
Zonophone
Zonophone, early on also rendered as Zon-O-Phone was a record label founded in 1899 in Camden, New Jersey by Frank Seaman. The Zonophone name was not that of the company, but was applied to the records and machines sold by Seaman from 1899-1900 to 1903...
records ever made (1900), some Pathé
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
recordings from 1902, and some HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
recordings made in 1906 and 1910.
Biography
Cucini made her professional opera debut in 1891 at the Teatro di San CarloTeatro di San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance...
in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
as Lola in Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana
Cavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro...
, a role which she repeated later that year at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. She spent the next several years singing in performances throughout Italy, including productions in Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, and Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. In 1897 she sang the role of Dalila in Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
's Samson et Dalila at the Teatro Regio di Torino to great acclaim. Cucini became particularly associated with this role and portrayed in numerous productions throughout the next fourteen years, including the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season....
(1899), Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo (1900), Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma is a famous 19th century opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy. The theatre was originally known as the Teatro Ducale....
(1902), Teatro Colón (1910), and a few performances of the role in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
In 1898 Cucini traveled to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
where she sang in several operas in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and portrayed the role of Gertrude in Ambroise Thomas
Ambroise Thomas
Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, best known for his operas Mignon and Hamlet and as Director of the Conservatoire de Paris from 1871 till his death.-Biography:"There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas."- Emmanuel Chabrier-Early life...
's Hamlet
Hamlet (opera)
Hamlet is an opéra in five acts by the French composer Ambroise Thomas, with a libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier based on a French adaptation by Alexandre Dumas, père and Paul Meurice of Shakespeare's play Hamlet.- Ophelia mania in Paris:...
in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
. In 1901 and 1902 she sang at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and the Solís Theatre
Solís Theatre
Solis Theatre is Uruguay's oldest theatre. It was built in 1856 and is currently owned by the government of Montevideo. It is located in Plaza Independencia ....
in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, notably portraying Amneris in Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
and as Azucena in Verdi's Il Trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
. This was the beginning of a fruitful career in South America that lasted until 1910. In 1903 Cucini made an extensive tour of South America with lauded soprano Hariclea Darclée
Hariclea Darclée
Hariclea Darclée was a celebrated Romanian operatic soprano. She possessed an agile, powerful, and beautiful voice that was wielded with a fine technique. An extremely beautiful woman, Darclée's stage presence was as elegant and refined as her singing...
. Over the next seven years she made frequent appearances in operas and concerts in major cities throughout South America. Her last season on that continent was in 1910 and was spent mainly at the Teatro Colón. That year she notably sang the title role in Gaspare Spontini
Gaspare Spontini
Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini was an Italian opera composer and conductor, extremely celebrated in his time, though largely forgotten after his death.-Biography:...
's La Vestale
La vestale
La vestale is an opera composed by Gaspare Spontini to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy. It was first performed at the Paris Opéra in Paris on December 15, 1807 and is regarded as Spontini's masterpiece...
and sang in the world premiere of Giocondo Fino's Il Battista along with Adelina Agostinelli and Giuseppe de Luca
Giuseppe de Luca
Giuseppe De Luca , was a famous Italian baritone who achieved his greatest triumphs at the New York Metropolitan Opera...
.
After 1910, Cucini spent the remaining part of her career singing in major opera houses throughout Italy. During the final four years of her career, the only major opera house In Italy she did not appear in was La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
. She retired from the stage not too long after the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. She spent her last few years at a rest home for aged musicians that Verdi had donated to the city of Milan. She died there in 1949 after a long illness.
Sources
- Biography of Alice Cucini on Operissimo.com (in German). Accessed March 4, 2009.