Amelita Galli-Curci
Encyclopedia
Amelita Galli-Curci was an Italian
opera
tic soprano
. She was one of the best-known coloratura
singers of the early 20th century with her gramophone
records selling in large numbers.
, where she studied piano at the Milan Conservatory
, winning a gold medal and at the age of 16 was offered a position as a "professor" or teacher there. She was inspired to sing by her grandmother. Operatic composer Pietro Mascagni
also encouraged Galli-Curci's musical ambitions. By her own choice, Galli-Curci's voice was largely self-trained. She honed her technique by listening to other sopranos, reading old singing-method books, and doing piano exercises with her voice instead of using a keyboard.
, as Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi
's Rigoletto
, and she rapidly became acclaimed throughout Italy for the sweetness and agility of her voice and her captivating musical interpretations. She was seen by many critics as an antidote to the host of squally, verismo
-orientated sopranos then populating Italian opera houses.
The soprano had toured widely in Europe (including appearances in Russia in 1914) and South America. In 1915, she sang two performances of Lucia di Lammermoor
with Enrico Caruso in Buenos Aires
. These were to be her only appearances in opera with the legendary tenor
, though they later appeared in concert and made a few recordings together. Galli-Curci and Caruso also acted as godparents for the son of the Sicilian tenor Giulio Crimi
.
. She was a member of the company through until the end of the 1924 season. Also in 1916, Galli-Curci signed a recording contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company
and recorded exclusively for the company until 1930.
In 1921, Galli-Curci joined the Metropolitan Opera
in New York City, remaining with the Met until her retirement from the operatic stage nine years later. She sang also in Great Britain, appearing in 20 cities during a 1924 tour, and visited Australia a year later for a series of recitals.
Galli-Curci built and maintained an estate called Sul Monte in Highmount, New York, where she summered for many years until she sold the estate in 1937. In the nearby village of Margaretville
a theater
was erected and named in her honor. She returned the favor by performing there on its opening night.
, the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve, is thought to have been damaged, resulting in the loss of her ability to sing high pitches. This nerve has since become known as the "nerve of Galli-Curci."
Researchers Crookes and Recaberen "examined contemporary press reviews after surgery, conducted interviews with colleagues and relatives of the surgeon, and compared the career of Galli-Curci with that of other singers" and found, in 2001, that her vocal decline most likely did not result from a surgical injury.
Galli-Curci was a student of the India
n meditation and yoga
teacher Paramahansa Yogananda
. She wrote the foreword to Yogananda's 1929 book Whispers from Eternity.
in Chicago
. It was painfully clear that her singing days were over and after a few more recitals she went into complete retirement, living in California. She began teaching singing privately until shortly before her death from emphysema
in November 1963, at the age of 81. Among her students was soprano Jean Fenn
.
Galli-Curci's voice can still be heard on 78-rpm recordings and their LP and CD reissues. Based on her recorded legacy and contemporary assessments of Galli-Curci's performances in England and America, the opera commentator Michael Scott, writing in Volume Two of The Record of Singing
(Duckworth, London, 1979), compares her unfavourably as a vocal technician with coloratura sopranos of an earlier generation, such as Nellie Melba
and Luisa Tetrazzini
, but he acknowledges the beauty of her voice and the ongoing lyrical appeal of her charming singing.
Her country estate near Fleischmanns, New York
, where she resided from 1922 to 1937, known as Sul Monte
, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 2010.
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...
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...
tic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
. She was one of the best-known coloratura
Coloratura
Coloratura has several meanings. The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word colorare . When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and...
singers of the early 20th century with her gramophone
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
records selling in large numbers.
Early life
She was born as Amelita Galli into an upper-middle class family in MilanMilan
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 ,...
, where she studied piano at the Milan Conservatory
Milan Conservatory
The Milan Conservatory is a college of music which was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. It opened the following year with premises in the cloisters of the Baroque church of Santa Maria della Passione. There were initially 18 boarders,...
, winning a gold medal and at the age of 16 was offered a position as a "professor" or teacher there. She was inspired to sing by her grandmother. Operatic composer Pietro Mascagni
Pietro Mascagni
Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
also encouraged Galli-Curci's musical ambitions. By her own choice, Galli-Curci's voice was largely self-trained. She honed her technique by listening to other sopranos, reading old singing-method books, and doing piano exercises with her voice instead of using a keyboard.
Career
Galli-Curci made her operatic debut in 1906 at TraniTrani
Trani is a seaport of Apulia, southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, in the new Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani , and 40 km by railway West-Northwest of Bari.- History :...
, as Gilda 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 Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
, and she rapidly became acclaimed throughout Italy for the sweetness and agility of her voice and her captivating musical interpretations. She was seen by many critics as an antidote to the host of squally, verismo
Verismo
Verismo was an Italian literary movement which peaked between approximately 1875 and the early 1900s....
-orientated sopranos then populating Italian opera houses.
The soprano had toured widely in Europe (including appearances in Russia in 1914) and South America. In 1915, she sang two performances of Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
with Enrico Caruso 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...
. These were to be her only appearances in opera with the legendary tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, though they later appeared in concert and made a few recordings together. Galli-Curci and Caruso also acted as godparents for the son of the Sicilian tenor Giulio Crimi
Giulio Crimi
Giulio Crimi was an Italian operatic tenor.Crimi was born in Paternò, Italy. He studied in Catania with Adernò and made his debut in Palermo, as Manrico in Il trovatore, in 1910, later appearing in Treviso as Hagenbach in La Wally...
.
U.S.
She arrived in the United States in 1916 as a virtual unknown. Her stay was intended to be brief, but the acclaim she received for her performance as Gilda in Rigoletto in Chicago, Illinois on November 18, 1916 (her 34th birthday) was so wildly enthusiastic that she accepted an offer to remain with the Chicago Opera CompanyChicago Opera Company
The Chicago Opera Company was a grand opera company in Chicago, organized from the remaining assets of the bankrupt Chicago City Opera Company, that produced six seasons of opera at the Civic Opera House from 1940 to 1946 . Fausto Cleva was artistic director 1944-1946, and until 1945 Fortune Gallo...
. She was a member of the company through until the end of the 1924 season. Also in 1916, Galli-Curci signed a recording contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
and recorded exclusively for the company until 1930.
In 1921, Galli-Curci joined the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York City, remaining with the Met until her retirement from the operatic stage nine years later. She sang also in Great Britain, appearing in 20 cities during a 1924 tour, and visited Australia a year later for a series of recitals.
Galli-Curci built and maintained an estate called Sul Monte in Highmount, New York, where she summered for many years until she sold the estate in 1937. In the nearby village of Margaretville
Margaretville, New York
Margaretville is a village in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 643 at the 2000 census.The Village of Margaretville is in the Town of Middletown. The village is on the border of the Catskill Park...
a theater
Galli-Curci Theatre
The Galli-Curci Theatre is located on Main Street in Margaretville, New York, United States. It is a brick building erected in the 1920s, now primarily used as a store, although some of the original theater remains...
was erected and named in her honor. She returned the favor by performing there on its opening night.
Retirement
Weary of opera house politics and convinced that opera was a dying art form, Galli-Curci retired from the operatic stage in January 1930 to concentrate instead on concert performances. Throat problems and the uncertain pitching of top notes had plagued her for several years and she underwent surgery in 1935 for the removal of a thyroid goiter. Great care was taken during her surgery, which was performed under local anethesia; however, her voice suffered following the surgery. A nerve to her larynxLarynx
The larynx , commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the neck of amphibians, reptiles and mammals involved in breathing, sound production, and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. It manipulates pitch and volume...
, the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve, is thought to have been damaged, resulting in the loss of her ability to sing high pitches. This nerve has since become known as the "nerve of Galli-Curci."
Researchers Crookes and Recaberen "examined contemporary press reviews after surgery, conducted interviews with colleagues and relatives of the surgeon, and compared the career of Galli-Curci with that of other singers" and found, in 2001, that her vocal decline most likely did not result from a surgical injury.
Personal life
In 1908 she wed a nobleman, the Marchese Luigi Curci, attaching his surname to hers. They divorced in 1920. The following year, Galli-Curci married Homer Samuels, her accompanist. The Marchese Curci petitioned the papal council in Rome for an annulment of the marriage in 1922.Galli-Curci was a student of the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n meditation and yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
teacher Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda , born Mukunda Lal Ghosh , was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a...
. She wrote the foreword to Yogananda's 1929 book Whispers from Eternity.
Death and legacy
On 24 November 1936, Galli-Curci, aged 54, made an ill-advised return to opera, appearing as Mimi in La bohèmeLa bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. It was painfully clear that her singing days were over and after a few more recitals she went into complete retirement, living in California. She began teaching singing privately until shortly before her death from emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
in November 1963, at the age of 81. Among her students was soprano Jean Fenn
Jean Fenn
Jean Fenn is an American soprano who had an active opera career in North America during the 1950s through the 1970s. An attractive blond with a statuesque figure, Fenn was a disciplined, well-schooled singer with an excellent technique, wide range, and a highly polished sound...
.
Galli-Curci's voice can still be heard on 78-rpm recordings and their LP and CD reissues. Based on her recorded legacy and contemporary assessments of Galli-Curci's performances in England and America, the opera commentator Michael Scott, writing in Volume Two of The Record of Singing
The Record of Singing
The Record of Singing is a compilation of classical-music singing from the first half of the 20th century, the era of the 78-rpm record.It was issued on LP by EMI, successor to the British company His Master's Voice — perhaps the leading organization in the early history of audio recording.The...
(Duckworth, London, 1979), compares her unfavourably as a vocal technician with coloratura sopranos of an earlier generation, such as Nellie Melba
Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...
and Luisa Tetrazzini
Luisa Tetrazzini
Luisa Tetrazzini was an Italian coloratura soprano of great international fame.Tetrazzini's voice was remarkable for its phenomenal flexibility, thrust, steadiness and thrilling tone...
, but he acknowledges the beauty of her voice and the ongoing lyrical appeal of her charming singing.
Her country estate near Fleischmanns, New York
Fleischmanns, New York
Fleischmanns is a village in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 351 at the 2000 census. Fleischmanns is in the town of Middletown.- History :Early settlers of this area came from Germany, England, Holland and Ireland...
, where she resided from 1922 to 1937, known as Sul Monte
Amelita Galli-Curci Estate
Amelita Galli-Curci Estate, also known as Sul Monte, is a historic country estate located near Fleischmanns and straddling the boundaries of Delaware County and Ulster County, New York. It was designed by noted architect Harrie T. Lindeberg as a country home for Italian operatic soprano Amelita...
, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2010.
External links
- Extensive Galli-Curci site with biography, photos, and sound clips
- Ten Galli-Curci recordings in digital restorations
- Discography of Amelita Galli-Curci on Victor RecordsVictor Talking Machine CompanyThe Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
from the Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings (EDVR)