Margherita Rinaldi
Encyclopedia
Margherita Rinaldi is an Italian
lyric soprano
, primarily active in the 1960s and 1970s.
Rinaldi was born in Turin
, Italy, and completed her music studies in Rovigo
. She won a voice competition in Spoleto
and made her debut there in 1958 in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor
. Her debut at La Scala
in Milan came the following year as Sinaide in Rossini's Mosè in Egitto
. Rinaldi sang at most of the major opera houses in Italy, in roles such as Amina in La sonnambula
, Adina in L'elisir d'amore
, Norina in Don Pasquale
and especially Gilda in Rigoletto
. She also excelled in operas by Mozart and Cimarosa.
Rinaldi won acclaim as Giulietta in Claudio Abbado
's version of Bellini
's I Capuleti e i Montecchi
, opposite Giacomo Aragall
and Luciano Pavarotti
, at La Scala in 1966, and also as Linda in a revival of Linda di Chamounix
again at La Scala, in 1972, opposite Alfredo Kraus
. She sang a wide variety of roles for RAI
between 1963 and 1975, such as Bertha in Le Prophète
, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare
, Ginevra in Ariodante
, and Noraime in Les Abencérages
.
In 1977 she had a triumph singing Amenaide in Rossini's Tancredi
opposite Horne at Teatro dell'Opera in Rome. The night was broadcast by RAI TV.
In 1978, Rinaldi appeared as Adalgisa in a production of Bellini's Norma
at the Teatro Comunale in Florence. Conducted by Riccardo Muti
and starring Renata Scotto
in the title role, these performances offered the Florentine public a rare chance to hear a lyric soprano as the younger, more vulnerable character of Adalgisa, according to the composer's intention. In November of the same year Rinaldi sang Ines in Meyerbeer's L'Africaine
at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden
, opposite Plácido Domingo
and Grace Bumbry
.
Rinaldi also enjoyed a successful international career, making her American debut at the Dallas Opera
as Gilda in 1966. Her debut at the San Francisco Opera
was as Lucia in 1968. She also sang at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
. Rinaldi also performed at the Glyndebourne, Wexford and Bregenz festivals.
Rinaldi made only two commercial recordings, Gilda in Rigoletto opposite Rolando Panerai
and Franco Bonisolli
, which was also the soundtrack of a German television production, and Ilia in Idomeneo
with Sir Colin Davis conducting. Luckily, unofficial "pirate" recordings have preserved several of her live performances: the Spoleto Lucia di Lammermoor,the Scala I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Linda di Chamounix, the RAI Le Prophète, a 1967 Rigoletto from Turin, and the 1978 Norma from Florence.
Margherita Rinaldi was also an excellent performer of sacred music: she performed at La Scala Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle
or for RAI tv Mozart's Vesperae solemnes de Confessore. She took part in the first recording of Rossin's Messa di gloria
(1974).
Margherita Rinaldi retired from the stage in 1981. She lives outside Florence where she privately coaches young singers.
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...
lyric soprano
Lyric soprano
A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre which can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have...
, primarily active in the 1960s and 1970s.
Rinaldi was born in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Italy, and completed her music studies in Rovigo
Rovigo
Rovigo is a town and comune in the Veneto region of North-Eastern Italy, the capital of the eponymous province. -Geography:...
. She won a voice competition in Spoleto
Spoleto
Spoleto is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.-History:...
and made her debut there in 1958 in the title role 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....
. Her debut at 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...
in Milan came the following year as Sinaide in Rossini's Mosè in Egitto
Mosè in Egitto
Mosè in Egitto is a three-act opera written by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, which was based on a play by Francesco Ringhieri, L'Osiride, of 1760....
. Rinaldi sang at most of the major opera houses in Italy, in roles such as Amina in La sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
, Adina in L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
, Norina in Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio ....
and especially Gilda in 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...
. She also excelled in operas by Mozart and Cimarosa.
Rinaldi won acclaim as Giulietta in Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,...
's version of Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
's I Capuleti e i Montecchi
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
I Capuleti e i Montecchi is an Italian opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini.The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo. This was based on Italian sources rather than taken directly from Shakespeare...
, opposite Giacomo Aragall
Giacomo Aragall
Jaume Aragall i Garriga better known as Giacomo Aragall is a Catalan Spanish tenor, born in Barcelona, Spain on 6 June 1939.After his initial studies in Barcelona under Jaime Francisco Puig, Giacomo Aragall travelled to Milan on a scholarship from the Liceu to study with Maestro Vladimir Badiali...
and Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
, at La Scala in 1966, and also as Linda in a revival of Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
again at La Scala, in 1972, opposite Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus Trujillo was a distinguished Spanish tenor of partly Austrian descent, particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles...
. She sang a wide variety of roles for RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
between 1963 and 1975, such as Bertha in Le Prophète
Le prophète
Le prophète is an opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe.-Performance history:...
, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare in Egitto , commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is an Italian opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel in 1724...
, Ginevra in Ariodante
Ariodante
Ariodante is an opera seria in three acts by Handel. The anonymous Italian libretto was based on a work by Antonio Salvi, which in turn was adapted from Canti 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso...
, and Noraime in Les Abencérages
Les Abencérages
Les Abencérages, ou L'étendard de Grenade is an opera in three acts by Luigi Cherubini with a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy, based on the novel Gonzalve de Cordoue by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian...
.
In 1977 she had a triumph singing Amenaide in Rossini's Tancredi
Tancredi
Tancredi is a melodramma eroico in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi, based on Voltaire's play Tancrède...
opposite Horne at Teatro dell'Opera in Rome. The night was broadcast by RAI TV.
In 1978, Rinaldi appeared as Adalgisa in a production of Bellini's Norma
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
at the Teatro Comunale in Florence. Conducted by Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
and starring Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi...
in the title role, these performances offered the Florentine public a rare chance to hear a lyric soprano as the younger, more vulnerable character of Adalgisa, according to the composer's intention. In November of the same year Rinaldi sang Ines in Meyerbeer's L'Africaine
L'Africaine
L'africaine is a grand opera, the last work of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French libretto was written by Eugène Scribe. The opera is about fictitious events in the life of the real historical person Vasco da Gama...
at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, opposite Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
and Grace Bumbry
Grace Bumbry
Grace Bumbry , an American opera singer, is considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, as well as a major soprano for many years...
.
Rinaldi also enjoyed a successful international career, making her American debut at the Dallas Opera
Dallas Opera
The Dallas Opera is an opera company located in Dallas, Texas . The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civic Opera by Laurence Kelly and Nicolà Rescigno, both of whom had been active with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the first as administrator, the second as artistic director.-The company's...
as Gilda in 1966. Her debut at the San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
was as Lucia in 1968. She also sang at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
. Rinaldi also performed at the Glyndebourne, Wexford and Bregenz festivals.
Rinaldi made only two commercial recordings, Gilda in Rigoletto opposite Rolando Panerai
Rolando Panerai
Rolando Panerai Italian baritone, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, he enjoyed a long and distinguished career in both comic and dramatic roles.Rolando Panerai was born in Campi Bisenzio, near Florence, Italy....
and Franco Bonisolli
Franco Bonisolli
Franco Bonisolli was an Italian operatic tenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, notably as Manrico and Calaf.-Life and career:...
, which was also the soundtrack of a German television production, and Ilia in Idomeneo
Idomeneo
Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, which had been set to music by André Campra as Idoménée in 1712...
with Sir Colin Davis conducting. Luckily, unofficial "pirate" recordings have preserved several of her live performances: the Spoleto Lucia di Lammermoor,the Scala I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Linda di Chamounix, the RAI Le Prophète, a 1967 Rigoletto from Turin, and the 1978 Norma from Florence.
Margherita Rinaldi was also an excellent performer of sacred music: she performed at La Scala Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle
Petite Messe Solennelle
Gioachino Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle was written in 1863, "the last", the composer called it, "of my péchés de vieillesse" .....
or for RAI tv Mozart's Vesperae solemnes de Confessore. She took part in the first recording of Rossin's Messa di gloria
Messa di Gloria
Messa di Gloria is a nine movement mass, composed by Gioacchino Rossini for the Arciconfraternita di San Luigi. First performed on 24 March 1820 in the Chiesa di San Ferdinando in Naples, it is in the traditional form of a "Gloria" mass, that is a setting of the first two prayers of the Catholic...
(1974).
Margherita Rinaldi retired from the stage in 1981. She lives outside Florence where she privately coaches young singers.