Mary Curtis Verna
Encyclopedia
Mary Virginia Curtis Verna (May 9, 1921 - December 4, 2009) was an American operatic soprano
, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.
Born in Salem, Massachusetts
, she studied at Hollins College
in Virginia, and later in Italy with Ettore Verna, whom she married. She made her stage debut at the Teatro Lirico in Milan, as Desdemona
, in 1949. She sang widely in Italy, as Maria Curtis Verna, and made guest appearances at the Vienna State Opera
and the Munich State Opera.
Verna made her American debut at the Academy of Music
in Philadelphia with the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company
on May 14, 1952 in the title role of Giuseppe Verdi
's Aida
with Ramón Vinay
as Radamès, Claramae Turner
as Amneris, and Giuseppe Bamboschek
conducting. Later that year she portrayed the same role for he debut at the San Francisco Opera
. She made her debut at the New York City Opera
, as Donna Anna
, in 1954, and at the Metropolitan Opera
, as Leonora in Il trovatore
, in 1957, other roles there included; Aida, Leonora (La forza del destino
), Elisabetta (Don Carlo), Santuzza
, Tosca
and Turandot
. She also appeared in Cincinnati and Baltimore, and at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. She became acclaimed at the Metropolitan Opera
in the 1950s and 1960s for stepping into roles of ill, stranded or unavailable divas at the last minute on only a few hours notice.
She can be heard in a few Cetra
recordings; Don Giovanni
, opposite Giuseppe Taddei
, Italo Tajo
, Cesare Valletti
, Un ballo in maschera
, opposite Ferruccio Tagliavini
and Giuseppe Valdengo
, Aida
, opposite Franco Corelli
, Miriam Pirazzini
, Giangiacomo Guelfi
.
When the old Met Theater closed down in New York City and the opera relocated to Lincoln Center, Verna decided to take the position of Head of the Voice Department at the University of Washington
School of Music in 1969. She retired from the University of Washington in 1991.
Verna died at her home in Seattle, Washington
on December 4, 2009.
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...
, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.
Born in Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
, she studied at Hollins College
Hollins University
Hollins University is a four-year institution of higher education, a private university located on a campus on the border of Roanoke County, Virginia and Botetourt County, Virginia...
in Virginia, and later in Italy with Ettore Verna, whom she married. She made her stage debut at the Teatro Lirico in Milan, as Desdemona
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
, in 1949. She sang widely in Italy, as Maria Curtis Verna, and made guest appearances at the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
and the Munich State Opera.
Verna made her American debut at the Academy of Music
Academy of Music (Philadelphia)
The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at Broad and Locust Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1857 and is the oldest opera house in the United States that is still used for its original purpose...
in Philadelphia with the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company
Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company
The Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was actively performing at the Academy of Music between 1950 and 1955. Fausta Cleva served as the company's first General Director and conductor...
on May 14, 1952 in the title role of 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...
with Ramón Vinay
Ramón Vinay
Ramón Vinay was a famous Chilean operatic tenor with a powerful, dramatic voice. He is probably best remembered for his appearances in the title role of Giuseppe Verdi's tragic opera Otello....
as Radamès, Claramae Turner
Claramae Turner
Claramae Turner is an American opera singer. She is perhaps best known for singing You'll Never Walk Alone and some of June Is Bustin' Out all Over in the musical film Carousel, adapted from the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical of the same name.Born in Dinuba, California, she was a contralto...
as Amneris, and Giuseppe Bamboschek
Giuseppe Bamboschek
Giuseppe Maria Bamboschek was an Italian-American opera conductor, pianist, organist, music director and film director. During his expansive career, Bamboschek conducted performances including famed singers Enrico Caruso, Rosa Ponselle, Giovanni Martinelli, Giuseppe De Luca, and many more...
conducting. Later that year she portrayed the same role for he 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...
. She made her debut at the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
, as Donna Anna
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, in 1954, and at 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...
, as Leonora in 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...
, in 1957, other roles there included; Aida, Leonora (La forza del destino
La forza del destino
La forza del destino is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino , by Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, with a scene adapted from Friedrich Schiller's Wallensteins Lager. It was first performed...
), Elisabetta (Don Carlo), Santuzza
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...
, Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
and Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
. She also appeared in Cincinnati and Baltimore, and at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. She became acclaimed at 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 the 1950s and 1960s for stepping into roles of ill, stranded or unavailable divas at the last minute on only a few hours notice.
She can be heard in a few Cetra
Cetra
Cetra Records was an Italian company which produced opera recordings from the 1930s onwards. Its roster of artists included Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Lina Pagliughi, Ebe Stignani, Carlo Bergonzi, Galliano Masini, Giovanni Malipiero, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Carlo Tagliabue, Rolando Panerai,...
recordings; Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
, opposite Giuseppe Taddei
Giuseppe Taddei
Giuseppe Taddei was an Italian baritone, who performed mostly the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi....
, Italo Tajo
Italo Tajo
Italo Tajo was an Italian operatic bass, particularly associated with Mozart and Rossini roles.Tajo was born in Pinerolo, Piedmont, and studied violin and voice at the Music Conservatory of Turin with Nilde Stichi-Bertozzi. He made his stage debut in 1935, as Fafner , under Fritz Busch...
, Cesare Valletti
Cesare Valletti
Cesare Valletti was an Italian operatic tenor, one of the leading tenore di grazia of the postwar era. He was much admired for his polished vocal technique, his musical refinement and elegance, and beauty of tone....
, Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
, opposite Ferruccio Tagliavini
Ferruccio Tagliavini
Ferruccio Tagliavini was an Italian operatic tenor mainly active in the 1940s and 1950s...
and Giuseppe Valdengo
Giuseppe Valdengo
Giuseppe Valdengo was an Italian operatic baritone. Opera News said that, "Although his timbre lacked the innate beauty of some of his baritone contemporaries, Valdengo's performances were invariably satisfying — bold and assured in attack but scrupulously musical."-Biography:Valdengo first...
, 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...
, opposite Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli was a famous Italian tenor who had a major international opera career between 1951 and 1976. Associated in particular with the spinto and dramatic tenor roles of the Italian repertory, he was celebrated universally for his powerhouse voice, electrifying top notes, clear timbre, a...
, Miriam Pirazzini
Miriam Pirazzini
Miriam Pirazzini was a well-known Italian mezzo-soprano. Born in Vicenza, she made her formal debut in Rome, in 1944, as Laura Adorno in La Gioconda. For the next twenty years, she was one of Italy's foremost mezzo-sopranos....
, Giangiacomo Guelfi
Giangiacomo Guelfi
Giangiacomo Guelfi is an operatic baritone, particularly associated with Verdi and Puccini. Born in Rome, he studied law before turning to vocal studies, in Florence, with the great baritone Titta Ruffo. Giangiacomo made his stage debut in Spoleto, as Rigoletto in 1950...
.
When the old Met Theater closed down in New York City and the opera relocated to Lincoln Center, Verna decided to take the position of Head of the Voice Department at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
School of Music in 1969. She retired from the University of Washington in 1991.
Verna died at her home in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
on December 4, 2009.