Erminia Frezzolini was an Italian 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...

. Along with Henriette Sontag

Henriette Sontag

Henriette Sontag was a German operatic soprano of great international renown. She possessed a sweet-toned, lyrical voice and was a brilliant exponent of florid singing.-Life:...

, she was one of the leading operatic sopranos of her generation. She excelled in the coloratura soprano

Coloratura soprano

A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano who specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs and leaps. The term coloratura refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component of the music written for this voice...

 repertoire, drawing particular acclaim in the bel canto

Bel canto

Bel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...

 operas of Gaetano Donizetti

Gaetano Donizetti

Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...

 and Vincenzo 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...

. She was married to tenor Antonio Poggi

Antonio Poggi

Antonio Poggi was an Italian operatic tenor who had an active international career from 1827-1848. He is best remembered for creating roles in the world premieres of operas by Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi...

 from 1841-1846.

Life & career

Born in Orvieto

Orvieto

Orvieto is a city and comune in Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff...

, Frezzolini initially studied singing with her father, the famous bass

Bass (voice type)

A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...

 Giuseppe Frezzolini

Giuseppe Frezzolini

Giuseppe Frezzolini was an Italian operatic bass. Born in Orvieto, he studied singing in his native city with G. Pedoto. He began his career in 1819 and was active in Italy's leading opera houses up into the 1840s...

. She then studied in Milan with Domenico Ronconi

Domenico Ronconi

Domenico Ronconi was an Italian operatic tenor who had an active international career in leading opera houses from 1796-1829. He then embarked on a second career as a voice teacher in Milan which lasted until his death in that city in 1839.-Life and career:Born in Lendinara, he studied singing...

 and in Florence with Andrea Nencini and N. Tachinardi. At the advice of Maria Malibran

Maria Malibran

The mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran , was one of the most famous opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality and dramatic intensity, becoming a legendary figure after her death at age 28...

 she pursued further studies with Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García

Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García

Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García , was a Spanish singer, music educator, and vocal pedagogue.-Biography:García was born on 17 March 1805 in the town of Zafra in Badajoz Province, Spain. His father was singer and teacher Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez García...

.

In 1837 Frezzolini made her professional opera debut in the title role of Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda

Beatrice di Tenda

Beatrice di Tenda is a tragic opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini, from a libretto by Felice Romani, after the play of the same name by Carlo Tedaldi-Fores...

at the Teatro della Pergola

Teatro della Pergola

The Teatro della Pergola is a historic opera house in Florence, Italy. It is located in the centre of the city on the Via della Pergola, from which the theatre takes its name...

 in Florence. She quickly arose in major opera houses throughout Italy, often in the operas of Bellini and Donizetti. In 1838 she was heard at the opera houses in Siena and Ferrara. In 1839 she portrayed the title role in the house premiere of Saverio Mercadante

Saverio Mercadante

Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...

's Elena da Feltre

Elena da Feltre

Elena da Feltre is an opera in three acts by 19th century Italian composer Saverio Mercadante from a libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, well-known as librettist of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Verdi's Il trovatore. The premiere took place at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 1 January 1839...

at 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....

. She sang several more roles in Bologna in 1838-1839, including the title roles in Anna Bolena

Anna Bolena

Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...

, Beatrice di Tenda, and 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....

. She made 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 1839 as Bianca in Mercadante's Le due illustri rivali. She also made her debuts that year at the opera houses in Pisa, Reggio Emilia, and Perugia.

Frezzolini created the role of Giselda in the world premiere 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 I Lombardi alla prima crociata

I Lombardi alla prima crociata

I Lombardi alla prima crociata is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on an epic poem by Tommaso Grossi. Its first performance was given at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 11 February 1843...

on 11 February 1843 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. On 15 February 1845 she sang the title role in the world premiere of Verdi's Giovanna d'Arco

Giovanna d'Arco

Giovanna d'Arco is an operatic dramma lirico with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera....

at La Scala. She portrayed Camilla in the world premiere of Saverio Mercadante

Saverio Mercadante

Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...

's Orazi e Curiazi

Orazi e Curiazi

Orazi e Curiazi is an opera by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. It takes the form of a tragedia lirica in three acts. The libretto, by Salvadore Cammarano is based on the Roman legend of the fight between the Horatii and the Curiatii...

at the Teatro di San Carlo

Teatro 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 on 10 November 1846. On the international stage she made appearances at the Mariinsky Theatre

Mariinsky Theatre

The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...

 in St. Petersburg, the Royal Opera House

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...

 in London, the Teatro Real

Teatro Real

The Teatro Real or simply El Real , is a major opera house located in Madrid, Spain.-History:...

 in Madrid, the Theater am Kärntnertor

Theater am Kärntnertor

Theater am Kärntnertor or Kärntnertortheater was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries...

 in Vienna, the Théâtre-Italien in Paris, and throughout North America. She remained active on the stage up until 1874. She died in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

in 1884 at the age of 66.