Giuseppina Pasqua
Encyclopedia
Giuseppina Pasqua was an Italian
opera
singer who performed throughout Italy and Europe from the late 1860s through the early 1900s. She began her career as a soprano
when she was only 13, but later retrained her voice as a mezzo-soprano
. She sang in several world premieres, but is most remembered today for having created the role of Mistress Quickly in Giuseppe Verdi
's Falstaff
. The composer wrote the role specifically for her and dedicated the Act II aria "Giunta all' albergo" to Pasqua. She was married to the baritone Astorre Giacomelli.
to a prosperous family. She studied at the music conservatory in Perugia under Ulisse Corticelli and made her professional opera debut at the city's Teatro Morlacchi in 1868 singing the coloratura soprano
role of Oscar in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera
. After further study with Marietta Piccolomini
, she made her house debut at the Teatro Bellini in Palermo
as Marguerite de Valois in Meyerbeer
's Les Huguenots
. She was still singing soprano roles when she made her La Scala
debut on 1 September 1872 as Ännchen in Weber
's Der Freischütz
.
She then studied with Luigia Abbadia
in Milan to retrain her voice as a mezzo-soprano. In 1876 she sang Preziosilla in the first performance of Verdi's La forza del destino
at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. The following year she had a huge success as Amneris in the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
's first performance of Verdi's Aida
, a role which she would repeat with similar success as La Scala 1878. As a mezzo-soprano she sang leading roles throughout Italy and the rest of Europe. She was a guest artist at the Bolshoi Theatre
in Moscow
in 1878-1879, and in 1879 she sang Leonor de Guzmán in La favorita at both the Royal Opera House
in London and the Bavarian State Opera
. She was also very popular in Spain and Portugal where she sang many times. She was the prima donna
contralto at the Gran Teatre del Liceu
in Barcelona for the 1881-1882, 1884-1885, and 1886-1887 seasons. Particularly admired for her portrayal of Carmen
, she was greatly loved by the audiences at Madrid's Teatro Real
where she appeared from 1879 to 1897.
Further reading
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...
singer who performed throughout Italy and Europe from the late 1860s through the early 1900s. She began her career as a 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...
when she was only 13, but later retrained her voice as a mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
. She sang in several world premieres, but is most remembered today for having created the role of Mistress Quickly 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 Falstaff
Falstaff (opera)
Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...
. The composer wrote the role specifically for her and dedicated the Act II aria "Giunta all' albergo" to Pasqua. She was married to the baritone Astorre Giacomelli.
Biography
Giuseppina Pasqua was born in PerugiaPerugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
to a prosperous family. She studied at the music conservatory in Perugia under Ulisse Corticelli and made her professional opera debut at the city's Teatro Morlacchi in 1868 singing 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...
role of Oscar in Verdi's 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...
. After further study with Marietta Piccolomini
Marietta Piccolomini
Marietta Piccolomini Conflicting dates for both her birth and death are widespread - birthdates include 5 and 15 March 1834; death dates indlude 11 February, and 11, 20 and 23 December 1899. The dates given in this article, are the ones that are given in Grove's Dictionary of Opera and appear most...
, she made her house debut at the Teatro Bellini in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
as Marguerite de Valois in Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
's Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps....
. She was still singing soprano roles when she made her 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...
debut on 1 September 1872 as Ännchen in Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
's Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
.
She then studied with Luigia Abbadia
Luigia Abbadia
Luigia Abbadia was an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano known for her fine voice, secure technique, and a strong temperament. Possessing an uncommonly wide range, Abbadia sang several roles traditionally portrayed by sopranos in addition to roles from the mezzo-soprano repertoire.-Biography:Abbadia...
in Milan to retrain her voice as a mezzo-soprano. In 1876 she sang Preziosilla in the first performance of Verdi's 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...
at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. The following year she had a huge success as Amneris in 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....
's first performance of Verdi'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...
, a role which she would repeat with similar success as La Scala 1878. As a mezzo-soprano she sang leading roles throughout Italy and the rest of Europe. She was a guest artist at the Bolshoi Theatre
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 1878-1879, and in 1879 she sang Leonor de Guzmán in La favorita at both 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 and the Bavarian State Opera
Bavarian State Opera
The Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...
. She was also very popular in Spain and Portugal where she sang many times. She was the prima donna
Prima donna
Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano...
contralto at the Gran Teatre del Liceu
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu , or simply Liceu in Catalan and Liceo in Spanish, is an opera house on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain...
in Barcelona for the 1881-1882, 1884-1885, and 1886-1887 seasons. Particularly admired for her portrayal of Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, she was greatly loved by the audiences at Madrid's Teatro Real
Teatro Real
The Teatro Real or simply El Real , is a major opera house located in Madrid, Spain.-History:...
where she appeared from 1879 to 1897.
Premieres
Pasqua is known to have sung in the following premieres:- Giovanna di Napoli composed by Errico PetrellaErrico PetrellaErrico Petrella was an Italian opera composer.Petrella was born at Palermo. A conservative of the Neapolitan school, he was the most successful Italian composer, second only to Verdi, during the 1850s and 1860s. He also earned the latter's scorn for his compositional and dramatic crudities,...
(Teatro San Carlo, 27 February 1869) – role unknown - Un matrimonio civile composed by Giovanni Bolzoni (Teatro Regio di ParmaTeatro Regio di ParmaTeatro 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....
, 11 October 1870) – Maria - Don Carlo (revised version of Don CarlosDon CarlosDon Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
) composed by Giuseppe Verdi (La ScalaLa ScalaLa 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...
, 10 January 1884) – Princess Eboli - FalstaffFalstaff (opera)Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...
composed by Giuseppe Verdi (La Scala, 9 February 1893) – Mistress Quickly
Sources
- Casaglia, Gherardo, "Giuseppina Pasqua", Almanacco Amadeus, 2005. Accessed 20 January 2010 (in Italian).
- Donati, Fedora Servetti, Budrio: casa nostra, S.T.E.B., 1963
- Kertesz, Elizabeth and Christoforidis, Michael, "Confronting Carmen beyond the Pyrenees: Bizet's opera in Madrid, 1887–1888", Cambridge Opera Journal, 2008, Vol. 20, pp. 79-110
- Vetro, Gaspare N. Dizionario della musica e dei musicisti dei territori del Ducato di Parma e Piacenza dalle origini al 1950, Istituzione Casa della Musica
- Virella Cassañes, Francisco, La ópera en Barcelona, estudio histórico-crítico, Establecimiento tip. de Redondo y Xumetra, 1888
Further reading
- Hepokoski, James A., Verdi, Giuseppina Pasqua, and the Composition of "Falstaff", 19th-Century Music, Vol. 3, No. 3 (March 1980), pp. 239-250