Mariella Adani
Encyclopedia
Mariella Adani is an Italian
classical soprano
who has had an active career in opera
s, concerts, and recitals during the 1950s through the 1980s. She has sung under the musical direction of Vittorio Gui
, Carlo Maria Giulini
, Nino Sanzogno
, Oliviero De Fabritiis
, and Peter Maag
and the director of Sandro Bolchi, Franco Zeffirelli
Luchino Visconti
, and Walter Felsenstein
. A light lyric soprano, she has particularly excelled in the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
and Gioachino Rossini. She has also been admired for her performances in Baroque opera. Retired from the stage, she now devotes her time to teaching singing.
. She studied voice at the Parma Conservatory with Ettore Campogalliani
and at the L'Accademia di La Scala
with Giulio Confalonieri. In 1954 she made her professional opera debut at La Scala as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
as the Countess, Irmgard Seefried
as Susanna, Mario Petri
as the Count, and Rolando Panerai
as Figaro. She returned frequently to that house through 1962, singing such roles as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Amore in Christoph Willibald Gluck
's Orfeo ed Euridice
, Nannetta in Giuseppe Verdi
's Falstaff
, Lucieta Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
's I quattro rusteghi
, and Musetta in Giacomo Puccini
's La bohème
. She also portrayed the title role in the Italian premiere of Leoš Janáček
s' The Cunning Little Vixen
at La Scala in 1958.
In 1956 Adani made her first appearance at La Fenice
as Elena in Nino Rota
's Il cappello di paglia di Firenze
. She returned there periodically through 1968 in such roles as Anna in Die Jahreszeiten, Norina in Don Pasquale
, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni
. In 1957 she married bass Giorgio Tadeo, with whom she has two children. That same year she made her debut at the Teatro della Piccola Scala as Sofia in Riccardo Malipiero
's La donna è mobile. She returned to that house often through 1973, portraying such roles as Arminda in La finta giardiniera
, Bellina in Le astuzie femminili
, Fanny in Gioachino Rossini's La cambiale di matrimonio
, Paoluccia in La buona figliuola
, and the title heroine in Gaetano Donizetti
's Rita
among other roles.
During the 1960s, 1970s, and into the 1980s Adani was active at many of the major opera houses in Italy. She was often found at the Teatro di San Carlo
, where she appeared as late as 1983 as Donizetti's Rita. She also was a repeat performer at the Teatro Regio di Torino, the Teatro Massimo
, the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi, and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
. At the latter house she had a particular triumph as Fiorilla in Rossini's Il turco in Italia
in 1966. She also made a number of appearances at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
and at the opera festival at the Baths of Caracalla
in Rome.
Adani was also highly active as a freelance artist on the international stage. She appeared almost every year at the Aix-en-Provence Festival
between 1957-1967 where she was a lauded Mozart interpreter. Some of her portrayals at that festival included Despina in Così fan tutte
, Papagena in The Magic Flute
, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Zerlina. She made her debut at the Holland Festival
as Flamina in Haydn's Il mondo della luna
in 1959. That same year she made her first appearance at the Wexford Festival Opera
as Ninetta in Rossini's La gazza Ladra
.
In 1960 Adani portrayed both Nannetta and Susanna at the Glyndebourne Festival. She made her debut at the Vienna State Opera
that year as Susanna. In 1961 she made her debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo
in the world premiere of Bruno Gillet's Il visconte dimezzato. She also made guest appearances at the Bavarian State Opera
, the Hamburg State Opera
, the Deutsche Oper Berlin
, the Lyric Opera of Chicago
, the Teatro Colón, De Nederlandse Opera
, the Opéra National de Paris, the Liceu
, the Romanian National Opera
, the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
, the Palacio de Bellas Artes
, and at the opera houses in Cologne and Wiesbaden.
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...
classical 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...
who has had an active career in 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...
s, concerts, and recitals during the 1950s through the 1980s. She has sung under the musical direction of Vittorio Gui
Vittorio Gui
Vittorio Gui was an Italian conductor and composer.Gui was born in Rome in 1885. In 1933 Bruno Walter invited him to be guest conductor at the Salzburg Festival....
, Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor.-Biography:Giulini was born in Barletta, Italy, to a father born in Lombardy and a mother born in Naples; but he was raised in Bolzano, which at the time of his birth was part of Austria...
, Nino Sanzogno
Nino Sanzogno
Nino Sanzogno was an Italian conductor and composer.He studied the violin with Guarneri and composition with Agostini at the Venice Liceo Musicale, and later conducting in Vienna with Hermann Scherchen...
, Oliviero De Fabritiis
Oliviero De Fabritiis
Oliviero De Fabritiis was an Italian conductor and composer.Born in Rome, where he studied with Refice and Setaccialo. He made his debut at the Teatro Nazionale in Rome in 1920, and later moved to the Teatro Adriano. He was artistic secretary at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma from 1932 until 1943...
, and Peter Maag
Peter Maag
-Life:He was born on 10 May 1919 in St. Gallen, Switzerland and died on 16 April 2001 in Verona, Italy.His father, Otto, was a Lutheran minister and his mother, Nelly, a violinist who performed in the Capet Quartet as second violinist. His great uncles were conductors Emil and Fritz Steinbach. ...
and the director of Sandro Bolchi, Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo was an Italian theatre, opera and cinema director, as well as a screenwriter. He is best known for his films The Leopard and Death in Venice .-Life:...
, and Walter Felsenstein
Walter Felsenstein
Walter Felsenstein was an Austrian theater and opera director.He was one of the most important exponents of textual accuracy, productions in which dramatic and musical values were exquisitely researched and balanced...
. A light lyric soprano, she has particularly excelled in the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
and Gioachino Rossini. She has also been admired for her performances in Baroque opera. Retired from the stage, she now devotes her time to teaching singing.
Biography
Adani was born in PalanzanoPalanzano
Palanzano is a comune in the Province of Parma in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 90 km west of Bologna and about 40 km south of Parma...
. She studied voice at the Parma Conservatory with Ettore Campogalliani
Ettore Campogalliani
Ettore Campogalliani was an Italian composer, musician and teacher.Campogalliani studied piano in 1921, graduating from the Conservatory of Bologna. He then studied composition at the Conservatory of Parma in 1933...
and at the L'Accademia di 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...
with Giulio Confalonieri. In 1954 she made her professional opera debut at La Scala as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, DBE was a German-born Austrian/British soprano opera singer and recitalist. She was among the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century, much admired for her performances of Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, and Wolf.-Early life:Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike...
as the Countess, Irmgard Seefried
Irmgard Seefried
Irmgard Seefried was a distinguished German soprano who sang opera and lieder.Maria Theresia Irmgard Seefried was born in Köngetried, near Mindelheim, Bavaria, Germany, the daughter of educated Austrian-born parents. She studied at Augsburg University before making her debut in Aachen as the...
as Susanna, Mario Petri
Mario Petri
Mario Petri was an Italian operatic bass particularly associated with Mozart and Rossini roles....
as the Count, and 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....
as Figaro. She returned frequently to that house through 1962, singing such roles as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Amore in Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
's Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck based on the myth of Orpheus, set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing...
, Nannetta 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...
, Lucieta Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as Il segreto di Susanna...
's I quattro rusteghi
I quattro rusteghi
I quatro rusteghi is a comic opera in three acts, music by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari to a text by Luigi Sugana and Giuseppe Pizzolato based on Carlo Goldoni's 18th-century play I rusteghi. The opera is in Venetian dialect.-Performance history:The opera was first performed at the Hoftheater in Munich on...
, and Musetta in Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's La bohème
La 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...
. She also portrayed the title role in the Italian premiere of Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
s' The Cunning Little Vixen
The Cunning Little Vixen
The Cunning Little Vixen is an opera by Leoš Janáček, with a libretto adapted by the composer from a serialized novella by Rudolf Těsnohlídek and Stanislav Lolek, which was first published in the newspaper Lidové noviny.-Composition history:When Janáček discovered Těsnohlídek's...
at La Scala in 1958.
In 1956 Adani made her first appearance at La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
as Elena in Nino Rota
Nino Rota
Nino Rota was an Italian composer and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti...
's Il cappello di paglia di Firenze
Il cappello di paglia di Firenze
Il cappello di paglia di Firenze is an opera by Nino Rota to an Italian-language libretto by the composer and Ernesta Rota, based on the play Le chapeau de paille d'Italie by Eugène Labiche and Marc Michel.The opera premièred at the Teatro...
. She returned there periodically through 1968 in such roles as Anna in Die Jahreszeiten, 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 Zerlina in 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...
. In 1957 she married bass Giorgio Tadeo, with whom she has two children. That same year she made her debut at the Teatro della Piccola Scala as Sofia in Riccardo Malipiero
Riccardo Malipiero
Riccardo Malipiero was an Italian composer, pianist, and music educator. He was awarded the gold medal by the city of Milan in 1977 and by the city of Varese in 1984....
's La donna è mobile. She returned to that house often through 1973, portraying such roles as Arminda in La finta giardiniera
La finta giardiniera
La finta giardiniera , K. 196, is an Italian opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart wrote it in Munich in January 1775 when he was 18 years old and it received its first performance on January 13 at the Salvatortheater in Munich...
, Bellina in Le astuzie femminili
Le astuzie femminili
Le astuzie femminili is an dramma giocoso in four acts by composer Domenico Cimarosa with an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Palomba. The opera buffa first premiered at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples, Italy on August 26, 1794...
, Fanny in Gioachino Rossini's La cambiale di matrimonio
La cambiale di matrimonio
La cambiale di matrimonio is a one-act operatic farsa comica by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Gaetano Rossi. The libretto was based on the play by Camillo Federici and a previous libretto by Giuseppe Checcherini for Carlo Coccia's 1807 opera, Il matrimonio per lettera di cambio...
, Paoluccia in La buona figliuola
La buona figliuola
La Cecchina, ossia La buona figliuola is an opera buffa in three Acts by Niccolò Piccinni. The libretto, by Carlo Goldoni, is based on Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela. This was Piccinni's most successful Italian opera. There was a sequel entitled La buona figliuola maritata by the same composer...
, and the title heroine in 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...
's Rita
Rita (opera)
Rita, ou Le mari battu is an opéra comique in one act, composed by Gaetano Donizetti to a French libretto by Gustave Vaëz. The opera, a domestic comedy consisting of eight musical numbers connected by spoken dialogue, was completed in 1841 under its original title Deux hommes et une femme...
among other roles.
During the 1960s, 1970s, and into the 1980s Adani was active at many of the major opera houses in Italy. She was often found 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...
, where she appeared as late as 1983 as Donizetti's Rita. She also was a repeat performer at the Teatro Regio di Torino, the Teatro Massimo
Teatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II....
, the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi, and 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....
. At the latter house she had a particular triumph as Fiorilla in Rossini's Il turco in Italia
Il turco in Italia
Il turco in Italia is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The Italian-language libretto was written by Felice Romani...
in 1966. She also made a number of appearances at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual opera festival which was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas in visually dramatic productions. It was the first music festival in Italy. The first opera presented was Verdi's early...
and at the opera festival at the Baths of Caracalla
Baths of Caracalla
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy were Roman public baths, or thermae, built in Rome between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla.- History :...
in Rome.
Adani was also highly active as a freelance artist on the international stage. She appeared almost every year at the Aix-en-Provence Festival
Aix-en-Provence Festival
The festival international d'art lyrique is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in the month of July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumental music.-Establishment:The...
between 1957-1967 where she was a lauded Mozart interpreter. Some of her portrayals at that festival included Despina in Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
, Papagena in The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Zerlina. She made her debut at the Holland Festival
Holland Festival
The Holland Festival is The Netherlands' oldest and largest performing arts festival, and takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theater, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and architecture were added to the festival roster...
as Flamina in Haydn's Il mondo della luna
Il mondo della luna
Il mondo della luna , Hob. 28/7, is an opera buffa by Joseph Haydn with a libretto by Carlo Goldoni, first performed at Eszterháza, Hungary on 3 August 1777. Goldoni's libretto had previously been set by four other composers, first by the composer Baldassare Galuppi and performed in Venice in the...
in 1959. That same year she made her first appearance at the Wexford Festival Opera
Wexford Festival Opera
The Wexford Festival Opera is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in South-Eastern Ireland during the months of October and November.-Festival origins under Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966:...
as Ninetta in Rossini's La gazza Ladra
La gazza ladra
La gazza ladra is a melodramma or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giovanni Gherardini after La pie voleuse by JMT Badouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez....
.
In 1960 Adani portrayed both Nannetta and Susanna at the Glyndebourne Festival. She made her debut 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...
that year as Susanna. In 1961 she made her debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo
Opéra de Monte-Carlo
The Opéra de Monte-Carlo is an opera house located in the principality of Monaco.With the lack of cultural diversions available in Monaco in the 1870s, Prince Charles III, along with the Société des Bains de Mer, decided on the construction of an opera house. Initially, it was Charles III's...
in the world premiere of Bruno Gillet's Il visconte dimezzato. She also made guest appearances at 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...
, the Hamburg State Opera
Hamburg State Opera
The Hamburg State Opera is one of the leading opera companies in Germany.Opera in Hamburg dates back to 2 January 1678 when the "Opern-Theatrum" was inaugurated with a performance of a biblical Singspiel by Johann Theile...
, the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Deutsche Oper Berlin
The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...
, 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...
, the Teatro Colón, De Nederlandse Opera
De Nederlandse Opera
De Nederlandse Opera , in Amsterdam, is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Het Muziektheater, a modern building designed by Cees Dam which opened in 1986....
, the Opéra National de Paris, the 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...
, the Romanian National Opera
Romanian National Opera
The Romanian National Opera is one of the national opera companies of Romania, situated in a historical building in Bucharest, near the Cotroceni neighbourhood....
, the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
The Teatro Nacional de São Carlos is an opera house in Lisbon, Portugal. It was opened on July 30, 1793 by Queen Maria I as a replacement for the Tejo Opera House, which was destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake...
, the Palacio de Bellas Artes
Palacio de Bellas Artes
The Palacio de Bellas Artes is the most important cultural center in Mexico City as well as the rest of the country of Mexico...
, and at the opera houses in Cologne and Wiesbaden.