Carolina Bassi
Carolina Bassi Banna | |
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| Born | Carolina Bassi 10 January 1781 |
| Died | 12 December 1862 (aged 81) |
| Occupation | Contralto |
Carolina Bassi (10 January 1781 – 12 December 1862) was an Italian contralto who knew Rossini, Meyerbeer, Donizetti and Bellini.
Life[]
Bassi was born in Naples to a musician family. Her brother Nicola, was a famous buffo bass; and another brother, Adolfo, who was a composer, operatic tenor and also an impresario of the Teatro Nuovo in Trieste.[1]
She retired in 1828, devoting herself to teaching opera singing. She died in Cremona in 1862.
Family[]
Bassi was married to Cremona's nobleman, Pietro Manna. They had a son, Ruggero Manna (7 April 1808 - 13 May 1864 ), a composer and Chapel Master of the Cathedral of Cremona from 1835 to 1864.[2]
Musical career[]
Bassi was known as "La Napoletana", one of the noted singers of her era. She was the first interpreter of many works of her repertoire. The roles that gave her a particular success were Semiramide riconosciuta, Margherita d'Anjou, L'esule di Granata by Giacomo Meyerbeer; Bianca e Falliero by Gioachino Rossini; including some works by Giovanni Pacini and Saverio Mercadante. She has sung in the many noted Italian and foreign theaters, some of which: Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples , Teatro La Fenice in Venice, and many other.[3]
She sung in premiere performances of the following opera:
- Teseo e Medea by Carlo Coccia (Teatro Regio di Torino, 1815)
- Maometto by Peter Winter (Teatro alla Scala, 1815)
- La rosa bianca e la rosa rossa by Pietro Generali (Theater Regio di Torino, 1818)
- Semiramide riconosciuta by Giacomo Meyerbeer (Theater Regio di Torino, 3 February 1819)
- Bianca e Faliero by Gioacchino Rossini (Teatro alla Scala, 26 December 1819)
- Wallace o L'eroe scozzese by Giovanni Pacini (Teatro alla Scala, 1820)
- Maria Stuarda regina di Scozia by Saverio Mercadante (Teatro Comunale di Bologna, 1821)
- Ezio by Saverio Mercadante (Teatro Regio di Torino, 1827)
- Gastone di Foix by Giuseppe Persiani (Teatro La Fenice, 1827)
- I saraceni in Sicilia ovvero Eufemio di Messina by Francesco Morlacchi (Teatro La Fenice, 1828).
References[]
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- 1781 births
- 1862 deaths
- Italian opera singers
- 18th-century Neapolitan people
- 19th-century Neapolitan people