Lia Origoni

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Lia Origoni
Lia Origoni 62.jpg
Lia Origoni in 1962
Born (1919-10-20) 20 October 1919 (age 101)
La Maddalena, Sardinia, Italy
NationalityItalian
Occupationsinger

Lia Origoni (born 20 October 1919[1]) is an Italian actress and singer from Sardinia who was well known in the 1940s to the 1960s.

Life[]

Origoni was born in La Maddalena in Sardinia. Her uncle Giacomino Origoni had been an actor in early silent films in Italy.[1]

In 1934 she decided to focus not on her violin playing but on her soprano voice under the advice of fellow Sardinian singer Bernardo de Muro and the writer  [it] after she and de Muro sang in a concert to commemorate the life of Italian hero Giuseppe Garibaldi.[1]

She gave jazz concerts accompanied by pianist , on flute and guitarist .[2] In 1939 she was the first star to be signed by the fascist Italian TV station EIAR and a film was made to record her performance.[3] The broadcast was made although at the time there were only two televisions that could receive the signal. One of these was in Villa Torlonia, the home of Benito Mussolini.[4]

Her theatrical debut was in Rome on Christmas Day 1940 in  [it], a work by Michele Galdieri, starring Totò and Anna Magnani.[5] She later said that Galdieri disliked her popularity with the audience, but Totò treated her paternally, trying to protect her from distasteful behaviour.[6]

During the war, in 1942 and 1943 she sang in Berlin and Nazi Germany.[1] One of the locations was to entertain the SS guards of the Auschwitz concentration camp.[7] The concert was in February 1943.[8] Origoni said she refused to attend a meal, as the guest of honour, given by the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. The meal went ahead without her, with her chair remaining empty.[6]

In 1947 her singing talents were confirmed when she was hired to sing the role of Flora in Giuseppe Verdi's opera La traviata. The performance was directed by Giorgio Strehler at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.[9]

On her 100th birthday there were special celebrations in her birthplace. The mayor unveiled a plaque and there was a screening of the biopic "Lia: Music non-stop". The film was created by a fellow Sardinian who had spent time to digitally restore early recordings of Origoni's singing.[5] The Italian politician, , arranged for a street in La Maddalena to be named in her honour noting how well known she had been from the 1940s and 1960s.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Palmesi, Daniele; Clemente, Federico. "Origoni Lia". tototruffa2002.it (in Italian). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Lia Origoni | Il Tempo: Trattenimento musicale di Lia Origoni" (in Italian). Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Omaggio a Lia Origoni, nella Protomoteca del Campidoglio". Alguer.it. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  4. ^ "La regina sarda del canto". L'Unione Sarda.it. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "La Maddalena, la diva Lia Origoni compie cent'anni". Gallura Oggi il quotidiano di Olbia e della Gallura | Notizie da Olbia, eventi in Gallura (in Italian). 20 October 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "LIA ORIGONI – I cento anni della violetera". CIAO MAGAZINE (in Italian). Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Couple in race to save Nazi canteen where Auschwitz SS guards partied after killing". www.thefirstnews.com. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  8. ^ Picciotto, Liliana; Alemanno, Giovanni (3 January 2016). Auschwitz - Birkenau: A 65 anni dalla Liberazione. Gangemi Editore spa. p. 162. ISBN 978-88-492-9154-4.
  9. ^ "Cineteca sarda, un docufilm sulla vita di Lia Origoni". La Nuova Sardegna (in Italian). 23 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  10. ^ "La Maddalena, una via dedicata alla diva Lia Origoni". Gallura Oggi il quotidiano di Olbia e della Gallura | Notizie da Olbia, eventi in Gallura (in Italian). 26 October 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
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