Elvira de Hidalgo
| Elvira de Hidalgo | |
|---|---|
 Elvira de Hidalgo, 1920s. |
|
| Born | Elvira Juana Rodríguez Roglán[1] December 28, 1891 Valderrobres, Teruel, Spain |
| Died | January 21, 1980 (aged 88) Milan, Italy |
| Occupation | Coloratura, soprano, pedagoue |
| Parents | Pedro Rodríguez Hidalgo (father) Miguela Roglán Bel (mother)[2] |
| Relatives | Maria Callas (vocal student) |
Elvira de Hidalgo (born December 28, 1891; died January 21, 1980, in Milan) was a prominent Spanish coloratura soprano, who later became a pedagogue. Her most famous pupil was Maria Callas.
She was born in Valderrobres, Teruel Province (Spain), and made her debut at the age of sixteen, at Naples' Teatro San Carlo, as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, which would become her best-known role. She was a pupil of Melchiorre Vidal, who also taught Maria Barrientos, Graziella Pareto, Julián Gayarre, Fernando Valero, Francesco Vignas, and Rosina Storchio.
Following her debut, de Hidalgo was quickly engaged for Paris, where she sang Rosina opposite Feodor Chaliapin as Don Basilio. Appearances in Monte-Carlo, Prague, and Cairo followed.
Her debut with the New York Metropolitan Opera occurred in 1910, as Rosina. With that company, de Hidalgo sang in Rigoletto (with Enrico Caruso) and La sonnambula (with Alessandro Bonci) in the same season. She would return to the Met in 1924-25, for Il barbiere di Siviglia (directed by Armando Agnini), Rigoletto (conducted by Tullio Serafin), and Lucia di Lammermoor (with Beniamino Gigli).
Following that New York debut, she sang in Florence, in Linda di Chamounix and Don Giovanni (as Zerlina, opposite Mattia Battistini). She also portrayed Rosina in Rome, in 1911.
In 1916, she made her debut with the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, as Rosina, which she repeated there in 1921. The following year, de Hidalgo appeared in Buenos Aires at the Teatro Colón, in Rigoletto, La traviata, and Il barbiere. In 1924, she appeared in London with the British National Opera Company, at Covent Garden, in Rigoletto. That same year, she sang Lakmé and Il barbiere in Chicago. In 1926-27, she appeared opposite Chaliapin again, for a tour of the United States and Canada, with his Universal Artists Incorporation Company, in Il barbiere.
She recorded for Columbia, in 1907-08, with arias from Il barbiere, La sonnambula, and I puritani committed to disc. In 1909-10, she made discs for Fonotipia, with excerpts recorded from Il barbiere, Don Pasquale, La sonnambula, Roméo et Juliette, Dinorah, L'elisir d'amore, Don Giovanni, and Mireille. She apparently returned to the Columbia studios, in 1925, to record a performance of the "Mad Scene" from Dinorah.
De Hidalgo began teaching in 1933, and later held a position at the Athens Conservatoire, where the young soprano Callas became her student. In 1957, Callas wrote of the woman who had an "essential role" in her artistic formation:
It is to this illustrious Spanish artist, whom the public and the old subscribers at La Scala will certainly recall as an unforgettable and superlative Rosina and as a splendid interpreter of other important roles, it is to this illustrious artist, I repeat, with a moved, devoted, and grateful heart, that I owe all my preparation and my artistic formation as an actress and musician. This elect woman, who, besides giving me her precious teaching, gave me her whole heart as well ... .
[edit] References
- Callas, As They Saw Her, by David Allan Lowe, The Ungar Publishing Company, 1986. ISBN 0-8044-5636-4
- The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, by John Warrack & Ewan West, Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-19-280028-0
