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Luisa Tetrazzini (June 29, 1871 - April 28, 1940) was an Italian dramatic coloratura soprano of enormous fame.

Her voice was remarkable for its scintillating thrust, thrilling tone and phenomenal flexibility, especially above the stave. She enjoyed a tremendously successful operatic and concert career in Europe and America from the 1890s through to the 1920s and earned huge fees at the height of her career. Her final years, however, were marred by poverty and ill-health.

Biography

Luisa Tetrazzini was born in Florence. Reportedly, she began singing at the age of three. Her first voice teacher was her elder sister, Eva Tetrazzini (1862-1938), who also became a leading singer.

Tetrazzini later undertook formal stddies at the Instituto Musicale in Florence. In 1890, while still a teenager, she made her operatic debut in her home city as Inez in Meyerbeer's L'Africaine when the scheduled soprano canceled on short notice. The first part of her ensuing stage career was spent mainly in Italian provincial theaters and on tour in Russia (then a highly lucrative place to sing), Spain and South America. Her repertory consisted primarily of lyric-coloratura parts like Violetta, Philine, Oscar, Gilda and Lucia although she would make the occasional foray into parts as demandingly dramatic as Aida.

Tetrazzini made her American debut in San Francisco in 1905. It was highly successful and the New York City Metropolitan Opera's general manager, Heinrich Conried, took an option on her services at once. Unaccountably, however, he failed to engage her. Having achieved further artistic triumphs on America's West Coast, she went on to New York where she would prove eventually to be a sensation, performing under contract to Oscar Hammerstein with his Manhattan Opera Company. (Hammerstein's company boasted an outstanding roster of singers and was the Met's chief rival at the time.)

After encountering some legal difficulties that delayed her from performing as scheduled in New York, she held a press conference and declared, "I will sing in San Francisco if I have to sing there in the streets, for I know the streets of San Francisco are free." This line became famous. She won her legal case, and her agent announced she would sing in the streets of San Francisco. On a crystal clear Christmas Eve in 1910, at the corner of Market and Kearney near Lotta's Fountain, Tetrazzini climbed a stage platform in a sparkling white gown, surrounded by a throng of an estimated two to three-hundred thousand San Franciscans, and serenaded the city she loved.

In 1907 Tetrazzini made a sensational debut as Violetta in La Traviata at the Royal Opera House, Covent Covent Garden in London, where she had been completely unknown to that point. From then on, she was transformed into a bona fide international superstar, commanding the highest fees and selling out opera houses and concert halls wherever she performed.

At last, in 1908, Tetrazzini finally got to appear in New York; not at the Metropolitan, but at Hammerstein's Manhattan Opera, again as Violetta and again with great success. She remained loyal to Hammerstein and appeared at the Met for just one season, in 1911-12. (She gave only eight Met performances, in the roles of Lucia, Violetta, and Gilda).

Tetrazzini possessed an extraordinary singing technique that enabled her to surmount any vocal challenge with almost insolent ease. She had complete mastery of runs, trills, staccati and vocal ornaments of all kinds. She also had a brilliant upper register, extending easily to E above high C. Unlike many other coloratura sopranos, such as Amelita Galli-Curci, Tetrazzini's high notes were not thin and delicate, but full, powerful and resounding. On the debit side of the ledger, her vocal registers were not as well-integrated as those belonging to her direct soprano rival, Nellie Melba. Also, although her lower register was strong, her middle voice was comparatively 'white' in tone, with a quality which some American and English critics described as "infantile" but which appealed to contemporary Italian taste. The Irish tenor John McCormack even went so far as to compare it, using hyperbole, to the "the wailing of a cross infant". With age, however, Tetrazzini's middle register filled out to some extent; and it should be noted that the way that her mid-voice sounded, even when younger, seems not to have troubled Mediterranean music critics and audiences.

Tetrazzini was short and stout and a limited actress. But she was a good musician and she possessed a zestful, infectiously vivacious personality. These extra-vocal qualities come shining through on the many records which she made. She recorded extensively for Victor and HMV. Her best recordings include a spectacular rendition of "Io son Titania" from Ambroise Thomas' Mignon and "Saper vorreste" from Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, in which Tetrazzini's personality virtually jumps out of the grooves at the listener. On a different note, her recording of "Addio del passato" from La Traviata is very moving and also demonstrates her fine legato, as is her "Ah non credea mirarti" from La Sonnambula. Her "Una voce poco fa," and "Ah non giunge," made for the Victor label in 1911, remain, after all these years, unequalled for their sheer joy, easy virtuosity and spectacular ornamentation.

Tetrazzini had a bitter feud with Nellie Melba at Covent Garden but was generally well-liked by other colleagues, including Enrico Caruso and Frieda Hempel. Adelina Patti, the premiere soprano of an earlier generation, and not known for her generosity towards other singers, was a fan of Tetrazzini's singing, and made it a point to attend and loudly applaud the younger soprano's performances.

Tetrazzini withdrew from the operatic stage during the upheavals caused by World War One but gave concerts.

She was less fortunate in her marriages (three of them) than in her career. Her third husband dissipated the considerable fortune she had amassed, forcing her to continue to give concerts long after her voice had gone. Her last years were spent in financial difficulty and physical decline. However, the soprano remained cheerful and lovable, despite her reduced circumstances. She would often say, "I am old, I am fat, but I am still Tetrazzini." In 1932, when she was retiring, she was filmed listening to a recording of Caruso's rendition of "M'appari, Tutt'Amor," and began to sing along with the record showing that her voice, while rusty, still had plenty of power. (This video can been seen from the link below under the External Links section). Tetrazzini died in Milan on April 28, 1940.^[1] The state paid for her funeral.

Trivia

Luisa is thought to be eponymous of the popular American dish chicken Tetrazzini, which is widely believed to have originated in San Francisco, where she resided for years. She also features in E.M. Forster's first novel 'Where Angels Fear to Tread' as a perspiring Italian lady who insists on keeping the windows open in a train, causing one of the characters to get a smut in her eye. She then turns up as Lucia di Lammermoor on the stage in the Monteriano Opera House. The incidents apparently happened to Forster and his mother while they were making the trip that inspired the book.

Sources

Gattey, Charles Neilson, Luisa Tetrazzini: The Florentine Nightingale (Amadeus Press, Portland 1995).
Pleasants, Henry, The Great Singers (Simon & Schuster, New York 1966).
Scott, Michael, The Record of Singing Vol I (Duckworth, London 1977), 159-161 and passim.
Rosenthal, Harold, and Warrack, John, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, (Oxford University Press, second edition, London, 1980), under "Tetrazzini, Luisa".

Writings

My Life of Song (Dorrance & Co, Philadelphia 1922).
How to Sing (C. Arthur Pearson, London 1923).

CDs

Luisa Tetrazzini: The Complete London Recordings (boxed set); EMI
Luisa Tetrazzini: The Complete Zonophone (1904) and Victor Recordings(1911-20); Romophone.
Luisa Tetrazzini: The Complete Known Recordings (5 volumes); Pearl.
Luisa Tetrazzini, 2 volumes; Nimbus.

References

^ "Year by Year 1941" -- History Channel International

External links

San Francisco Virtual Museum
Biographical notes
Luisa Tetrazzini - includes her 1912 recording of 'Ombra Leggera' from 'Dinorah' (Meyerbeer)
Images of Luisa Tetrazzini from the Portal to Texas History
Tetrazzini on YouTube Luisa Tetrazzini singing along to a Caruso record of "M'appari, Tutt'Amor" when she retired in 1932.
Caruso and Tetrazzini on the Art of Singing, 1909, by Enrico Caruso and Luisa Tetrazzini, from Project Gutenberg

[1] "Year by Year 1941" -- History Channel International

[1]

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 Luisa Tetrazzini was born in [[Florence]]. Reportedly, she began singing at the age of three.  Her first voice teacher was her elder sister, Eva Tetrazzini (1862-1938), who also became a leading singer.
-Tetrazzini later undetook formal stidies at the Instituto Musicale in Florence. In 1890, while still a teenager, she made her operatic debut in her home city in 1890 as Inez in [[Meyerbeer]]'s ''[[L'Africaine]]'' when the scheduled soprano canceled on short notice. The first part of her ensuing stage career was spent mainly in Italian provincial theaters and on tour in [[Russia]] (then a highly lucrative place to sing), [[Spain]] and [[South America]]. Her repertory consisted primarily of lyric-coloratura parts like Violetta, Philine, Oscar, Gilda and Lucia although she would make the occasional foray into parts as demandingly dramatic as Aida.
+Tetrazzini later undertook formal stddies at the Instituto Musicale in Florence. In 1890, while still a teenager, she made her operatic debut in her home city as Inez in [[Meyerbeer]]'s ''[[L'Africaine]]'' when the scheduled soprano canceled on short notice. The first part of her ensuing stage career was spent mainly in Italian provincial theaters and on tour in [[Russia]] (then a highly lucrative place to sing), [[Spain]] and [[South America]]. Her repertory consisted primarily of lyric-coloratura parts like Violetta, Philine, Oscar, Gilda and Lucia although she would make the occasional foray into parts as demandingly dramatic as Aida.
 Tetrazzini made her American debut in [[San Francisco]] in 1905.  It was highly successful and the [[New York City]] [[Metropolitan Opera]]'s general manager, [[Heinrich Conried]], took an option on her services at once. Unaccountably, however, he failed to engage her.  Having achieved further artistic triumphs on America's West Coast, she went on to New York where she would prove eventually to be a sensation, performing under contract to [[Oscar Hammerstein I|Oscar Hammerstein]] with his [[Manhattan Opera Company]]. (Hammerstein's company boasted an outstanding roster of singers and was the Met's chief rival at the time.)
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 After encountering some legal difficulties that delayed her from performing as scheduled in New York, she held a press conference and declared, "I will sing in San Francisco if I have to sing there in the streets, for I know the streets of San Francisco are free." This line became famous. She won her legal case, and her agent announced she would sing in the streets of San Francisco. On a crystal clear [[Christmas Eve]] in 1910, at the corner of Market and Kearney near [[Lotta's Fountain]], Tetrazzini climbed a stage platform in a sparkling white gown, surrounded by a throng of an estimated two to three-hundred thousand San Franciscans, and serenaded the city she loved.
-In 1907 Tetrazzini made a sensational debut as Violetta in ''[[La Traviata]]'' at the [[Royal Opera House]], [[Covent Covent Garden]] in [[London]], where she had been completely unknown to that point. From then on, she became a ''bona fide'' international operatic superstar, commanding the highest fees and selling out opera houses and concert halls wherever she performed.
+In 1907 Tetrazzini made a sensational debut as Violetta in ''[[La Traviata]]'' at the [[Royal Opera House]], [[Covent Covent Garden]] in [[London]], where she had been completely unknown to that point. From then on, she was transformed into a ''bona fide'' international superstar, commanding the highest fees and selling out opera houses and concert halls wherever she performed.
 At last, in 1908, Tetrazzini finally got to appear in [[New York]]; not at the Metropolitan, but at Hammerstein's Manhattan Opera, again as Violetta and again with great success. She remained loyal to Hammerstein and appeared at the Met for just one season, in 1911-12. (She gave only eight Met performances, in the roles of Lucia, Violetta, and Gilda).
-Tetrazzini possessed an extraordinary singing technique that enabled her to surmount any vocal challenge with almost insolent ease.  She had complete mastery of runs, trills, staccati and vocal ornaments of all kinds.  She also had a brilliant upper register, extending to E above high C.  Unlike many other coloratura sopranos, such as [[Amelita Galli-Curci]], Tetrazzini's high notes were not thin and delicate, but full, powerful and resounding.  On the debit side of the ledger, her vocal registers were not as well-integrated as those belonging to her direct soprano rival, [[Nellie Melba]]. Also, although her lower register was strong, her middle voice was comparatively 'white' in tone, with a quality which some American and English critics described as "infantile" but which appealed to contemporary Italian taste. The Irish tenor [[John McCormack]] even went so far as to compare it, using hyperbole, to the "the wailing of a cross infant". With age, however, Tetrazzini's middle register filled out to some extent; and it should be noted that the way that her mid-voice sounded, even when younger, seems not to have troubled Mediterranean music critics and audiences.
+Tetrazzini possessed an extraordinary singing technique that enabled her to surmount any vocal challenge with almost insolent ease.  She had complete mastery of runs, trills, staccati and vocal ornaments of all kinds.  She also had a brilliant upper register, extending easily to E above high C.  Unlike many other coloratura sopranos, such as [[Amelita Galli-Curci]], Tetrazzini's high notes were not thin and delicate, but full, powerful and resounding.  On the debit side of the ledger, her vocal registers were not as well-integrated as those belonging to her direct soprano rival, [[Nellie Melba]]. Also, although her lower register was strong, her middle voice was comparatively 'white' in tone, with a quality which some American and English critics described as "infantile" but which appealed to contemporary Italian taste. The Irish tenor [[John McCormack]] even went so far as to compare it, using hyperbole, to the "the wailing of a cross infant". With age, however, Tetrazzini's middle register filled out to some extent; and it should be noted that the way that her mid-voice sounded, even when younger, seems not to have troubled Mediterranean music critics and audiences.
 Tetrazzini was short and stout and a limited actress.  But she was a good musician and she possessed a zestful, infectiously vivacious personality. These extra-vocal qualities come shining through on the many records which she made.  She recorded extensively for [[Victor Talking Machine Company|Victor]] and [[HMV]].  Her best recordings include a spectacular rendition of "Io son Titania" from [[Ambroise Thomas]]' ''[[Mignon]]'' and "Saper vorreste" from [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[Un ballo in maschera]]'', in which Tetrazzini's personality virtually jumps out of the grooves at the listener.  On a different note, her recording of "Addio del passato" from ''[[La Traviata]]'' is very moving and also demonstrates her fine [[legato]], as is her "Ah non credea mirarti" from ''[[La Sonnambula]]''.  Her "Una voce poco fa," and "Ah non giunge," made for the Victor label in 1911, remain, after all these years, unequalled for their sheer joy, easy virtuosity and spectacular ornamentation.