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[[Image:Celestina Boninsegna.jpg|thumb|160 px|right|Celestina Boninsegna]]
[[Image:Celestina Boninsegna.jpg|thumb|160 px|right|Celestina Boninsegna]]
'''Celestina Boninsegna''' (26 February 1877 [[Reggio Emilia]] – 14 February 1947 [[Milan]]) was an [[Italy|Italian]] [[opera|operatic]] [[soprano]], admired for her interpretations of the heroines in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s [[operas]]. Although particularly eminent in Verdi's works, she sang a wide repertoire during her 25 year career, including Rosaura in the world premiere of [[Mascagni]]'s ''[[Le maschere]]''.<ref>''Le maschere'' premiered simultaneously in seven Italian cites. Boninsegna sang in the performance at the [[Teatro Costanzi]] in [[Rome]], conducted by Mascagni himself.</ref> Boninsegna made many recordings between 1904 and 1918, and her voice was one of the most successfully recorded in that period.<ref>Tuggle, Metropolitan Opera Archives</ref>
'''Celestina Boninsegna''' (26 February 1877, [[Reggio Emilia]] – 14 February 1947, [[Milan]]) was an [[Italian people|Italian]] [[opera|operatic]] [[soprano]], admired for her interpretations of the heroines in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s [[operas]]. Although particularly eminent in Verdi's works, she sang a wide repertoire during her 25 year career, including Rosaura in the world premiere of [[Mascagni]]'s ''[[Le maschere]]''.<ref>''Le maschere'' premiered simultaneously in seven Italian cites. Boninsegna sang in the performance at the [[Teatro Costanzi]] in [[Rome]], conducted by Mascagni himself.</ref> Boninsegna made many recordings between 1904 and 1918, and her voice was one of the most successfully recorded in that period.<ref>Tuggle, Metropolitan Opera Archives</ref>




Revision as of 14:26, 20 October 2008

Celestina Boninsegna

Celestina Boninsegna (26 February 1877, Reggio Emilia – 14 February 1947, Milan) was an Italian operatic soprano, admired for her interpretations of the heroines in Verdi's operas. Although particularly eminent in Verdi's works, she sang a wide repertoire during her 25 year career, including Rosaura in the world premiere of Mascagni's Le maschere.[1] Boninsegna made many recordings between 1904 and 1918, and her voice was one of the most successfully recorded in that period.[2]


Career

Boninsegna began to study singing in her youth with Guglielmo Mattioli in Reggio Emilia. She made her professional opera debut at the unusually young age of 15, singing Norina in Don Pasquale. She entered the Conservatorio Gioachino Rossini in Pesaro shortly thereafter, where she studied under Virginia Boccabadati. In 1897 she made her début at Bari as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust. Subsequently she sang Rosaura in the first Rome performance of Mascagni’s Le maschere. This was followed by many engagments throughout Italy, Europe, and the United States including Covent Garden (1904), La Scala (1904–5), Teatro Real (1905–6), and the Metropolitan Opera (1906–7). She also appeared in Boston (1909–10), at the Liceu in Barcelona (1911–12), in St Petersburg (1914), and in numerous less important theatres in Italy and abroad. She retired from the stage in 1921 and spent the next two decades teaching singing. Amongst her pupils was Margherita Grandi.

Boninsegna possessed a rich, resonant voice with a wide compass that was particularly suited to Verdi. She was considered one of the finest interpreters of several Verdi heroines including the title role in Aida, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, and Leonora in both Il trovatore and La forza del destino. Critics particularly admired her smooth vocal delivery and the dignity and refinement that she gave to the vocal lines of the music. However, in an era of dynamic and passionate singing actresses (such as Gemma Bellincioni and Emmy Destinn), Boninsegna's acting skills were somewhat dull in comparison and her career suffered to some extent as a result. Furthermore, with the exception of Santuza in Cavalleria rusticana and the title role in Puccini's Tosca, Boninsegna was either unfamiliar with or simply not cast in the verismo repertory which was very popular during the time she was performing, a problem that prejudiced her career. However, she scored a great success on gramophone records, being one of the first dramatic sopranos whose voice recorded well.

Roles

Recordings

For her day, Boninsegna was a prolific recording artist. She recorded 106 sides, nearly as many as the combined output of her contemporaries Olive Fremstad, Emma Eames, Lillian Nordica, and Marcella Sembrich.[4] She began to record in 1904 for Gramophone & Typewriter Milan with "In quelle trine morbide" from Manon Lescaut and went on to make over thirty recordings for that label by 1918. She also recorded for Pathé, Edison, His Master's Voice and Columbia. Her Columbia recordings, made between 1909 and 1910, were amongst her most acclaimed and were later issued on LP.[5] Many arias from her recordings, including those made for Columbia, are available on CD:

  • Celestina Boninsegna - Arias Label: Pearl 9219
  • Lebendige Vergangenheit (Legendary Voices) - Celestina Boninsegna Label: Preiser 89584
  • Celestina Boninsegna, The Symposium Opera Collection Vol. 13. Label: Symposium 1323

Notes and references

  1. ^ Le maschere premiered simultaneously in seven Italian cites. Boninsegna sang in the performance at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, conducted by Mascagni himself.
  2. ^ Tuggle, Metropolitan Opera Archives
  3. ^ Janko (sometimes spelled Yanko) - opera in three acts by Primo Bandini to a libretto by Enrico Panzacchi revised by Angelo Zanardini. Premiered Teatro Regio di Torino, 1897
  4. ^ Tuggle, Metropolitan Opera Archives
  5. ^ Hoffmann (2005) p. 119

Audio files

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