Amelita Galli-Curci

Galli-Curci, Amelita 

Born Nov. 18, 1889, in Milan; died Nov. 26, 1963, in La Jolla, Calif. Italian coloratura soprano.

Galli-Curci graduated from the Milan Conservatory in 1903 as a pianist. Later, on the recommendation of P. Mascagni, she studied singing. In 1906 she made her operatic debut at Trani as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto. She lived in the USA from 1916 until her death, and she performed in opera theaters in many countries. From 1930 to 1938, Galli-Curci performed primarily at concerts. She was an outstanding representative of Italian operatic art—one of the performers whose work helped shape the national and international vocal art.

Galli-Curci’s roles included Rosina in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, Lakmé in Lakmé by Delibes, Lucia in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Elvira in Bellini’s The Puritans, and the Queen of Shemakhan in The Golden Cockerel by Rimsky-Korsakov. She sang in St. Petersburg in 1914.

REFERENCES

Timokhin, V. Vydaiushchiesia ital’ianskie pevtsy. Moscow, 1962.
La Massena, E. Galli-Curci’s Life of Song. New York, 1945.