Eugenia Tadolini
Encyclopedia
Eugenia Tadolini (9 July 1809 – 11 July 1872) was an Italian operatic soprano
. Admired for the beauty of her voice and stage presence, she was one of Donizetti
's favourite singers. During her career she created over 20 leading roles, including the title roles in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix
and Maria di Rohan
and Verdi's Alzira
. She was born in Forlì
and studied music there and in Bologna
before making her debut in Florence
in 1828. She sang in all of Italy's leading opera houses, as well as in Paris, Vienna, and London before retiring from the stage in 1852. She spent her remaining years first in Naples
, where she had been the Teatro San Carlo's reigning prima donna
for many years, and then in Paris, where she died of typhoid fever
at the age of 63. From 1827 to 1834, she was married to the Italian composer and singing teacher, Giovanni Tadolini
.
. Her father, Filippo Savorani, a high-ranking civil servant, saw to it that she received a good education for the time, including music lessons with Luigi Favi and Giovanni Grilli at the music academy in Forlì. When she began to develop a soprano voice, described by a contemporary biographer as "sweet, powerful, charming, and with perfect intonation
", she was sent to Bologna
to study with Giovanni Tadolini (1785–1872), a well-known composer, conductor and singing teacher.
She and Giovanni Tadolini married on 13 April 1827. She was 18 and he 42. The following year she made her stage debut in Florence
. A brilliant house debut at the Teatro Regio di Parma
followed on 29 December 1829 when she sang Giulietta in the theatre's first performance of Nicola Vaccai
's Giulietta e Romeo
. She appeared there the following year in the theatre's first performances of two Rossini operas – as Amenaide in Tancredi
and as Bianca in Bianca e Faliero. Tadolini's husband was a close friend and admirer of the composer who was also living in Bologna at the time. In 1830, she sang in a soirée at Rossini's house there, the highlight of which was Rossini himself singing an aria from The Barber of Seville. She also sang Zoraide in Rossini's Ricciardo e Zoraide
in its first performance at the Théâtre-Italien
in Paris (23 October 1830). Although the Rossinian repertoire (including Rosina in The Barber of Seville
) figured primarily in the earliest years of her career, she would later sing the title role in his Armida
for a major revival at La Scala
in 1836.
By the summer of 1830, Eugenia and Giovanni Tadolini had settled in Paris where both were engaged at the Théâtre-Italien, she as a singer in a company that included Maria Malibran
and Giuditta Pasta
and he as maestro concertatore
. Their marriage proved to be an unhappy one, however. The couple separated in 1833 and were divorced in 1834. Following her separation from her husband, she returned to Italy where she was soon in great demand in that country's opera houses, singing leading roles at La Scala, La Fenice
, the Teatro Regio di Torino, and the Teatro San Carlo, amongst others.
said of Tadolini, "She is a singer, she is an actress, she is everything". Tadolini's association with Donizetti began in 1831 when she sang the role of Giovanna Seymour in the premiere of the second version of Anna Bolena
at The King's Theatre
in London. She sang the role again at the Théâtre-Italien
in Paris for its French premiere later that year. By 1842, she had graduated to singing the title role in Anna Bolena (at the Theater am Kärntnertor
in Vienna). In that same year she sang the title role in world premiere of Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix
which he wrote specifically for voice. In 1843, she created the title role in his Maria di Rohan
, again specifically written for her voice. She went on to sing in the Italian premieres of his Poliuto
(as Paolina) and La Favorita
(as Leonora). Her other notable Donizetti roles which she sang in some of their earliest performances included Eleonora in Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo
(in its first performance at La Scala), the title role in Fausta
, Pia in Pia de' Tolomei
, Eleonora in L'esule di Roma, ossia Il proscritto, Antonina in Belisario
, Elena in Marino Faliero
, the title role in Maria Padilla
, Gemma in Gemma di Vergy
, Norina in Don Pasquale
, and Adina in L'elisir d'amore
. One of her earliest performances as Adina had been in Vienna in 1835. When she sang the role for the 1842 revival of L'elisir d'amore in Naples, Donizetti composed a completely new final cabaletta
for her, "Obblia le tue pene".
An early admirer of Verdi
, she created the title role of Alzira
in 1845 and sang in some of the earliest performances of four of his other operas: Griselda in I Lombardi alla prima crociata
, Elvira in Ernani
, Odabella in Attila
, and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth
. She in turn was admired by Verdi's wife, Giuseppina Strepponi
, who termed her "one of the greatest talents we possess". In 1844 she sang in the Vienna premiere of Ernani after which, the composer heard (much to his annoyance) that she had substituted her Act I cavatina
, "Ernani! Ernani, involami" with Giselda's cavatina "Non fu sogno" from I Lombardi alla prima crociata. Nevertheless, the Vienna premiere was a resounding success, even without the original cavatina, and Verdi was determined to have her as his first Alzira. He even delayed the rehearsals until she recovered from the birth of her child. In 1848, however, he wanted her to be replaced as Lady Macbeth for the first Naples performance of Macbeth on the grounds that her voice and appearance were too beautiful. In his often quoted letter to Salvadore Cammarano, which he wanted passed on to the Teatro San Carlo management, Verdi wrote:
Despite Verdi's urging, and the best efforts of Cammarano, the theatre refused to replace her, as she was one of its reigning stars at the time.
Verdi's view of her unsuitability for roles like Lady Macbeth was similar to that expressed 10 years earlier by Felice Romani
who saw her in Bellini
's La straniera
. Although he praised the quality of her singing in the performance, and was a long time admirer of Tadolini, Felice found her lovely voice and appearance less than ideal for a role like Alaide:
Tadolini sang several other Bellini heroines in addition to Alaide, most notably Elvira in I puritani
, Imogene in Il pirata
, the title role in Norma
and Amina in La sonnambula
. Her Amina which she sang in Vienna, Paris, and several Italian theatres, was particularly admired.
She was also closely associated with the operas of Saverio Mercadante
. Tadolini sang in the world premieres of his Emma d'Antiochia, Le due illustri rivali, and Il bravo, ossia La veneziana and in the premiere of the revised version of Francesca Donato ossia Corinto distrutta, as well as in some of the earliest performances of his Il giuramento
and Orazi e Curiazi
. Mercadante had also written the role of Lea in La schiava saracena expressly for her voice. However, the outbreak of the 1848 Revolution
in Milan aborted the premiere and forced the temporary closure of La Scala
. Another soprano, Carlotta Gruitz, sang the role in its official premiere later that year. Tadolini eventually sang Lea in 1850, for the premiere of the work's revised version at the Teatro San Carlo.
, although she still performed in other Italian theatres and abroad. She sang in the world premieres of at least 12 operas at the Teatro San Carlo, most of them now forgotten, apart from Verdi's Alzira
and Donizetti's Poliuto
. During that time, she also formed a relationship with a Neapolitan nobleman by whom she had two children, both of whom died in childhood.
In the spring of 1848, she travelled to London for what the contemporary press often billed as her "debut", although she had appeared there in 1831 in the secondary role of Giovanna Seymour for the London premiere of Donizetti's Anna Bolena
. This time she was returning as an established star and was to sing the title role in Linda di Chamounix
opposite Sims Reeves
at Her Majesty's Theatre
. In the week prior to the opening of Linda di Chamounix, The Musical World printed an extract from a letter by The Times
political correspondent in Italy, extolling her virtues (dated 26 March 1848):
While her reception at the opening night of Linda di Chamounix was very warm, it was not the ecstatic one predicted by the press. Sims Reeves' performance, on the other hand, was described as "triumphant". Tadolini was nearly 40 at the time, and her voice may have been past its prime. However Ashbrook has suggested that her relative lack of success with the British public may be partly attributable to its obsession with Jenny Lind
at the time. While in London, she also sang Norina in Don Pasquale
(again warmly, but not ecstatically, received) and participated in several concerts before returning to Naples. Later that year she sang in the Teatro San Carlo's first performance of Verdi's Attila
and in the posthumous premiere of Donizetti's Poliuto
.
's Caterina Howard (1849), and as Elfrida in De Giosa's Folco d'Arles (1851). During that time she also sang in the theatre's first performances of Verdi's Macbeth, Donizetti's La favorita
, and Mercadante's La schiava saracena. She ventured out of her adopted city in December 1852 to sing Giselda in Verdi's I Lombardi alla prima crociata
at the Teatro Metastasio in Prato
. After that she retired from the stage and settled down in Naples with her only surviving child. He too would die three years later in the city's 1855-56 cholera
epidemic. In 1860, Garibaldi and his troops invaded the city. King Francis II
and his court fled to north to Gaeta
. Tadolini and her current lover, a young Neapolitan prince, fled to Paris, where she spent the remaining 12 years of her life. Once she was settled in Paris, she wrote to her brother:
At first she lived in an apartment on the Champs-Élysées
, but worried that her money would run out, she later moved to less expensive quarters on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
.
In July 1872, she contracted typhoid fever
and initially refused to see a doctor because it brought back memories of her children's deaths. Eugenia Tadolini died of the disease on 11 July 1872 at the age of 63 and was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery
.
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
. Admired for the beauty of her voice and stage presence, she was one of Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's favourite singers. During her career she created over 20 leading roles, including the title roles in Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
and Maria di Rohan
Maria di Rohan
Maria di Rohan is a melodramma tragico, or tragic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano, after Lockroy and Edmond Badon's Un duel sous le cardinal de Richelieu, which had played in Paris in 1832.- Roles :- Synopsis :The comte de...
and Verdi's Alzira
Alzira (opera)
Alzira is an opera in a prologue and two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Alzire, ou les Américains by Voltaire.The first performance was at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, on August 12, 1845...
. She was born in Forlì
Forlì
Forlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...
and studied music there and in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
before making her debut in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
in 1828. She sang in all of Italy's leading opera houses, as well as in Paris, Vienna, and London before retiring from the stage in 1852. She spent her remaining years first in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, where she had been the Teatro San Carlo's reigning prima donna
Prima donna
Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano...
for many years, and then in Paris, where she died of typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
at the age of 63. From 1827 to 1834, she was married to the Italian composer and singing teacher, Giovanni Tadolini
Giovanni Tadolini
Giovanni Tadolini was an Italian composer, conductor and singing instructor, who enjoyed a career that alternated between Bologna and Paris. Tadolini is probably best known for completing six sections of Rossini's 1833 version of the Stabat mater after the latter fell sick...
.
Biography
Early years and first successes
Eugenia Tadolini was born into a prosperous middle class family in ForlìForlì
Forlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...
. Her father, Filippo Savorani, a high-ranking civil servant, saw to it that she received a good education for the time, including music lessons with Luigi Favi and Giovanni Grilli at the music academy in Forlì. When she began to develop a soprano voice, described by a contemporary biographer as "sweet, powerful, charming, and with perfect intonation
Intonation (music)
Intonation, in music, is a musician's realization of pitch accuracy, or the pitch accuracy of a musical instrument. Intonation may be flat, sharp, or both, successively or simultaneously.-Interval, melody, and harmony:...
", she was sent to Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
to study with Giovanni Tadolini (1785–1872), a well-known composer, conductor and singing teacher.
She and Giovanni Tadolini married on 13 April 1827. She was 18 and he 42. The following year she made her stage debut in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. A brilliant house debut at the Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma
Teatro Regio di Parma is a famous 19th century opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy. The theatre was originally known as the Teatro Ducale....
followed on 29 December 1829 when she sang Giulietta in the theatre's first performance of Nicola Vaccai
Nicola Vaccai
Nicola Vaccai was an Italian composer, particularly of operas, and a singing teacher.-Life and career as a composer:...
's Giulietta e Romeo
Giulietta e Romeo (Vaccai)
Giulietta e Romeo is an opera in two acts by the Italian composer Nicola Vaccai. The libretto, by Felice Romani, is based on the tragedy by of the same name by Luigi Scevola and, ultimately, on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It was first performed at the Teatro alla Canobbiana, Milan on 31...
. She appeared there the following year in the theatre's first performances of two Rossini operas – as Amenaide in Tancredi
Tancredi
Tancredi is a melodramma eroico in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi, based on Voltaire's play Tancrède...
and as Bianca in Bianca e Faliero. Tadolini's husband was a close friend and admirer of the composer who was also living in Bologna at the time. In 1830, she sang in a soirée at Rossini's house there, the highlight of which was Rossini himself singing an aria from The Barber of Seville. She also sang Zoraide in Rossini's Ricciardo e Zoraide
Ricciardo e Zoraide
Ricciardo e Zoraide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Francesco Berio de Salsa...
in its first performance at the Théâtre-Italien
Comédie-Italienne
Over time, there have been several buildings and several theatrical companies named the "Théâtre-Italien" or the "Comédie-Italienne" in Paris. Following the times, the theatre has shown both plays and operas...
in Paris (23 October 1830). Although the Rossinian repertoire (including Rosina in The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
) figured primarily in the earliest years of her career, she would later sing the title role in his Armida
Armida (Rossini)
Armida is an opera in three acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Schmidt, based on scenes from Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso.-Performance history:...
for a major revival at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
in 1836.
By the summer of 1830, Eugenia and Giovanni Tadolini had settled in Paris where both were engaged at the Théâtre-Italien, she as a singer in a company that included Maria Malibran
Maria Malibran
The mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran , was one of the most famous opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality and dramatic intensity, becoming a legendary figure after her death at age 28...
and Giuditta Pasta
Giuditta Pasta
Giuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Pasta , born in Saronno, Italy, was a soprano considered among the greatest of opera singers, to whom the 20th-century soprano Maria Callas was compared.-Studies and career:...
and he as maestro concertatore
Maestro
Maestro is a title of extreme respect given to a master musician. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera. This is associated with the ubiquitous use of Italian vocabulary for classical music terms...
. Their marriage proved to be an unhappy one, however. The couple separated in 1833 and were divorced in 1834. Following her separation from her husband, she returned to Italy where she was soon in great demand in that country's opera houses, singing leading roles at La Scala, La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
, the Teatro Regio di Torino, and the Teatro San Carlo, amongst others.
Donizetti, Verdi, Bellini, and Mercadante heroines
Gaetano DonizettiGaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
said of Tadolini, "She is a singer, she is an actress, she is everything". Tadolini's association with Donizetti began in 1831 when she sang the role of Giovanna Seymour in the premiere of the second version of Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...
at The King's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
in London. She sang the role again at the Théâtre-Italien
Comédie-Italienne
Over time, there have been several buildings and several theatrical companies named the "Théâtre-Italien" or the "Comédie-Italienne" in Paris. Following the times, the theatre has shown both plays and operas...
in Paris for its French premiere later that year. By 1842, she had graduated to singing the title role in Anna Bolena (at the Theater am Kärntnertor
Theater am Kärntnertor
Theater am Kärntnertor or Kärntnertortheater was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries...
in Vienna). In that same year she sang the title role in world premiere of Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
which he wrote specifically for voice. In 1843, she created the title role in his Maria di Rohan
Maria di Rohan
Maria di Rohan is a melodramma tragico, or tragic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano, after Lockroy and Edmond Badon's Un duel sous le cardinal de Richelieu, which had played in Paris in 1832.- Roles :- Synopsis :The comte de...
, again specifically written for her voice. She went on to sing in the Italian premieres of his Poliuto
Poliuto
Poliuto is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Pierre Corneille's play Polyeucte . It was composed in 1838 and first performed on 30 November 1848 at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples...
(as Paolina) and La Favorita
La favorite
La favorite is an opera in four acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a French-language libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz, based on the play Le comte de Comminges by Baculard d'Arnaud...
(as Leonora). Her other notable Donizetti roles which she sang in some of their earliest performances included Eleonora in Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo
Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo
Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo is a melodramma, or opera, in three acts by composer Gaetano Donizetti. Jacopo Ferretti wrote the Italian libretto after Miguel de Cervantes's novel Don Quixote. The opera premiered at the Teatro Valle in Rome, Italy on 2 January 1833...
(in its first performance at La Scala), the title role in Fausta
Fausta
Fausta Flavia Maxima was a Roman Empress, daughter of the Roman Emperor Maximianus. To seal the alliance between them for control of the Tetrarchy, in 307 Maximianus married her to Constantine I, who set aside his wife Minervina in her favour. Constantine and Fausta had been betrothed since...
, Pia in Pia de' Tolomei
Pia de' Tolomei
Pia de' Tolomei is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Bartolomeo Sestini's novella, in its turn after Dante's narrative poem The Divine Comedy part 2: Purgatorio...
, Eleonora in L'esule di Roma, ossia Il proscritto, Antonina in Belisario
Belisario
Belisario is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Luigi Marchionni's adaptation of Eduard von Schenk's play. The plot is loosely based on the life of the famous general Belisarius of the 6th century Byzantine Empire...
, Elena in Marino Faliero
Marino Faliero (opera)
Marino Faliero is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Giovanni Emanuele Bidéra wrote the Italian libretto, with revisions by Agostino Ruffini, after Casimir Delavigne's play...
, the title role in Maria Padilla
Maria Padilla
Maria Padilla is a melodramma, or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Gaetano Rossi and the composer wrote the Italian libretto after François Ancelot's play. It premiered on December 26, 1841 at La Scala, Milan...
, Gemma in Gemma di Vergy
Gemma di Vergy
Gemma de Vergy is a tragedia lirica or tragic opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti from a libretto by Emanuele Bidéra. It is based on the tragedy Charles VII chez ses grands vassaux by Alexandre Dumas père, which was later to become the subject of the opera The Saracen by the Russian composer...
, Norina in Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio ....
, and Adina in L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore
L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts...
. One of her earliest performances as Adina had been in Vienna in 1835. When she sang the role for the 1842 revival of L'elisir d'amore in Naples, Donizetti composed a completely new final cabaletta
Cabaletta
Cabaletta describes the two-part musical form particularly favored for arias in 19th century Italian opera, and is more properly the name of the more animated section following the songlike cantabile. It often introduces a complication or intensification of emotion and/or plot. Some sources...
for her, "Obblia le tue pene".
An early admirer of Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
, she created the title role of Alzira
Alzira (opera)
Alzira is an opera in a prologue and two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Alzire, ou les Américains by Voltaire.The first performance was at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, on August 12, 1845...
in 1845 and sang in some of the earliest performances of four of his other operas: Griselda in I Lombardi alla prima crociata
I Lombardi alla prima crociata
I Lombardi alla prima crociata is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on an epic poem by Tommaso Grossi. Its first performance was given at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 11 February 1843...
, Elvira in Ernani
Ernani
Ernani is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Hernani by Victor Hugo. The first production took place at La Fenice Theatre, Venice on 9 March 1844...
, Odabella in Attila
Attila (opera)
Attila is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the play Attila, König der Hunnen by Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner. Initially, Verdi had enlisted Francesco Maria Piave to prepare the libretto, after Verdi's own scenario...
, and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth
Macbeth (opera)
Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name...
. She in turn was admired by Verdi's wife, Giuseppina Strepponi
Giuseppina Strepponi
Clelia Maria Josepha Strepponi was a nineteenth century Italian operatic soprano of great renown and the second wife of composer Giuseppe Verdi...
, who termed her "one of the greatest talents we possess". In 1844 she sang in the Vienna premiere of Ernani after which, the composer heard (much to his annoyance) that she had substituted her Act I cavatina
Cavatina
Cavatina is a musical term, originally a short song of simple character, without a second strain or any repetition of the air...
, "Ernani! Ernani, involami" with Giselda's cavatina "Non fu sogno" from I Lombardi alla prima crociata. Nevertheless, the Vienna premiere was a resounding success, even without the original cavatina, and Verdi was determined to have her as his first Alzira. He even delayed the rehearsals until she recovered from the birth of her child. In 1848, however, he wanted her to be replaced as Lady Macbeth for the first Naples performance of Macbeth on the grounds that her voice and appearance were too beautiful. In his often quoted letter to Salvadore Cammarano, which he wanted passed on to the Teatro San Carlo management, Verdi wrote:
You know how highly I regard Tadolini, and she herself knows it; but I believe it's necessary — for the interest of all concerned. Tadolini's qualities are far too good for that role! This may seem absurd to you!! ... Tadolini has a beautiful and attractive appearance; and I would like Lady Macbeth to be ugly and evil. Tadolini sings to perfection; and I would like the Lady not to sing. Tadolini has a stupendous voice, clear, limpid, powerful; and I would like the Lady to have a harsh, stifled, and hollow voice. Tadolini's voice has an angelic quality; I would like the Lady's voice to be diabolical.
Despite Verdi's urging, and the best efforts of Cammarano, the theatre refused to replace her, as she was one of its reigning stars at the time.
Verdi's view of her unsuitability for roles like Lady Macbeth was similar to that expressed 10 years earlier by Felice Romani
Felice Romani
Felice Romani was an Italian poet and scholar of literature and mythology who wrote many librettos for the opera composers Donizetti and Bellini. Romani was considered the finest Italian librettist between Metastasio and Boito.-Biography:Born Giuseppe Felice Romani to a bourgeois family in Genoa,...
who saw her in Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
's La straniera
La straniera
La straniera is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini, from a libretto by Felice Romani, based on L'étrangère by Charles-Victor Prévot, vicomte d'Arlincourt...
. Although he praised the quality of her singing in the performance, and was a long time admirer of Tadolini, Felice found her lovely voice and appearance less than ideal for a role like Alaide:
She has too many gifts for Alaide, too much light in her beautiful eyes, too much charm in her smile, for the mysterious Stranger. Her voice full, sweet, and embellished, is made for joy, for the love that consoles, for afflictions borne with hope, not for torments and a stormy heart, not for the ravings of a soul in anguish, not for the cries of despair.
Tadolini sang several other Bellini heroines in addition to Alaide, most notably Elvira in I puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
, Imogene in Il pirata
Il pirata
Il pirata is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani from a French translation of the tragic play Bertram, or The Castle of St Aldobrando by Charles Maturin...
, the title role in Norma
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
and Amina in La sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
. Her Amina which she sang in Vienna, Paris, and several Italian theatres, was particularly admired.
She was also closely associated with the operas of Saverio Mercadante
Saverio Mercadante
Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...
. Tadolini sang in the world premieres of his Emma d'Antiochia, Le due illustri rivali, and Il bravo, ossia La veneziana and in the premiere of the revised version of Francesca Donato ossia Corinto distrutta, as well as in some of the earliest performances of his Il giuramento
Il giuramento
Il giuramento is an opera in three acts by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. The libretto, by Gaetano Rossi, is based on Victor Hugo's play Angélo, tyran de Padoue...
and Orazi e Curiazi
Orazi e Curiazi
Orazi e Curiazi is an opera by the Italian composer Saverio Mercadante. It takes the form of a tragedia lirica in three acts. The libretto, by Salvadore Cammarano is based on the Roman legend of the fight between the Horatii and the Curiatii...
. Mercadante had also written the role of Lea in La schiava saracena expressly for her voice. However, the outbreak of the 1848 Revolution
Five Days of Milan
The Five Days of Milan was a major event in the Revolutionary Year of 1848 and the start of the First Italian War of Independence. On March 18th, the city of Milan, rose, and in five days of street fighting drove Marshal Radetzky and his men from the city....
in Milan aborted the premiere and forced the temporary closure of La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
. Another soprano, Carlotta Gruitz, sang the role in its official premiere later that year. Tadolini eventually sang Lea in 1850, for the premiere of the work's revised version at the Teatro San Carlo.
Naples and London
From 1842, Eugenia Tadolini was primarily based at the Teatro San Carlo in NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, although she still performed in other Italian theatres and abroad. She sang in the world premieres of at least 12 operas at the Teatro San Carlo, most of them now forgotten, apart from Verdi's Alzira
Alzira
Alzira may refer to:*Alzira , an opera by Giuseppe Verdi*Alzira, Valencia, a town in Spain, also known as Alcira...
and Donizetti's Poliuto
Poliuto
Poliuto is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Pierre Corneille's play Polyeucte . It was composed in 1838 and first performed on 30 November 1848 at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples...
. During that time, she also formed a relationship with a Neapolitan nobleman by whom she had two children, both of whom died in childhood.
In the spring of 1848, she travelled to London for what the contemporary press often billed as her "debut", although she had appeared there in 1831 in the secondary role of Giovanna Seymour for the London premiere of Donizetti's Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...
. This time she was returning as an established star and was to sing the title role in Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix
Linda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
opposite Sims Reeves
Sims Reeves
John Sims Reeves , usually called simply Sims Reeves, was the foremost English operatic, oratorio and ballad tenor vocalist of the mid-Victorian era....
at Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
. In the week prior to the opening of Linda di Chamounix, The Musical World printed an extract from a letter by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
political correspondent in Italy, extolling her virtues (dated 26 March 1848):
Madame Tadolini, who, for the first time is about to appear in London, I am sure will become a great favorite, as she possesses all qualities necessary to captivate an English audience. She is inclined to embonpoint, but she is very handsome on the stage, with dangerous eyes—the whitest shoulder in the world—and a sense of enjoyment in her acting, which your audience will not be able to resist. Tadolini's voice is a clear soprano-mezzo-soprano in its richest quality, with an intonation that approaches, when necessary, to the contralto. It is as clear as a bell, round, full, and sonorous, perfectly flexible and capable of all those modulations which a great artist like her dashes off, but which are so painful and difficult to thinner voices, and less qualified science. I heard the prima donna to great disadvantage, as she disdained to sing to an empty house (from political excitement), and used merely one half of her powers. Her acting was equally restrained, but the inward spirit could not be altogether subdued, and she occasionally broke forth into silvery and impassioned notes, and abandoned herself to that natural gaiety of song that rendered her in the scene the most captivating of coquettes. Had Tadolini known that the Times has ears everywhere, she might have exerted herself to please them; but criticism has art and judgment, and though she sung at mezzo voce, it was not difficult to prognosticate complete success for her at Her Majesty's Theatre.
While her reception at the opening night of Linda di Chamounix was very warm, it was not the ecstatic one predicted by the press. Sims Reeves' performance, on the other hand, was described as "triumphant". Tadolini was nearly 40 at the time, and her voice may have been past its prime. However Ashbrook has suggested that her relative lack of success with the British public may be partly attributable to its obsession with Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...
at the time. While in London, she also sang Norina in Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio ....
(again warmly, but not ecstatically, received) and participated in several concerts before returning to Naples. Later that year she sang in the Teatro San Carlo's first performance of Verdi's Attila
Attila (opera)
Attila is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the play Attila, König der Hunnen by Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner. Initially, Verdi had enlisted Francesco Maria Piave to prepare the libretto, after Verdi's own scenario...
and in the posthumous premiere of Donizetti's Poliuto
Poliuto
Poliuto is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Pierre Corneille's play Polyeucte . It was composed in 1838 and first performed on 30 November 1848 at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples...
.
Final years
Between 1849 and 1851, Tadolini sang in three world premieres at the Teatro San Carlo – as Elfrida in Puzzone's Elfrida di Salerno (1849), as Caterina in LilloGiuseppe Lillo
Giuseppe Lillo was an Italian composer. He is best known for his operas which followed in the same vein of Gioachino Rossini. He also produced works for solo piano, a small amount of sacred music, and some chamber music....
's Caterina Howard (1849), and as Elfrida in De Giosa's Folco d'Arles (1851). During that time she also sang in the theatre's first performances of Verdi's Macbeth, Donizetti's La favorita
La favorite
La favorite is an opera in four acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a French-language libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz, based on the play Le comte de Comminges by Baculard d'Arnaud...
, and Mercadante's La schiava saracena. She ventured out of her adopted city in December 1852 to sing Giselda in Verdi's I Lombardi alla prima crociata
I Lombardi alla prima crociata
I Lombardi alla prima crociata is an operatic dramma lirico in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on an epic poem by Tommaso Grossi. Its first performance was given at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 11 February 1843...
at the Teatro Metastasio in Prato
Prato
Prato is a city and comune in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city is situated at the foot of Monte Retaia , the last peak in the Calvana chain. The lowest altitude in the comune is 32 m, near the Cascine di Tavola, and the highest is the peak of Monte Cantagrillo...
. After that she retired from the stage and settled down in Naples with her only surviving child. He too would die three years later in the city's 1855-56 cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic. In 1860, Garibaldi and his troops invaded the city. King Francis II
Francis II of the Two Sicilies
Francis II , was King of the Two Sicilies from 1859 to 1861. He was the last King of the Two Sicilies, as successive invasions by Giuseppe Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia ultimately brought an end to his rule, and marked the first major event of Italian unification...
and his court fled to north to Gaeta
Gaeta
Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
. Tadolini and her current lover, a young Neapolitan prince, fled to Paris, where she spent the remaining 12 years of her life. Once she was settled in Paris, she wrote to her brother:
Long live Garibaldi for getting me here!...After my terrible misfortune, this is the first time I feel alive. What life!
At first she lived in an apartment on the Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
, but worried that her money would run out, she later moved to less expensive quarters on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
The rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré is a street in Paris, France. Although relatively narrow and nondescript , it is cited as being one of the most fashionable streets in the world, thanks to the presence of virtually every major global fashion house...
.
In July 1872, she contracted typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
and initially refused to see a doctor because it brought back memories of her children's deaths. Eugenia Tadolini died of the disease on 11 July 1872 at the age of 63 and was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...
.
Roles created
Eugenia Tadolini is known to have sung in the following world premieres:- Adelia, Emma d'Antiochia (Saverio MercadanteSaverio MercadanteGiuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. While Mercadante may not have retained the international celebrity of Gaetano Donizetti or Gioachino Rossini beyond his own lifetime, he composed as impressive a number of works as either; and his development of...
). 9 March 1834, La FeniceLa FeniceTeatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
, VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. - Elvira, Le due illustri rivali (Saverio Mercadante). 10 March 1838, La Fenice, Venice.
- Violetta, Il bravo, ossia La veneziana (Saverio Mercadante). 9 March 1839, La ScalaLa ScalaLa Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. - Linda, Linda di ChamounixLinda di ChamounixLinda di Chamounix is an operatic melodramma semiserio in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on May 19, 1842.-Performance history:...
(Gaetano DonizettiGaetano DonizettiDomenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
). 19 May 1842, KärntnertortheaterTheater am KärntnertorTheater am Kärntnertor or Kärntnertortheater was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries...
, ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. - Elodia, Elodia di Herstall, (Alessandro CurmiAlessandro CurmiAlessandro Curmi was a Maltese composer and pianist. Born in Valletta, he studied privately with Pietro Paolo Bugeja and then under Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli and Giacomo Tritto at the San Pietro a Maiella Conservatory in Naples from 1821 to 1827...
). 26 September 1842, Teatro San Carlo, NaplesNaplesNaples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
. - Lara, Lara (Giuseppe LilloGiuseppe LilloGiuseppe Lillo was an Italian composer. He is best known for his operas which followed in the same vein of Gioachino Rossini. He also produced works for solo piano, a small amount of sacred music, and some chamber music....
), 22 November 1842, Teatro San Carlo, Naples. - Rosa, La fidanzata corsa (Giovanni PaciniGiovanni PaciniGiovanni Pacini was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni's operas...
). 10 December 1842, Teatro San Carlo, Naples. - Maria, Maria di RohanMaria di RohanMaria di Rohan is a melodramma tragico, or tragic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano, after Lockroy and Edmond Badon's Un duel sous le cardinal de Richelieu, which had played in Paris in 1832.- Roles :- Synopsis :The comte de...
(Gaetano Donizetti). 5 June 1843, Kärntnertortheater, Vienna. - Alzira, AlziraAlzira (opera)Alzira is an opera in a prologue and two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Alzire, ou les Américains by Voltaire.The first performance was at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, on August 12, 1845...
(Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
). 12 August 1845, Teatro San Carlo, Naples. - Elvira, Mortedo, (Vincenzo Capecelatro). 8 September 1845, Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
- Stella, Stella di Napoli (Giovanni Pacini). 11 December 1845, Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
- La sirena, La sirena di Normandia (Pietro Torregiani). 18 January 1846, Teatro San Carlo, Naples
- Amelia, Emo (Vincenzo Battista), 14 February 1846, Teatro San Carlo, Naples
- Bianca, Bianca Contarini (Lauro RossiLauro RossiLauro Rossi , was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. There is no known connection with Luigi Rossi .Rossi studied in Naples and produced his first opera there...
). 24 February 1847, La Scala, Milan. - Velleda, Velleda (Carlo Boniforti). 19 March 1847, La Scala, Milan.
- Irene, Gusmano il Buono ossia L'assedio di Tarifa (Marco Aurelio Marliani). 6 November 1847, Teatro Comunale di BolognaTeatro Comunale di BolognaThe Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season....
, BolognaBolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
. - Giovanna, Giovanna di Fiandra (Carlo Boniforti). 8 February 1848, La Scala, Milan.
- Paolina, PoliutoPoliutoPoliuto is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto after Pierre Corneille's play Polyeucte . It was composed in 1838 and first performed on 30 November 1848 at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples...
(Gaetano Donizetti). 30 November 1848, Teatro San Carlo, Naples. - Elfrida, Elfrida da Salerno (Giuseppe Puzone). 23 June 1849, Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
- Caterina Howard, Caterina Howard (Giuseppe Lillo). 26 September 1849, Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
- Elfrida, Folco d'Arles (Nicola De Giosa). 1851, Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
Sources
- Ashbrook, William, Donizetti and His Operas, Cambridge University Press, 1983. ISBN 0521276632
- Battaglia, Fernando, L'arte del canto in Romagna: i cantanti lirici romagnoli dell'Ottocento e del Novecento, Bongiovanni, 1979. ISBN 113518688X (in Italian)
- Casaglia, Gherardo, "Tadolini", Almanacco Amadeus, 2005. Accessed 2 September 2009 (in Italian).
- Crutchfield, Will, Programme Notes: L'elisir d'amore, Caramoor International Music FestivalCaramoor International Music FestivalThe Caramoor International Music Festival is a summer music festival founded in 1945 that is held on the estate of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts Inc., which includes a Mediterranean-style stucco villa and is located about north of New York City in Katonah, New York.The Caramoor...
, 2009. Accessed 11 September 2009 - Ghislanzoni, Antonio, Gli artisti da teatro, Vol. 6, G. Daelli, 1865, p. 64 (in Italian)
- Gossett, Philip, "Verdi and His Macbeth", PlaybillPlaybillPlaybill is a monthly U.S. magazine for theatregoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most Playbills are printed for particular shows to be distributed at the door...
, 5 November 2007. - Jahn, Michael, Die Wiener Hofoper von 1836 bis 1848, Verlag Der Apfel, 2004 (in German)
- Martinez, Andrea, "La Tadolini nella Sonnambula", Museo di letteratura e filosofia, Year 3, Vol. 8, pp. 242–249, Gatti and Rossi, 1845 (in Italian)
- OperaGlass, Role Creators in the Operas of Saverio Mercadante and Role Creators in the Operas of Giovanni Pacini, Stanford University. Accessed 3 September 2009
- Pagannone, Giorgio (ed.), Annotated libretto of L'elisir d'amore, Fondazione Teatro La Fenice, 2003 (in Italian)
- Rambelli, Giovanni Francesco, Trattato di epigrafia italiana, Societa tipografica bolognese, 1853, p. 92. (in Italian)
- Regli, Francesco, "Tadolini, Eugenia", Dizionario biografico dei più celebri poeti ed artisti melodrammatici, tragici e comici, maestri, concertisti, coreografi, mimi, ballerini, scenografi, giornalisti, impresarii, ecc. ecc. che fiorirono in Italia dal 1800 al 1860, E. Dalmazzo, 1860, p. 517 (in Italian)
- Rescigno, Eduardo, Dizionario verdiano, Biblioteca universale Rizzoli, 2001. ISBN 8817866288 (in Italian)
- Riggs, Geoffrey S. The Assoluta Voice in Opera, 1797-1847, McFarland, 2003. ISBN 0786414014
- Romani, Felice, Miscellanee: tratte dalla Gazzetta Piemontese, Favale, 1837 (in Italian)
- Rosenberg, Jesse, "Positive Valuations of Visual and Aural Ugliness in the Prima Donna: An Aesthetic Paradox", paper delivered at the University of LeedsUniversity of LeedsThe University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
symposium, Staging the Feminine: the arts of the prima donna 1720-1920, 14–14 July 2006 - Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J., "Tadolini, Eugenia", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 1979, p. 488. ISBN 019311321X
- Rosselli, John, Singers of Italian Opera: The History of a Profession, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 152, 174-75. ISBN 0521426979
- Sadie, Stanley (ed.), "Tadolini, Eugenia", The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music, W.W. Norton, 1988, p. 749. ISBN 0393026205
- The Harmonicon, Part I, Samuel Leigh, 1830
- The Musical World, Volume 23, J. Alfredo Novello, 1848
External links
- Eugenia Tadolini's grave, Association des Amis et Passionnés du Père-LachaisePère Lachaise CemeteryPère Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...