Margherita Roberti
Encyclopedia
Dame Margherita Roberti is an American opera
tic soprano
who had an active international career that spanned from 1948 to 1988. Although she performed throughout the world, Roberti achieved her greatest success and popularity in Italy. A dramatic soprano
, Roberti drew particular acclaim for her portrayals of Verdi heroines. Among her signature roles are Amelia in Un ballo in maschera
, Elisabetta in Don Carlos
, Elena in I Vespri Siciliani , Odabella in Attila
, and the title role in Luisa Miller
. In 1970 she was knighted by the Italian government.
. Her father was a breeder of Angus cattle
and she grew up on his farm in Atlantic, Iowa
. Her family sold the farm when she was 12 and moved to Muscatine, Iowa
. The following year Roberti began taking voice lessons with Herald Stark at the University of Iowa
. In 1943 she graduated from Muscatine High School
after which she studied voice at Hunter College
. While at Hunter she met her husband Thomas Nobis, an engineer recently returning from duty in the United States Navy. The couple married in 1949 and in 1952 their daughter, the athlete Jennifer Figge
, was born.
In 1948 Roberti made her professional opera debut with the Saint Louis Opera. In 1951, she began performing regularly on the Chicago radio program Chicago Theater of the Air. She would commute weekly from her home in Davenport, Iowa
to the Windy City for performances.
Roberti was advised to establish herself as an opera singer in Europe if she wanted to have a major opera career in the United States. So in 1956, she moved to Italy and began a rigorous course of study in opera with Iris Adami Corradetti among other teachers. She made her European debut the following year at the Teatro Alfieri in Turin as Leonore in Giuseppe Verdi
's Il trovatore
to a warm reception. It was at this time that she adopted the "italianized" version of her name that she used for the rest of her career.
After her European debut, invitations from major opera houses throughout Europe came pouring in to Roberti. In 1958 she sang Abigaille in Verdi's Nabucco
for her La Scala
debut. She was a regular performer at that house for the next four seasons. In 1958 she portrayed the title role in Puccini's Tosca
for her first performance at the Royal Opera
at Covent Garden
. That same year she made her first appearance at the Arena di Verona Festival
and made her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
as Amelia Grimaldi in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra
opposite Tito Gobbi in the title role and Richard Tucker
as Gabriele Adorno. Other international appearances included performances in Buenos Aires, New Orleans, San Francisco, Mexico City, and Israel.
Roberti made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera
in 1962 as Tosca to the Cavardossi of Franco Corelli
. That same year she sang Tosca with Corelli for her debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
. Roberti also sang the title role in Verdi's Aida
in New York and Philadelphia that year. In 1963 she sang the title role in Verdi's Luisa Miller
at the Edinburgh Festival
and in 1964 she portrayed Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth
at the Glyndebourne Festival. She was also a repeat performer at the Vienna State Opera
during the 1960s and 1970s. She remained busy in opera houses in Italy for the rest of her career.
In 1970 Roberti was knighted by the Italian government for artistic achievement. Her final performance was a farewell concert given in the Quad Cities in 1988.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic soprano
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...
who had an active international career that spanned from 1948 to 1988. Although she performed throughout the world, Roberti achieved her greatest success and popularity in Italy. A dramatic soprano
Dramatic soprano
A dramatic soprano is an operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over, or cut through, a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually mean less agility than lighter voices but a sustained, fuller sound. Usually this voice has a lower tessitura than...
, Roberti drew particular acclaim for her portrayals of Verdi heroines. Among her signature roles are Amelia in Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
, Elisabetta in Don Carlos
Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
, Elena in I Vespri Siciliani , 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 the title role in Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller. The first performance was given at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on December 8, 1849...
. In 1970 she was knighted by the Italian government.
Biography
Roberti was born with the name Margaret Jean Roberts to F.J. and Ethel Roberts in Wayne County, IowaWayne County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 6,403 in the county, with a population density of . There were 3,212 housing units, of which 2,652 were occupied.-2000 census:...
. Her father was a breeder of Angus cattle
Angus cattle
Angus cattle are a breed of cattle much used in beef production. They were developed from cattle native to the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in Scotland, and are known as Aberdeen Angus in most parts of the world....
and she grew up on his farm in Atlantic, Iowa
Atlantic, Iowa
Atlantic is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Iowa, United States, located along the East Nishnabotna River. The population was 7,112 in the 2010 census, a decline from the 7,257 population in the 2000 census. -History:...
. Her family sold the farm when she was 12 and moved to Muscatine, Iowa
Muscatine, Iowa
Muscatine is a city in Muscatine County, Iowa, United States. The population was 22,886 in the 2010 census, an increase from 22,697 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Muscatine County...
. The following year Roberti began taking voice lessons with Herald Stark at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
. In 1943 she graduated from Muscatine High School
Muscatine High School
Muscatine High School is a four-year comprehensive high school located in Muscatine, Iowa. The school is part of the Muscatine Community School District, and has an enrollment of approximately 1,700 students in grades nine through twelve....
after which she studied voice at Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
. While at Hunter she met her husband Thomas Nobis, an engineer recently returning from duty in the United States Navy. The couple married in 1949 and in 1952 their daughter, the athlete Jennifer Figge
Jennifer Figge
Jennifer Figge is an American athlete from Aspen, Colorado. Born in Davenport, Iowa, Figge is the daughter of opera singer Margherita Roberti...
, was born.
In 1948 Roberti made her professional opera debut with the Saint Louis Opera. In 1951, she began performing regularly on the Chicago radio program Chicago Theater of the Air. She would commute weekly from her home in Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
to the Windy City for performances.
Roberti was advised to establish herself as an opera singer in Europe if she wanted to have a major opera career in the United States. So in 1956, she moved to Italy and began a rigorous course of study in opera with Iris Adami Corradetti among other teachers. She made her European debut the following year at the Teatro Alfieri in Turin as Leonore in Giuseppe 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...
's Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
to a warm reception. It was at this time that she adopted the "italianized" version of her name that she used for the rest of her career.
After her European debut, invitations from major opera houses throughout Europe came pouring in to Roberti. In 1958 she sang Abigaille in Verdi's Nabucco
Nabucco
Nabucco is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue...
for her 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...
debut. She was a regular performer at that house for the next four seasons. In 1958 she portrayed the title role in Puccini's Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
for her first performance at the Royal Opera
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
at Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
. That same year she made her first appearance at the Arena di Verona Festival
Arena di Verona Festival
The Arena di Verona Festival is a summer festival of opera, located in the city of Verona Italy. Since 1936, it has been organized under the auspices of an official body, first the Ente Autonomo Spettacoli Lirici Arena di Verona, , and then, following legislation in 1996 and...
and made her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
as Amelia Grimaldi in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Simón Bocanegra by Antonio García Gutiérrez....
opposite Tito Gobbi in the title role and Richard Tucker
Richard Tucker
Richard Tucker was an American operatic tenor.-Early life:Tucker was born Rivn Ticker in Brooklyn, New York, into a family of Romanian immigrants from Bessarabia. His father, Shmul Ticker, and mother Fanya-Tsipa Ticker had already adopted the surname "Tucker" by the time their son entered first...
as Gabriele Adorno. Other international appearances included performances in Buenos Aires, New Orleans, San Francisco, Mexico City, and Israel.
Roberti made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in 1962 as Tosca to the Cavardossi of Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli was a famous Italian tenor who had a major international opera career between 1951 and 1976. Associated in particular with the spinto and dramatic tenor roles of the Italian repertory, he was celebrated universally for his powerhouse voice, electrifying top notes, clear timbre, a...
. That same year she sang Tosca with Corelli for her debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company
The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active between 1958 and 1974. The company was led by a number of Artistic Directors during its history, beginning with Aurelio Fabiani. Other notable Artistic Directors include Julius...
. Roberti also sang the title role in Verdi's Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
in New York and Philadelphia that year. In 1963 she sang the title role in Verdi's Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Kabale und Liebe by Friedrich von Schiller. The first performance was given at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on December 8, 1849...
at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
and in 1964 she portrayed Lady Macbeth in Verdi's 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...
at the Glyndebourne Festival. She was also a repeat performer at the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
during the 1960s and 1970s. She remained busy in opera houses in Italy for the rest of her career.
In 1970 Roberti was knighted by the Italian government for artistic achievement. Her final performance was a farewell concert given in the Quad Cities in 1988.
Recordings
| Year | Title | Role | Cast | Conductor Orchestra |
Live / Studio |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Verdi: I vespri siciliani | Duchessa Elena d'Austria | Pier Miranda Ferraro Pier Miranda Ferraro Pier Miranda Ferraro was an Italian operatic tenor who had an active international opera career from 1951 through 1981. He particularly excelled in the dramatic Italian repertoire with his signature role being the title role in Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello... , Aldo Protti Aldo Protti Aldo Protti was an Italian baritone, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.... , Plinio Clabassi, Margherita Roberti, et al. |
Antonino Votto Antonino Votto Antonino Votto was an Italian operatic conductor. Votto developed an extensive discography with the Teatro alla Scala in Milan during the 1950s, when EMI produced the bulk of its studio recordings featuring Maria Callas... Teatro Verdi di Trieste Chorus and Orchestra |
Live | Bongiovanni |
| 1960 | Verdi: Don Carlo | Elisabetta di Valois | Boris Christoff Boris Christoff Boris Christoff was a Bulgarian opera singer... , Richard Tucker Richard Tucker Richard Tucker was an American operatic tenor.-Early life:Tucker was born Rivn Ticker in Brooklyn, New York, into a family of Romanian immigrants from Bessarabia. His father, Shmul Ticker, and mother Fanya-Tsipa Ticker had already adopted the surname "Tucker" by the time their son entered first... , Tito Gobbi Tito Gobbi Tito Gobbi was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation.-Biography:Tito Gobbi was born in Bassano del Grappa and studied law at the University of Padua before he trained as a singer. Giulio Crimi, a well-known Italian tenor of a previous generation, was Gobbi's teacher in Rome... , Margherita Roberti, Giulietta Simionato Giulietta Simionato Giulietta Simionato was an Italian mezzo-soprano. Her career spanned from the 1930s until her retirement in 1966.-Life:Born at Forlì, Romagna, she studied in Rovigo and Padua, and made her operatic debut at Montagnana in 1928... , et al. |
Antonino Votto Antonino Votto Antonino Votto was an Italian operatic conductor. Votto developed an extensive discography with the Teatro alla Scala in Milan during the 1950s, when EMI produced the bulk of its studio recordings featuring Maria Callas... Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma... Chorus and Orchestra |
Live | Living Stage |
| 1962 | Verdi: 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... |
Odabella | Boris Christoff Boris Christoff Boris Christoff was a Bulgarian opera singer... , Margherita Roberti, Giangiacomo Guelfi Giangiacomo Guelfi Giangiacomo Guelfi is an operatic baritone, particularly associated with Verdi and Puccini. Born in Rome, he studied law before turning to vocal studies, in Florence, with the great baritone Titta Ruffo. Giangiacomo made his stage debut in Spoleto, as Rigoletto in 1950... , Gastone Limarilli, Mario Frosini, et al. |
Bruno Bartoletti Bruno Bartoletti Bruno Bartoletti is an Italian operatic conductor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory and contemporary works.... Teatro Comunale Teatro Comunale The name Teatro comunale is an Italian term for a theater house, or opera house. Many towns in Italy have a Teatro Comunale.Notable opera houses known as Teatro Comunale:* Teatro Comunale Alighieri, Ravenna... Chorus and Orchestra |
Live | Opera D'Oro |
| 1969 | Cilea Francesco Cilea Francesco Cilea was an Italian composer. Today he is particularly known for his operas L'arlesiana and Adriana Lecouvreur.-Biography:... : Gloria |
Gloria | Margherita Roberti, Flaviano Labò Flaviano Labò Flaviano Labò , was an Italian operatic tenor, particularly associated with heroic roles of the Italian repertory.Labò was born at Borgonovo, near Piacenza... , Lorenzo Testi, Ferruccio Mazzoli, Anna Maria Rota, et al. |
Ferdinando Previtali Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI Radiotelevisione |
Live | Bongiovanni |