Maria Zamboni (25 July 1895,
Peschiera del GardaPeschiera del Garda , is a town and comune in the province of Verona, in Veneto, Italy. When Lombardy-Venetia was under Austrian rule, Peschiera was the northwest anchor of the four fortified towns constituting the so-called Quadrilatero...
- 25 March 1976,
VeronaVerona is a city in Veneto, northern Italy, one of the seven provincial capitals in the region. It is one of the main tourist destinations in north-eastern Italy, thanks to its artistic heritage, several annual fairs, shows and operas, such as the lyrical season in the Arena, the ancient...
) was an Italian
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic
sopranoA soprano is a singing voice with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music...
who had a prolific career in Italy and South America between 1921 and 1936. Admired for her vivid character portrayals and expressive singing, Zamboni was a popular and frequent performer at both
La 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 Theatre of La Scala La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally...
and the Teatro Costanzi. Her repertoire encompassed a broad spectrum, from Verdi and Wagner heroines to French
grand operaGrand Opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage-effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
and
verismoVerismo was an Italian literary and, by extension, operatic movement which peaked between approximately 1875 and the early 1900s. It was mainly inspired by French naturalism. Giovanni Verga and Luigi Capuana were its main exponents and the authors of a verismo manifesto...
roles.
Maria Zamboni (25 July 1895,
Peschiera del GardaPeschiera del Garda , is a town and comune in the province of Verona, in Veneto, Italy. When Lombardy-Venetia was under Austrian rule, Peschiera was the northwest anchor of the four fortified towns constituting the so-called Quadrilatero...
- 25 March 1976,
VeronaVerona is a city in Veneto, northern Italy, one of the seven provincial capitals in the region. It is one of the main tourist destinations in north-eastern Italy, thanks to its artistic heritage, several annual fairs, shows and operas, such as the lyrical season in the Arena, the ancient...
) was an Italian
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic
sopranoA soprano is a singing voice with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music...
who had a prolific career in Italy and South America between 1921 and 1936. Admired for her vivid character portrayals and expressive singing, Zamboni was a popular and frequent performer at both
La 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 Theatre of La Scala La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally...
and the Teatro Costanzi. Her repertoire encompassed a broad spectrum, from Verdi and Wagner heroines to French
grand operaGrand Opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage-effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
and
verismoVerismo was an Italian literary and, by extension, operatic movement which peaked between approximately 1875 and the early 1900s. It was mainly inspired by French naturalism. Giovanni Verga and Luigi Capuana were its main exponents and the authors of a verismo manifesto...
roles. She became particularly associated with the works of
Giacomo PucciniGiacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
and notably sang the role of Liu in the original 1926 production of
TurandotTurandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text...
.
Biography
Zamboni studied at the Il Conservatorio di Musica Arrigo Boito in
ParmaParma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its architecture and the fine countryside around it. It is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
under M.Silva before making her professional opera debut in 1921 at
PiacenzaPiacenza is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
as Marguerite in Gounod's
FaustFaust is a grand opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
. Over the next few years she appeared at numerous major opera houses throughout Italy, including the Teatro Regio di Torino,
Teatro di San CarloThe Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe and it is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site....
,
Teatro Regio di ParmaTeatro 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....
, and
Teatro 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....
among others. Her roles included Violetta in Verdi's
La traviataLa traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on the novel La dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, published in 1848. The title "La traviata" means literally The Woman Who Strayed, or perhaps more figuratively, The...
, Desdemona in Verdi's
OtelloOtello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's second to last opera and is considered by many to be his greatest. It was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887...
, Ännchen in
Der FreischützDer Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber to a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It is considered the first important German Romantic opera, especially in its national identity and stark emotionality. Its plot was taken from German folk legend and many of its tunes were inspired...
, the title role in Massenet's
ManonManon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost...
, and the title role in Puccini's
ToscaTosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Victorien Sardou's drama, La Tosca. The work premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on January 14 1900. It is one of the world's most popular operas, a hit with audiences...
among others.
Zamboni became particularly associated with the Teatro Costanzi in Rome and
La 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 Theatre of La Scala La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally...
in Milan. She sang regularly at the Teatro Costanzi from 1922-26 and 1929-30; most notably singing the role of Maria in the 1930 world premiere of Pizzetti's
Lo straniero. In 1924 she joined the roster at
La 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 Theatre of La Scala La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally...
where she sang numerous roles until 1931.
Her first role with the company was as Mimi in Puccini's
La bohèmeLa bohème is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger. The world première performance of La bohème was in Turin on February 1, 1896 at the Teatro Regio and conducted by the young Arturo...
. Most notably, she sang the role of Liu in the original 1926 production of Puccini's
TurandotTurandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text...
under the direction of
Arturo ToscaniniArturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th Centuries, he was renowned for his brilliant intensity, his restless perfectionism, his phenomenal ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
. Her other roles at La Scala included Euridice in Gluck's
Orfeo ed EuridiceOrfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck based on the myth of Orpheus, set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing...
, Elsa in Wagner's
LohengrinLohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
, Eva in Wagner's
Die Meistersinger von NürnbergDie Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an opera in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. It is one of the most popular operas in the repertory, and is among the longest still commonly performed today, usually taking around four and a half hours. It was first performed at the Königliches...
, the title part in Puccini's
Manon LescautFor other versions of the Manon story, see Manon .Manon Lescaut is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini. The story is based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost....
, and Donna Elvira in
Don GiovanniDon Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered in the Estates Theatre in Prague on October 29, 1787...
.
Zamboni also had a successful career internationally. She toured South America frequently during the 1920s appearing in operas in
Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America. The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1822 during the Portuguese colonial era, and...
,
MontevideoMontevideo is the largest city, the capital and chief port of Uruguay. Montevideo is the only city in the country with a population over 1,000,000...
,
São PauloSão Paulo is the largest city in Brazil and the world's 7th largest metropolitan area. The city is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous Brazilian state. It is also the richest city in Brazil. The name of the city honors Saint Paul. São Paulo exerts strong regional influence in...
and
SantiagoSantiago , is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the centre of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of 520 m AMSL...
. She became a particularly popular artist at the Teatro Colón in
Buenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital, and largest city, of Argentina, currently the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the eastern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
where she sang annually from 1924-1926. In Europe she had a considerable amount of success in Holland, singing in numerous Italian operas during the 1930s.
In 1936 Zamboni retired from the stage shortly after appearing as both Liu in
Turandot and in the title role of Mario Persico’s
Morenita at the Teatro San Carlo. Her last performance was on radio in a 1936 national Italian broadcast of Wagner's
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg as Eva. Following the end of her singing career, Zamboni worked as a singing teacher in Milan for more than twenty years before retiring to Verona where she died in 1976.
Recordings
Zamboni was among the first generation of musicians to be recorded. Most notably she was the first singer to record the role of Manon Lescaut in its entirety. On single discs, she recorded "Vissi d'arte" from
Tosca, double arias from
Turandot,
OtelloOtello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's second to last opera and is considered by many to be his greatest. It was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887...
,
La traviata and
Lohengrin and duets from
La bohème and
Carmen with
Beniamino GigliBeniamino Gigli, was an Italian opera singer. The most famous tenor of his generation, he was renowned internationally for the great beauty of his voice and the soundness of his vocal technique. Critics sometimes took him to task, however, for what was perceived to be the over-emotionalism of his...
.