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Title
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Tetrazzini, Luisa (1871-1940)
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birthday
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1871-06-29
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Birthplace
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Florence, IT
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Death Date
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1940-04-28
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Occupation
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Singer
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Biographical Text
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Luisa Tetrazzini was an Italian vocalist. Tetrazzini was boring in Florence, IT and began singing at the age of three. She studied singing at the Istituto Musicale from the age of ten to thirteen. She made her operatic debut on October 21, 1890, at the age of 19, stepping in for the role of Inez in L'Africaine. After this performance, she was asked to sing for the King and Queen of Italy. From there on, her career skyrocketed, and she spent the next decade working between Italian and South American theatres.
On January 11, 1905 Tetrazzini made her American debut at the Tivoli in San Francisco, as Gilda in Rigoletto. A role opening at the Covent Garden in London gave Tetrazzini the opportunity to showcase her voice to English audiences in 1907. Her first performance brought on twenty curtain calls. From then on, Tetrazzini was known as an international operatic sensation. In 1908, she made her New York City debut at Oscar Hammerstein's Manhattan Opera Company, where she continued working for the next two years. On Christmas Eve of 1910, Tetrazzini put on a performance at Lotta's Fountain, In San Francisco. This occurred after winning a legal case blocking her from performing in NYC. During the case she held a press conference stating her willingness to sing in the freedom of the streets of San Francisco. After World War I, Tetrazzini left the opera stage to enter other facets of her career. She wrote a memoir and a treatise, and took her vocal abilities to the concert stage. Upon her 1934, she began teaching vocal lessons.
Tetrazzini married Giuseppe Santino Alberto Scalaberni on October 14, 1889. She had two more marriages following. Tetrazzini passed on April 28, 1940, and was buried in a mausoleum of her choosing.
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Contributor
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O'Neill, Iris
Luisa Tetrazzini, Memorial