- Virginia Zeani
Virginia Zeani (born
October 21 ,1925 ) is a Romaniansoprano , particularly associated with the Italian repertory, especially the role of Violetta in "La traviata ".Zeani was born, Virginia Zahan, in
Solovăstru ,Transylvania ,Romania . She studied first inBucarest , with famed coloratura soprano Lydia Lipkovskaia, and inMilan , with the great tenorAureliano Pertile . She made her professional debut inBologna , as Violetta in "La traviata", a role she would sing an estimated 648 times around the world during her career.Her career was first primarily focused in Italy, where she sang at most
opera houses, but soon her reputation led to invitations at major opera houses of Europe as well. Violetta was her debut role inLondon ,Vienna , andParis . She made her debut atLa Scala in Milan in 1956, as Cleopatra inHandel 's "Giulio Cesare ", oppositeNicola Rossi-Lemeni , whom she married shorthly after.Zeani also appeared in
Leningrad ,Moscow ,Philadelphia , andtheNew York 'sMetropolitan Opera , as Violetta, in 1966.She won considerable success in belcanto roles, such as "
Lucia di Lammermoor ", Gilda in "Rigoletto ", Elvira in "I Puritani ", "Linda di Chamounix ", before turning to more dramatic roles, such as "Manon Lescaut ", "Tosca ", "Fedora ", "Adriana Lecouvreur ".She also tackled a fewVerdi andWagner roles, such as Lina in "Stiffelio ", Elsa in "Lohengrin". She created the role of Blanche in "Dialogues des Carmélites " in 1957, at La Scala.She sang with tenors such as
Beniamino Gigli ,Ferruccio Tagliavini , Carlo Bergonzi,Alfredo Kraus ,Luciano Pavarotti ,Plácido Domingo , etc. A warm-voiced singer with an affecting stage presence, she made few commercial recordings, but a number of her live performances exist asbootleg recording s.Following her retirement from the opera stage in 1983, Zeani remained active as a voice instructor at Indiana University in
Bloomington, Indiana , where she and her husband, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, were both distinguished teachers.Zeani has since retired from Indiana University after her husband's deathin 1991, and currently resides in
West Palm Beach ,Florida , where she continues to teach, in particular for the Florida Grand Opera Young artist program and the Palm Beach Opera Young artist program. Amongst Zeani's most famous pupils are Marilyn Mims, Susan Patterson,Sylvia McNair ,Stephen Mark Brown ,Elizabeth Futral ,Vivica Genaux ,Angela Brown ,Mark Nicolson , and Heidi Klassen.Sources
* "Guide de l’opéra", Roland Mancini & Jean Rouvereoux, (Fayard, 1995). ISBN 2-213-01563-6
* "The Complete Dictionary of Opera and Operetta", James Anderson ISBN 0-517-09156-9
* "Opera News Magazine", January 2003.
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