Alboni, Marietta

OPERA SINGER (ITALY)
BORN 6 Mar 1823, Città di Castello, Umbria - DIED 23 Jun 1894, Ville d'Avray, Hauts-de-Seine: Villa La Cererentola
BIRTH NAME Alboni, Maria Anna
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Père Lachaise, Rue du Repos 16 (division 66, ligne 01, AC, 8)

Marietta Marzia was taught by Antonio Bagioli at Cesena when she was elven years old. She was noticed by Gioacchino Rossini and studied at the Lyceum at Bologna where Rossini was the director at that time. In 1842 she debuted as Climene in Pacino's "Saffo" in Bologna. At La Scala in Milan she performed in Rossini's "Le siège de Corinthe" in December 1842. Between 1843 and 1846 she toured in Austria, Russia, Germany and Eatern Europe. In 1847 she appeared at Covent Garden in London and at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris. In 1848 in Manchester she shared the stage with Lorenzo Salvo and Frédéric Chpoin during a concert. In 1852 and 1853 she toured in Spain and in the USA. In the USA she appeared in twelve opera's at Niblo's Garden and performed in eleven more concerts at other houses.

After she married Count Carlo Pepoli in 1853 she settled in Paris. She continued her career and rehearsed very little to spare her voice. In 1863 she had to postpone her career because her husband was mentally ill. He died in 1867. She sang next to Adeline Patti at Rossini's funeral in 1868 in the Église de la Sainte-Trinité. In 1872 she made her final appearance and then she ended her career as a consequence of her obesity. In private she continued to sing. She married the officer Charles Zieger in 1877.

In 1887 she was present when Rossini's body was exhumed to be buried in Florence, but her proposal to sing at the ceremony in the Santa Croce wasn't honoured. She died in 1894 in Paris.

Related persons
• performed with Lind, Jenny
• performed with Malibran-Garcia, Maria Felicità

Events
8/6/1858First London performance of Verdi's "Luisa Miller" at Her Majesty’s Theatre. The opera had received little attention since its premiere in Paris on 7 December 1852. It is unclear why Her Majesty's Theatre, that was in financial difficulties at the time, wanted to stage it. Vincenzo Bonetti was the conductor. Marietta Piccolomini was Luisa, Marietta Alboni was Duchess Frederica, Antonio Giuglini was Rodolfo and Federico Beneventano was Miller.The critics of The Times and other papers wrote that it was the worst opera that Verdi had ever composed, allthough Alboni was praised. [Verdi, Giuseppe]

Images

The grave of Marietta Alboni at Père Lachaise, Paris.
Picture by Androom (02 Nov 2019)

 

The grave of Marietta Alboni at Père Lachaise, Paris.
Picture by Androom (02 Nov 2019)

 

Sources
Verdi in Victorian London - 10. Luisa Miller (1858) - Open Book Publishers


Albrechtsberger, Johann Georg

Published: 18 Apr 2020
Last update: 01 Nov 2021