Description

ZORAIDE SARZANINI (CAIRO MONTENOTTE ? – ?)

 

 

 

She made her debut as Filina in Ambroise Thomas’s Mignon at the Teatro Politeama Reinach in Parma.

 

Chronology of some appearances

 

1907 Parma Politeama Reinach Mignon (Filina)

1909 Bergamo Teatro Donizetti Wally (Walter)

1911 Firenze Politeama Fiorentino Boheme (Musetta)

1913 Chieti Teatro Marruccino Traviata (Violetta)

1914 Messina Teatro Mastroieni Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1920 Savona Teatro Chiabrera Manon Lescaut (Manon)

 

 

MARGHERITA BENETTI (GOVERNOLO, MANTOVA, MARCH 19, 1926 – MILAN, DECEMBER 13, 2002)

 

 

 

She began her operatic training under maestro Lina Bergamaschi and later studied with maestro Ottorino Vertova. Maestro Ettore Campogalliani played a pivotal role in her career, guiding her to win a 1952 RAI competition that had over two thousand participants.

A lyric soprano of remarkable skill, Margherita recorded extensively for Cetra in the 1950s. Her notable collaborations include duets in Il Guarany and Poliuto with Giacomo Lauri Volpi and her portrayal of Micaela in Carmen alongside Franco Corelli.

At the Teatro Sociale in Mantua, after debuting in Luigi Ferrari Trecate’s Ghirlino, she achieved critical acclaim with performances as Micaela in Carmen (1953), a triumphant Madama Butterfly (1954), and a touching Mimì in La Bohème (1955), which she reprised in 1964 with Luciano Pavarotti. In 1959, she performed in Puccini’s Il Trittico, and in 1966, at the height of her artistic prowess, she once again captivated audiences as Madama Butterfly.

Margherita graced numerous Italian and international stages, with the pinnacle of her career being her portrayal of Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust, a role she performed to extraordinary acclaim at the Teatro Liceu in Barcelona in 1961. Her performances left an indelible mark on the operatic world.

 

 

 

LORETTA DI LELIO, BORN ANNA LAURA DI LELIO, MARRIED NAME LORETTA CORELLI AND LORETTA DI LELIO-CORELLI (MONTECATINI TERME, TUSCANY, JULY 27, 1918 – MILAN, JANUARY 10, 2013)

 

 

 

Loretta di Lelio received her vocal and pedagogical training from her father, the Italian opera singer Umberto di Lelio, following the traditional bel canto school of Antonio Cotogni. Through her father’s extensive national and international artistic connections, she grew up already integrated into a distinguished musical environment.

After completing her studies, she made her debut in 1941 at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, where she was engaged primarily as a soprano lirico and occasionally performed small mezzo-soprano parts in La traviata, Il trovatore, and Un ballo in maschera. Between 1951 and 1959, she sang additional roles in Carmen, Adriana Lecouvreur, Boris Godunov, Giulietta e Romeo by Riccardo Zandonai, Aida, Enea by Pierpaolo Guerini, Don Carlo, Iphigénie en Aulide, Simon Boccanegra, and Andrea Chénier.

At the end of the 1940s, she also gained recognition through appearances in the then-emerging opera films, including the screen adaptations of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (as Giannetta) and Lucia di Lammermoor (as Alisa).

Di Lelio worked with conductors such as Nello Santi, Oliviero De Fabritiis, Antonino Votto, Arturo Basile, Vittorio Gui, and Gabriele Santini, and with singers including Maria Caniglia, Giulietta Stella, Leyla Gencer, Fedora Barbieri, Elena Nicolai, Maria Curtis-Verney, Tito Gobbi, Ettore Bastianini, Boris Christoff, and Franco Corelli. She appeared at major opera houses in Rome, Bilbao, Oviedo, Enghien-les-Bains, Geneva, and Lisbon.

During her engagement as Mademoiselle Jouvenot in Adriana Lecouvreur in 1952, she met the young tenor Franco Corelli during rehearsals at the Rome Opera. The two later married.

At the end of the 1950s, di Lelio ended her singing career to support her husband’s rising international career, working as his manager, vocal coach, and principal advisor. She moved with him to New York in the early 1960s, where Corelli was engaged at the Metropolitan Opera until 1975. Afterward, the couple settled in Milan. Loretta di Lelio died there in 2013 of bronchitis, ten years after the death of her husband.

 

 

NORA DE ROSA

 

 

 

Italian operatic soprano, born in 1925. She made her debut in 1945 at the Teatro Comunale in Trieste as Margherita in Mefistofele. She subsequently appeared in numerous Italian opera houses, as well as in Argentina, Austria, Ireland, Malta, and other countries.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Zoraide Sarzanini Bohème (Puccini) Mimì è tanto malata with Piero Strazza and Gaetano Prudenza 110083 xM1379 Odeon Fonotipia, Milano 1910/1911

Zoraide Sarzanini Bohème (Puccini) O buon Marcello with Gaetano Prudenza 110082 xM1378 Odeon Fonotipia, Milano 1910/1911

Zoraide Sarzanini Bohème (Puccini) Valzer di Musetta with Piero Strazza, Renato Meroni, Gaetano Prudenza, Medardo Medosi and Alice Magdala 110001 Odeon Fonotipia, Milano 1910/1911

Zoraide Sarzanini Gioielli della Madonna (Wolf-Ferrari) Sanno odor d’incenso with Romano Ciaroff-Ciarini 69106 Xph4964 Fonotipia, Milano 16-10-1913

Zoraide Sarzanini Wally (Catalani) Ne mai dunque avrò pace 110012 xM1388 Odeon Fonotipia, Milano 1910/1911

Zoraide Sarzanini Wally (Catalani) Un dì, verso il Murzoli 37884 xM1385 Odeon Fonotipia, Milano 1910/1911

Irene Gasperoni Fratiza Puritani (Bellini) Qui la voce sua soave Cetra PE201 F053

Irene Gasperoni Fratiza Don Pasquale (Donizetti) Quel guardo il cavalier Cetra PE201 P059

Margherita Benetti Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea) Io son l’umile ancella Cetra PE211 F114

Margherita Benetti Forza del Destino (Verdi) Pace, pace mio Dio Cetra PE211 F115

Margherita Benetti Luisa (Charpentier) Da quel di’ Cetra PE193 F028

Margherita Benetti Mefistofele (Boito) L’altra notte in fondo al mar Cetra PE103 F026

Margherita Benetti Vespri Siciliani (Verdi) Merce’, dilette amiche Cetra AT0359 B10664

Margherita Benetti Wally (Catalani) Ebben, ne’ andro’ lontano Cetra AT0359 A10661

Loretta Di Lelio Boheme (Puccini) Donde lieta uscì Cetra P180

Loretta Di Lelio Boheme (Puccini) Mi chiamano Mimi’ Cetra P180

Loretta Di Lelio Turandot (Puccini) Signore ascolta Cetra AT0296

Loretta Di Lelio Turandot (Puccini) Tu che sei di gel Cetra AT0296

Nora De Rosa La Forza del Destino (Verdi) Pace mio Dio Cetra PE198 F052

Nora De Rosa Iris (Mascagni) Un di ero piccina Cetra PE196 F0512