Description

EUGENIA BURZIO (POIRINO, PIEDMONT, 20 JUNE 1872, – MILAN, 18 MAY 1922)

 

 

 

 

She was particularly prominent in the verismo repertoire, creating the role of Delia Terzaghi in Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Goffredo Mameli as well as singing Minnie in the Italian premiere of Giacomo Puccini’s La fanciulla del West. While many music critics found her interpretations imaginative and exciting, others criticized her for the unevenness of her voice and other technical shortcomings. Burzio was born in Poirino, Piedmont. Initially, she pursued a career as a violinist but decided instead to concentrate on opera singing while still aged only in her twenties. She studied voice at the Milan Conservatory with Carolina Ferni (the mother of the baritone Eugenio Giraldoni) and made her professional début as Santuzza, in Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, at the Teatro Regio di Torino in 1899. She went on to enjoy a highly successful career throughout her homeland as a lyric-dramatic soprano, although her ardent, larger-than-life mode of vocalism was not calculated to appeal to the taste of more conservative British and American audiences, and this limited the scope of her international reputation. Burzio was a magnetic actress and she became particularly associated with the music of the verismo school of composers, exemplified by Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano and, to a certain extent, Puccini. She was a regular performer at Italy’s pre-eminent opera house, La Scala, Milan, during the first two decades of the 20th century, appearing in a wide repertoire, often under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. Surprisingly, given her lack of a true bel canto technique, her La Scala roles included Gluck’s Armide and Bellini’s Norma. She also sang in South America and in Russia – at St Petersburg’s renowned Mariinsky Theatre. In addition, Burzio cut a number of frequently gripping 78-rpm gramophone recordings in Milan between 1905 and 1916. Towards the end of her career, however, she suffered from a nervous disorder and general ill-health. She made her final stage appearance in 1919, in Ponchielli’s Marion Delorme. Burzio died at Milan, three years later, aged 49, of kidney failure.

 

Her career evolved as follows:

 

1899 Torino Teatro Vittorio Emanuele Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1900 Sanremo Teatro Principe Amedeo Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1903 Bari  Teatro Petruzzelli Andrea Chenier (Maddalena)

1903 Catania  Teatro Bellini Otello (Desdemona)

1904 San Paolo Teatro Santana Andrea Chenier (Maddalena)

1904 Rio de Janeiro  Teatro Lirico Ballo in maschera (Amelia)

1904 Rio de Janeiro  Teatro Lirico Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1904 Rio de Janeiro  Teatro Lirico Dannazione di Faust (Margherita)

1904 Rio de Janeiro  Teatro Lirico Gioconda (Gioconda)

1904 Rio de Janeiro  Teatro Lirico Mefistofele (Margherita)

1904 San Paolo Teatro Santana Ballo in maschera (Amelia)

1904 San Paolo Teatro Santana Dannazione di Faust (Margherita)

1904 San Paolo Teatro Santana Gioconda (Gioconda)

1904 Palermo  Teatro Massimo Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1904 Palermo  Teatro Massimo Gioconda (Gioconda)

1905 Buenos Aires  Politeama Argentino Boheme (Mimi)

1905 Buenos Aires  Politeama Argentino Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1905 Buenos Aires  Politeama Argentino Gioconda (Gioconda)

1906 San Pietroburgo  Teatro Aquarium Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1906 Milan Teatro della Scala La Figlia di Jorio (Mila di Condra)

1907 Buenos Aires  Politeama Argentino Ballo in maschera (Amelia)

1907 Milan Teatro della Scala Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1907 Milan Teatro della Scala Gioconda (Gioconda)

1907 Firenze Teatro Verdi Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1907 Firenze Teatro Verdi Gioconda (Gioconda)

1907 Buenos Aires  Politeama Argentino Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1909 Buenos Aires  Teatro Colon Boheme (Mimi)

1909 Buenos Aires  Teatro Colon Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1909 Buenos Aires  Teatro Colon Gioconda (Gioconda)

1909 Livorno  Teatro Goldoni Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1909 Il Cairo Teatro Khediviale Gioconda (Gioconda)

1910  Firenze Teatro Verdi Loreley (Loreley)

1911 Ostenda  Kursaal Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

1911 Roma Teatro Costanzi Fanciulla del West (Minnie)

1911 Torino  Teatro Regio Fanciulla del West (Minnie)

1912 Torino Politeama Chiarella Favorita (Leonora)

1912 Milan Teatro della Scala Norma (Norma)

1912 Firenze Teatro Verdi Norma (Norma)

1913 Napoli Teatro San Carlo Fanciulla del West (Minnie)

1913 Firenze  Politeama Fiorentino Fanciulla del West (Minnie)

1913 Firenze  Politeama Nazionale Loreley (Loreley)

1915 Milan Teatro della Scala Gioconda (Gioconda)

1915 Milan Teatro della Scala Loreley (Loreley)

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. Ballo in maschera (Verdi) Morrò ma prima in grazia 86381 Pathé, Milano 1913
2. Favorita (Donizetti) O mio Fernando 86427 Pathé, Milano 1913
3. Favorita (Donizetti) Pietoso al par 86380 Pathé, Milano 1913
4. Gioconda (Ponchielli) Quest’ultimo bacio 86425 Pathé, Milano 1913
5. Gioconda (Ponchielli) Suicidio 86424 Pathé, Milano 1913
6. Madrigale (Simonetti) 84483 Pathé, Milano 1913
7. Norma (Bellini) Casta diva 86383 Pathé, Milano 1913
8. Norma (Bellini) Deh! non volerli vittime 86382 Pathé, Milano 1913
9. Peer Gynt (Grieg) Solvvejgs sang 84482 Pathé, Milano 1913
10. Torna (Denza) 84485 Pathé, Milano 1913
11. Visione (Tosti) 84484 Pathé, Milano 1913