Carmen Melis

Carmen Melis (1885 in Cagliari – 19 December 1967 in Longone al Segrino) was an Italian soprano and teacher.

Melis was a pupil of Antonio Cotogni and made her debut in 1905 in Mascagni's "Iris" at the Teatro Coccia in Novara at the age of 20. She quickly started singing in "Madama Butterfly", "Tosca" and "La Bohème" and her predisposition for Puccini brought her to the attention of Puccini himself, who taught her personally the role of Minnie in "La Fanciulla del West", a role she sang in 1911 in Boston. At Covent Garden in London, she sang in "Pagliacci" opposite Enrico Caruso in 1913 and, in 1917, made her debut at La Scala in "Il macigno" by Victor de Sabata. She was known, above all, as a verismo soprano, and one of the most interesting singing actresses of the early 20th century.

Around 1935, she ended her singing career and dedicated herself to teaching. She was a great influence on her pupil, Renata Tebaldi, who once said of Melis, "Everything I needed to learn for the stage, I learnt from her."

Recordings

* Whilst recordings by Melis are rare, there is a complete 1929 "Tosca" from La Scala with Piero Pauli and Apollo Granforte, cond. Carlo Sabajno, available on CD, VAI AUDIO, 1076-2.
* "The Pupil and the Teacher" is a CD of arias by Melis and Tebaldi, on the Russian Fono Enterprise FONO 1055