Gilda dalla Rizza

Gilda Dalla Rizza (October 12, 1892 - July 5, 1975) was an important Italian soprano. Born in Verona, she made her operatic debut in Bologna (the Teatro Verdi) in 1912, as Charlotte in "Werther". Especially acclaimed in the verismo repertory, she was regarded as being Giacomo Puccini's favorite soprano, creating Magda in his "La rondine" (1917). She also gave the first European performances of his "Suor Angelica" and "Gianni Schicchi", at Rome in 1919. She also created roles in Mascagni's "Il piccolo Marat" and Riccardo Zandonai's "Giulietta e Romeo". She was also an important interpreter of that composer's "Francesca da Rimini".

She also appeared at the Teatro Colón (including "Manon Lescaut" opposite Aureliano Pertile) and Covent Garden, and was a favorite at Monte Carlo and the Teatro alla Scala. One of Dalla Rizza's unexpected successes at the latter theatre was in "La traviata", under the bâton of Arturo Toscanini. The beautiful singing-actress bade Farewell to the stage in 1939, though she returned for a final "Suor Angelica", at Vicenza in 1942. She was married to the tenor Tino Capuzzo, and, from 1939 to 1955, she taught at Venice's Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello. The great prima donna died at Milan's Casa Verdi, in 1975.

From 1913 to 1928, Dalla Rizza made several recordings for Columbia and Fonotipia of excerpts from various operas, including "La traviata", "Andrea Chénier", "Madama Butterfly", "Manon Lescaut", "Gianni Schicchi" and "Tosca". In 1931, for Columbia, she recorded a complete version of "Fedora".

The tenor Giacomo Lauri-Volpi wrote of her in "Voci parallele" (1977): "The voice, characterised by guttural and nasal inflexions, imperfect technically, responded to the demands made of it by the actress, who employed it rather to express the emotions than for purely musical effects."

Bibliography

* "Le grandi voci", edited by Rodolfo Celletti (with discography by Raffaele Vegeto), Istituto per la collaborazione culturale - Roma, 1964.
* "The Last Prima Donnas", by Lanfranco Rasponi, Alfred A Knopf, 1982. ISBN 978-0-394-52153-4

External links

* [http://www.gildadesign.com/gilda/] Gilda Dalla Rizza in an excerpt from "Tosca".