- Gina Cigna
Gina Cigna (
March 6 ,1900 -June 20 ,2001 ) was a French-Italian opera singer, one of the leadingdramatic soprano of the inter-war period.Biography
Cigna was born in
Paris ,France , to parents of Italian origin.She trained as a pianist at theParis Conservatory studying withAlfred Cortot and graduated with a gold medal. She then started a career as a recitalist. She met French tenor Maurice Sens, whom she married in 1923, and following his advice turned to singing. She took private lessons withEmma Calvé ,Hariclea Darclée andRosina Storchio , but was mostly self-taught. She made her debut as Ginette Sens in 1927 at theTeatro alla Scala , in Milan, as Freia in "Das Rheingold ", without much success.Two years later, still at La Scala, but this time under the name Gina Cigna, she sang the role of Donna Elvira in "
Don Giovanni ", and this time it was a triumph. A few weeks later she appeared as Elisabeth in "Tannhäuser ". She was to sing regularly at La Scala until 1945, quickly establishing herself as one of the leading italian dramatic soprano alongsideMaria Caniglia in operas such as "Il Trovatore ", "Un ballo in maschera ", "La forza del destino ", "Aida ", "Andrea Chenier ", and "Tosca ". However, it is as "Norma ", "La Gioconda " and "Turandot "that her name will remain forever associated. She recorded "Norma" in 1937 and "Turandot", opposite the youngMagda Olivero as Liù, in 1938, both forCetra . As the first complete recordings of these two operas, they are both of considerable historical value.As her reputation grew invitations from abroad started to materialize,and she sang at the
Paris Opéra , theRoyal Opera House inLondon , theLyric Opera of Chicago , theSan Francisco Opera , and theNew York Metropolitan Opera , where she made her debut onFebruary 6 ,1937 as Aida.Cigna's career came to a brutal halt in 1948 when she was involved in aserious car accident and suffered a heart attack. Forced to retire fromsinging, she turned to teaching. In 1996 at the age of 96 she appeared in
Jan Schmidt-Garre 's film "Opera Fanatic".She died in
Milan ,Italy , on June 20, 2001, at the venerable age of 101.Studio Recordings
Bellini - "Norma " - Gina Cigna,Ebe Stignani ,Giovanni Breviario ,Tancredi Pasero -Vittorio Gui - 1937Puccini - "Turandot " - Gina Cigna,Francesco Merli ,Magda Olivero , Luciano Neroni -Franco Ghione - 1938Sources
* "Dictionnaire des interprètes", Alain Pâris, (Éditions Robert Laffont, 1989) ISBN 2-221-06660-X
* "Guide de l’opéra", R. Mancini & J-J. Rouveroux, (Fayard, 1995) ISBN 2-213-01563-6
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