Eugenia Ratti

Eugenia Ratti (April 5, 1933) was an Italian soprano, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.

She was born in Genoa, Italy, and studied with her mother, and later took private lessons with Tito Schipa, and made her stage debut at Sestri Levante in 1954.

In January 1955, she first appeared at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, in the premiere of Darius Milhaud's "David", later singing Lisa in "La sonnambula", opposite Maria Callas and Cesare Valletti, in the famous Visconti-Bernstein production. In 1957, she created the role of Sister Constance of St Dénis in Francis Poulenc's "Dialogues des Carmélites".

She appeared at the Holland Festival in 1955, as Elvira in "L'italiana in Algeri", and in 1956, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Rosina in "Il barbiere di Siviglia". In 1957, she sang as Elisetta in "Il matrimonio segreto", at the Edinburgh Festival. She also made guest appearances at the Paris Opéra, the Munich State Opera, the Vienna State Opera, and the Glyndebourne Festival (as the Italian singer in "Capriccio"). In 1965, Ratti appeared in "Fedora" (as the Countess Olga Sukarev), opposite Magda Olivero and Mario del Monaco, at Naples.

In America, she appeared at the Dallas Opera in 1958 (as Rosina), and the San Francisco Opera in 1959 (as Zerlina).

A lyric coloratura soprano of considerable charm, she excelled in soubrette roles in works by Cimarosa and Mozart such as Susanna, Zerlina, Despina, and in light Donizetti such as Adina, Norina, as well as Verdi's Oscar and Nannetta.

Studio Discography

* Bellini: "La sonnambula" (Callas, Alva, Zaccaria; Votto, 1957) EMI
* Cimarosa: "Il matrimonio segreto" (Sciutti, Stignani, Badioli; Sanzogno, 1956) EMI
* Mozart: "Don Giovanni" (Nilsson, L.Price, Siepi; Leinsdorf, 1959) Decca Records
* Verdi: "Aïda" [as the High Priestess] (Tebaldi, Simionato, Bergonzi, MacNeil; Karajan, 1959) Decca Records
* Verdi: "Un ballo in maschera" (Callas, Barbieri, di Stefano, Gobbi; Votto, 1956) EMI

References

* [http://www.operissimo.com/ Operissimo.com]