Background
Alboni was born on March 6, 1826, in Città di Castello, Italy.
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Marietta Alboni
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also known as
Maria Anna Marzia Alboni
Education
She became a pupil of Antonio Bagioli of Cesena, Emilia–Romagna, and later of the composer Gioachino Rossini, when he was 'perpetual honorary adviser' in (and then the principal of) the Liceo Musicale, now Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini, in Bologna.
Rossini tested the humble thirteen-year-old girl himself, had her admitted to the school with special treatment and even procured her an early engagement to tour his Stabat Mater around Northern Italy so that she could pay for her studies.
Career
After she achieved her diploma and made a modest debut in Bologna, in 1842, as "Climene" in Pacini's Saffo, she obtained a triennial engagement thanks to Rossini's influence on the impresario Bartolomeo Merelli, Intendant at both Milan's Teatro alla Scala and Vienna's Imperial Kärntnertortheater. The rich contract was signed by Rossini himself, "on behalf of Eustachio Alboni", father of Marietta, who was still a minor. The singer remained, throughout her life, deeply grateful to her ancient "maestro", nearly a second father to her.
In 1842 she made her debut as Climene in Giovanni Pacini’s Saffo at Bologna, and she achieved a notable success in Rossini’s Le Siège de Corinthe at La Scala in Milan. She toured Austria (1843), Russia (1844–45), and Germany and eastern Europe (1846). In 1847 Alboni made sensational English and French debuts at Covent Garden in London and the Théâtre-Italien in Paris in Rossini’s Semiramide. In 1852–53 Alboni toured Spain and the United States to great acclaim. She married, settled in Paris, sang at Rossini’s funeral in 1868, and retired because of her
Indeed, with the exception of Malibran, she had no compeer among the contraltos of the century, the old Italian school of singing finding in her a really great representative. She died at Ville d'Avray in 1894.
Achievements
Works
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Personality
Alboni's voice, an exceptionally fine contralto with a seamless compass of two and one-half octaves, extending as high as the soprano range was said to possess at once power, sweetness, fullness, and extraordinary flexibility. She had no peers in passages requiring a sensitive delivery and semi-religious calmness, owing to the moving quality of her velvety tone. She possessed vivacity, grace, and charm as an actress of the comédienne type; but she was not a natural tragédienne, and her attempt at the strongly dramatic part of Norma has sometimes been reported to have turned out a failure.
Connections
She married first Count A. Pepoli, who died in 1866. In 1877 she had remarried—to a French military officer named Charles Zieger.
References
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Born
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Died
June 23, 1894 (aged 68) -
Resting place
Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France -
Nationality
Italian