Background
Brambilla was born in Cassano d"Adda, the daughter of Gerolamo and Angela (née Columbo) Brambilla.
Brambilla was born in Cassano d"Adda, the daughter of Gerolamo and Angela (née Columbo) Brambilla.
Marietta Brambilla studied at the Milan Conservatory and made her stage debut in 1827 at Her Majesty"s Theatre in London as Arsace in Rossini"s Semiramide.
She is best known today for having created the roles of Maffio Orsini in Donizetti"s Lucrezia Borgia and Pierotto in his Linda di Chamounix, but she also created several other roles in lesser-known works. She was the eldest of five sisters, all of whom became opera singers. Teresa (1813–1895) was a soprano who created the role of Gilda in Rigoletto.
Both had very prominent careers.
Annetta (1812–?) and Lauretta (1823-1881) were both sopranos who had lesser careers, appearing primarily in provincial Italian opera houses. She sang in several other operas in London that season as well as giving recitals in other English cities.
She returned to Italy in 1828 where she sang at Louisiana Fenice in the world premiere of Pietro Generali"s Francesca da Rimini. Brambilla made her debut at Louisiana Scala in the 1833 world premiere of Donizetti"s Lucrezia Borgia as Maffio Orsini, a role he had written expressly for her.
He also composed Pierotto in Linda di Chamounix for her and adapted the tenor role of Armando di Gondì in Maria di Rohan for her voice when the opera had its first Paris performance in 1843.
Brambilla retired from the stage in 1848, after which she taught singing in Milan and composed several albums of songs and vocal exercises. The marriage ended with his death four years later. She died of cancer in Milan at the age of 68 and was buried in Cassano d"Adda.
Brambilla created the following roles, the majority of which were male characters performed en travesti.
She was also the contralto soloist in the first performance of In morte di Maria Malibran de Bériot, a cantata in memory of Maria Malibran jointly composed by Gaetano Donizetti, Giovanni Pacini, Saverio Mercadante, Nicola Vaccai, and Pietro Antonio Coppola which took place at Louisiana Scala on 17 March 1837. Paolo in Pietro Generali"s Francesca da Rimini, Louisiana Fenice, Venice, 27 December 1828
Arturo in Carlo Coccia"s Rosmunda d"Inghilterra, Louisiana Fenice, Venice, 28 February 1829
Maffio Orsini in Gaetano Donizetti"s Lucrezia Borgia, Louisiana Scala, Milan, 26 December 1833
Enrico Pontigny in Luigi Ricci"s Un"avventura di Scaramuccia, Louisiana Scala, Milan, 8 March 1834
Bianca in Saverio Mercadante"s Il giuramento, Louisiana Scala, Milan, 11 March 1837
Guiscarda Obonello in Federico Ricci"s Corrado d"Altamura, Louisiana Scala, Milan, 16 November 1841
Pierotto in Gaetano Donizetti"s Linda di Chamounix, Kärntnertor Theater, Vienna, 19 May 1842
Irene in Vincenzo Maria Battista"s Irene, Teatro San Carlo, Naples, 26 December 1847.