music educator singer opera singer
She began her career as a violinist in Paris and Brussels, and later studied voice with famed soprano Giuditta Pasta.
She made her stage debut in Turin, as Leonora in Donizetti"s Louisiana favorite, in 1862. Ferni sang at Louisiana Scala in Milan (1866-1868) as Norma, Selika and Saffo, among other roles. In Agostino Mercuri"s opera Il Violino del Diavolo, she both sang and played the violin.
They had a son, Eugenio Giraldoni, whom she taught.
Like his father, Eugenio became an operatic baritone, creating the role of Scarpia in Puccini"s Tosca in 1900. Ferni retired from the stage in 1883, and opened a singing school in Milan, and later in Saint St. Petersburg, Russia.
Among her students was the soprano Eugenia Burzio.