Adelaide Malanotte (1785 – 31 December 1832) was an Italian

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

tic

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typica ...

who performed in major

opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...

s in Italy from 1806–1821. She is best known for creating the title role in the world premiere of

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards ...

's ''

Tancredi ''Tancredi'' is a ''melodramma eroico'' ('' opera seria'' or heroic opera) in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi (who was also to write '' Semiramide'' ten years later), based on Voltaire's play ''Tancrède'' (17 ...

'' in 1813. After her marriage, she performed under the name Adelaide Montresor. Her son, Giovanni Battista Montresor, had a career as a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

and

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. His ...

in the United States. From 1812 until her death 20 years later she carried on an extra-marital affair with the poet Luigi Lechi.Gossett describes their meeting
p. 151

Life and career

Born in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

, Malanotte made her professional opera debut in her native city in 1806. In 1808 she was heard at the

Teatro Comunale di Bologna The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season. While there had been various theatres presenting opera in Bologna since the early 1 ...

as Ariodante in

Simon Mayr Johann(es) Simon Mayr (also spelled Majer, Mayer, Maier), also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr (14 June 1763 – 2 December 1845), was a German composer. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the ...

's ''

Ginevra di Scozia ''Ginevra di Scozia'' is an opera in two acts by Simon Mayr set to an Italian libretto by Gaetano Rossi based on Antonio Salvi's ''Ginevra, principessa di Scozia'', which in turn was adapted from cantos 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's ''Orlando F ...

''. In 1809 she performed the role of Enrico in the world premiere of

Stefano Pavesi Stefano Pavesi (22 January 1779, Casaletto Vaprio – 28 July 1850) was an Italian composer. He is primarily known as a prolific opera composer; his breakthrough opera was Fingallo e Comala, and his acknowledged opera masterpiece is Ser Marcan ...

's ''Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra'' at the

Teatro Regio di Torino The Teatro Regio (Royal Theatre) is a prominent opera house and opera company in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. Its season runs from October to June with the presentation of eight or nine operas given from five to twelve performances of each. Several bu ...

. She returned to that theatre the following year to perform the role of Itaferne in the premiere of

Giuseppe Nicolini Giuseppe Nicolini may refer to: * Giuseppe Nicolini (composer) (1762–1842), Italian composer * Giuseppe Placido Nicolini (1877–1973), Roman Catholic bishop * Giuseppe Nicolini (writer) (1788–1855), Italian poet, literary critic and politician ...

's ''Dario Istaspe''. She also appeared at the

Teatro Valle Teatro may refer to: * Theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific p ...

in Rome in 1810 in the premiere of Nicola Antonio Manfroce's ''Alzira''. In 1811 Malanotte made appearances at the opera house in Ravenna and sang in ''Alzira'' again at the opera house in Monza. In 1812 she sang at La Fenice in the title role of

Gaetano Rossi Gaetano Rossi (; 18 May 1774 – 25 January 1855) was an Italian opera librettist for several of the well-known ''bel canto''-era composers including Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Saverio Mercadante in Italy and Giacomo Meyerbeer in one ...

's ''Teodoro'' for the work's world premiere. She was also heard that year in Florence. She had a major triumph at La Fenice in 1813 when she performed the title role in the world premiere of

's ''Tancredi''. She later performed that role in Ferrara (1814), Bologna (1814), Livorno (1816), and Naples (1818). The latter performance was attended by composer

Ferdinand Hérold Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold (28 January 1791 – 19 January 1833), better known as Ferdinand Hérold (), was a French composer. He was celebrated in his lifetime for his operas, of which he composed more than twenty, but he also wrote ballet mus ...

who "did not like the timbre of her voice but thought her style, taste and intonation perfect". Malanotte sang in two more world premieres at La Fenice during her career: Pavesi's ''Le Danaidi romane'' (1816, Cajo Valerio) and

Francesco Basili Francesco Basili (31 January 1767 – 27 March 1850) was an Italian composer and conductor. The son of Andrea Basili, he was born in Loreto and died in Rome. References 1767 births 1850 deaths Italian classical composers Italian male ...

's ''L'ira d'Achille'' (1817, Achille). She retired from the stage in 1821. She died in

Salò Salò (; la, Salodium) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy (northern Italy) on the banks of Lake Garda, on which it has the longest promenade. The city was the seat of government of the Italian Socia ...

in 1832 at the age of 47.

References

Notes Sources * Gossett, Philip (2006), ''Divas and Scholar: Performing Italian Opera'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Malanotte, Adelaide 1785 births 1832 deaths Operatic contraltos Musicians from Verona 19th-century Italian women opera singers