Adriana Guerrini (22 September 1907 – 24 April 1970) was an Italian operatic
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.
Guerrini initially studied with Elvira Cesaroli Salvatori but being dissatisfied, applied to Beniamino Gigli for advice and was directed to Roberto Giovannini, active at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia (Rome) but also at the famous "Scuola di arpe," directed by Isabella Rosati Caserini. After three years with Giovannini, she made her first operatic appearance in June 1935 at the Teatro Quattro Fontane (Rome) singing Musetta in ''La Boheme,'' along with other young people newly graduated from conservatory or private schools, including the young Giulio Neri, later one of Italy's premier bassos. After another ''Boheme'' in October of that year, Guerrini undertook a further year of study. In 1937 she had two concert appearances, and in July she appeared as Cio-cio-san in ''Madama Butterfly'' at the Teatro Italia (Rome), followed in October by her first performance on Italian radio (EIAR Rome). This was an Italian-language version of Charpentier's ''Louise;'' she sang two minor roles. The following year, 1938, Guerrini saw more regular activity, and it can be said that this year saw the beginning of her true career. Besides two concertos there were appearances in Rome (''Traviata''), Catanzaro (Iris), Frascati (''Baronessa di Carini'') and a notable (''Andrea Chenier'' opposite Giuseppe Taccani), L'Aquila, and Pescara. She was now drawing very favorable notices. By year's end Guerrini had been contracted at fourteen secondary opera companies. The years 1939-1941 followed suit, and her last appearance in 1941 marked her first performance outside Italy; this was Barcelona, and a performance of ''Tosca''.
May 1942 would see Guerrini's first appearance at a major house—Teatro Massimo (Palermo)—in ''La Forza del Destino'' and also in concert. In the same year Catania's famous Teatro Bellini also saw her in three performances, and at the EIAR's Rome studios she resumed her radio career with a concert and a ''Siberia'' conducted by Giordano, also a ''Tosca'' opposite Giacinto Prandelli. By 1943 Italy's tragic wartime curtailed Guerrini's activities, mostly confined to EIAR concerts and performances in Rome and Turin: ''Ballo in Maschera, Tosca, Andrea Chenier'' (Giordano, cond.), ''Gloria, Il Tabarro''. Co-interpreters included Beniamino Gigli, Galliano Masini, Mario Borriello, Armando Borgioli, Piero Pauli, and Giovanni Inghilleri.
In 1944 she appeared at the
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The pre ...
in ''Andrea Chenier, Ballo in Maschera, Madama Butterfly,'' and ''Forza del Destino''. By now she was an established and highly esteemed performer. Her greatest triumphs occurred in 1945-1948 at the
Teatro San Carlo
The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent t ...
in Naples, where she sang in ''
Ballo in maschera
''Un ballo in maschera'' ''(A Masked Ball)'' is an 1859 opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The text, by Antonio Somma, was based on Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's 1833 five act opera, '' Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué''.
The p ...
'', ''
Forza del destino
' (; ''The Power of Fate'', often translated ''The Force of Destiny'') is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, ' (1835), by Ángel de Saavedra, 3rd Duke of Rivas, ...
'', ''
Cavalleria rusticana
''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; Italian for "rustic chivalry") is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name and subsequent play b ...
'', ''
Tosca
''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...
'', ''Madama Butterfly, Traviata, Manon, Manon Lescaut, Faust, Mefistofele, Miseria e Nobilta`, La Boheme, Falstaff,'' and ''Trovatore.''
She also won considerable acclaim in the title role in
Gluck
Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the ...
's ''
Iphigénie en Aulide
''Iphigénie en Aulide'' (''Iphigeneia in Aulis'') is an opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the first work he wrote for the Paris stage. The libretto was written by François-Louis Gand Le Bland Du Roullet and was based on Jean ...
'', and as Octavian in ''
Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...
''. During the celebration of
Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
's 50th death anniversary in 1951, she sang on Italian radio the role of Amalia in ''
I masnadieri
''I masnadieri'' (''The Bandits'' or ''The Robbers'') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Andrea Maffei, based on the play ''Die Räuber'' by Friedrich von Schiller.
As Verdi became more successful in Italy, he beg ...
.''
Outside Italy, she made guest appearances at the
Teatro Tivoli (Barcelona), the
Coliseu dos Recreios
The Coliseu dos Recreios (also known as Coliseu de Lisboa) is a multi-purpose auditorium located in Lisbon, Portugal.
History
The main building was constructed within a metal lattice by Francisco Goulard between 1888 and 1890. While the facade ...
(Lisbon), the Teatro Municipal (Caracas), the Royal Festival Hall and the Albert Hall (London), and the Wiener Konzerthaus (Vienna)
A lyric-dramatic soprano of stature, she can be heard in complete recordings of ''La traviata'', ''La forza del destino'', and ''Tosca''.
Sources
Giorgio Feliciotti, ''Adriana Guerrini: Una Voce che Ritorna''
Operissimo.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guerrini, Adriana
1907 births
1970 deaths
Musicians from Florence
Italian operatic sopranos
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni
20th-century Italian women opera singers