Angiolina Ortolani-Tiberini (10 May 1834 – 31 December 1913) was an Italian

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 ...

who sang many leading roles in European opera houses during a career spanning over twenty years. After their marriage in 1858, her career was closely entwined with that of her husband, the tenor

Mario Tiberini Mario Tiberini (8 September 1826 – 16 October 1880) was an Italian tenor who sang leading roles in the opera houses of Europe and the Americas in a career spanning 25 years. Known for his advanced singing technique and dramatic ability, he sang ...

, with the couple often appearing together on stage. Amongst the roles she created was Ofelia in Franco Faccio's ''

Amleto ''Amleto'' is an opera in four acts by Franco Faccio set to a libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. It premiered on 30 May 1865 at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa and was revised for a La Scala production given on 12 ...

''.

Life and career

Ortolani-Tiberini was born Maria Angela Ortolani Valandris in the northern Italian city of

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

where her father owned an

osteria An osteria (, plural ''osterie'') in Italy was originally a place serving wine and simple food. Lately, the emphasis has shifted to the food, but menus tend to be short, with the emphasis on local specialities such as pasta and grilled meat o ...

.Guerra, Giosetta (2005). ''Mario Tiberini, tenore (1826–1880): Una gloria marchigiana del passato'', pp. 54; 241; 243. Associazione musicale Mario Tiberini She studied singing at the

Milan Conservatory The Milan Conservatory (''Conservatorio di Milano'') is a college of music in Milan, Italy. History The conservatory was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. It opened the following year ...

under

Francesco Lamperti Francesco Lamperti (11 March 1811 or 1813 – 1 May 1892) was an Italian singing teacher. Biography A native of Savona, Lamperti attended the Milan Conservatory where, beginning in 1850, he taught for a quarter of a century. He was director ...

with the encouragement of the composer and fellow citizen of Bergamo,

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

, who heard her singing as a young girl in the Osteria dei Tre Gobbi. She made her stage debut to great success in the title role of Donizetti's ''

Parisina ''Parisina'' is a 586-line poem written by Lord Byron. It was probably written between 1812 and 1815, and published on 13 February 1816. It is based on a story related by Edward Gibbon in his '' Miscellaneous Works'' (1796) about Niccolò III d ...

'' at the

Teatro Riccardi The Teatro Donizetti is an opera house in Bergamo, Italy. Built in the 1780s using a design by architect Giovanni Francesco Lucchini, the theatre was originally referred to as either the Teatro Nuovo or Teatro di Fiera. The first opera to be moun ...

in Bergamo on 23 August 1853. She sang leading roles for another five seasons at the Teatro Ricciardi as well as commencing an international career. In 1858, while appearing in the title role in ''

Linda di Chamounix ''Linda di Chamounix'' is an operatic ''melodramma semiserio'' in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Gaetano Rossi. It premiered in Vienna, at the Kärntnertortheater, on 19 May 1842. Performance history ''Li ...

'' at the

Gran Teatre del Liceu Gran may refer to: People *Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" * Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet coun ...

in Barcelona, she met and fell in love with the leading tenor

. They married soon after and for the rest of their careers, appeared together in many operas throughout Italy as well as in London's

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

, the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...

, and theatres in Spain, Russia, and the United States. Following her marriage, she appeared under the surname Ortolani-Tiberini. After her husband was stricken with mental illness in 1876, she largely retired from the stage to care for him. However, she returned to Bergamo in 1884 to sing Rosina in ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was base ...

'', when the theatre's season had been compromised by the loss of their lead soprano. She spent her later years at her villa in Ardenza (near

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

) where she died at the age of 79, survived by her sons Arturo, Corradino, and Mario. She is buried beside her husband (who had died in 1880) in the

Cimitero Monumentale di Milano The Cimitero Monumentale ("Monumental Cemetery") is one of the two largest cemeteries in Milan, Italy, the other one being the Cimitero Maggiore. It is noted for the abundance of artistic tombs and monuments. Designed by the architect Carlo Mac ...

.Fondazione Donizetti (29 November 2013)
Bergamo Music Festival Programme: ''Dies Natalis di Gaetano Donizetti''
, p. 5. Retrieved 12 November 2014 .Pini, C. Guglielmo and Pini, Luisa (1992). ''Mascagni a quattro mani'', pp. 27; 29. Il Cardo.

Roles created

*Constanza in Nicolás Guañabens' ''Arnaldo de Erill'',

, Barcelona, 12 May 1859 *Ofelia in Franco Faccio's ''

'',

Teatro Carlo Felice The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the side of Piazza De Ferrari. The hall is named for King Carlo Felice, and dates fr ...

, Genoa, 30 May 1865 *Giulietta in

Filippo Marchetti Filippo Marchetti (26 February 1831, Bolognola, Macerata – 18 January 1902, Rome) was an Italian opera composer. After studying in Naples, his first opera was "successfully premiered"Holden, Amanda (Ed.), pp. 528/29 in Turin in 1856. With ...

's ''Romeo e Giulietta'',

Teatro Grande The Teatro Grande is the main performance venue for the city of Brescia, Italy. The venue hosts performances of operas, musicals, plays, concerts, ballet, modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance whic ...

, Trieste, 25 October 1865

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortolani, Angiolina Italian operatic sopranos 1834 births 1913 deaths Musicians from Bergamo 19th-century Italian women opera singers Milan Conservatory alumni