Giuseppina Gargano (1 January 1853 — 14 September 1939) was an Italian opera singer, born Giuseppina D'Amico.

Early life

Giuseppina D'Amico was born in

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

, the daughter of Pietro D'Amico and Anna Bonazinga D'Amico (1830–1906). Her parents were performers. Her father demonstrated mesmerism and hypnotism, and was founder of the Italian Magnetic Society. Her mother had a following as a clairvoyant ("chiaroveggente"). She studied voice at Bologna.Bruno Rovena
"Giuseppina Gargano, 'la piccola Malibran': Una diva dell'ottocento"
''Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana'' 37(3)(July 2003): 401-418.

Career

Giuseppina D'Amico was a teen in 1870, touring South America with her father's act, when she accepted a part in a production of ''

La sonnambula ''La sonnambula'' (''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the '' bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by Eug ...

'' in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

. She sang the role of Gilda in ''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play ''Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had cont ...

'' next, and was soon performing in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro as well. She was called "la piccola Malibran" (the little Malibran), a comparison to Spanish singer

Maria Malibran Maria Felicia Malibran (24 March 1808 – 23 September 1836) was a Spanish singer who commonly sang both contralto and soprano parts, and was one of the best-known opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality ...

(1808–1836). She performance internationally, from South America to London, Madrid, and Tbilisi, and all over Italy. "This lady possesses comedy powers," a London reviewer wrote, of her 1891 turn as 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 ...

''. During her 1891 stay in London, she also appeared in ''Il Matrimonio Secreto'' and ''L'elisir d'amore''.

Personal life

Giuseppina D'Amico married Valerio Gargano in 1875, in Buenos Aires. They had two children, Emilia (1876–1962) and Vittorio (1886–1975). Giuseppina Gargano died in 1939, aged 86 years. Her gravesite is with her parents' and children's graves at

Certosa di Bologna The Certosa di Bologna is a former Carthusian monastery (or charterhouse) in Bologna, northern Italy, which was founded in 1334 and suppressed in 1797. In 1801 it became the city's Monumental Cemetery which would be much praised by Byron and other ...

.Alessandro Cervellati
''Certosa bianca e verde: Echi e aneddoti''
(Tamari 1967): 105.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gargano, Giuseppina 1853 births 1939 deaths Italian opera singers