Isabella Fabbrica (

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, c. 1802 –

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, c. 1860) 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 librett ...

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, typically b ...

. Just after completing her studies 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 ...

, she made her debut in 1822 at

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

, as Emerico in the première of Mercadante's ''Adele ed Emerico''. The opera obtained a good success and this facilitated the career of Isabella Fabbrica, which in the same year interpreted other premières of operas of

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 ...

(''

Chiara e Serafina ''Chiara e Serafina, o I pirati'' (''Chiara and Serafina, or The Pirates'') is an opera semiseria in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a libretto by Felice Romani, based on the melodrama ''La cisterne'' by René Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt. ...

'') and Mercadante (''Amleto''). After a few years spent mainly between Milan and Turin, she married, after dropping a possible union with Mercadante,Regli, ''Dizionario biografico'' the tenor Giovanni Battista Montresor, son of the contralto

Adelaide Malanotte Adelaide Malanotte (1785 – 31 December 1832) was an Italian operatic contralto who performed in major opera houses in Italy from 1806–1821. She is best known for creating the title role in the world premiere of Gioachino Rossini's ''Tancredi' ...

. After her debut in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1830, she spent some years in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, where she obtained an extraordinary success. Later Fabbrica sang also in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, until 1850, when she ceased her activity. Isabella Fabbrica was very famous for her talents as an actress and for her powerful voice.D'Annibale, ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani''

Roles created

*Emerico in Mercadante's ''Adele ed Emerico'' (1822) *Chiara in Donizetti's ''

'' (1822) *Amleto in Mercadante's ''Amleto'' (1822) *Giulia in Pacini's ''La vestale'' (1823) *Demetrio in

Mayr Mayr is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrea Mayr (born 1979), Austrian female long-distance runner * Ernst Mayr (1904–2005), German American evolutionary biologist * Georg Mayr (1564–1623), Bavarian Jesuit pri ...

's ''Demetrio'' (1823) *Alcibiade in Cordella's ''Alcibiade'' (1824) *Romeo in

Vaccai Nicola Vaccai (15 March 1790 – 5 or 6 August 1848) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas, and a singing teacher. Life and career as a composer Born at Tolentino, he grew up in Pesaro, and studied music there until his parents sent him ...

's ''Giulietta e Romeo'' (1825) *Arturo in Coccia's ''

Caterina di Guisa ''Caterina di Guisa'' is an opera in two acts by Carlo Coccia to a libretto by Felice Romani based on the 1829 play ''Henry III and His Courts'' by Alexandre Dumas. ''Caterina di Guisa'' premiered on 14 February 1833 at the Teatro alla Scala in Mil ...

'' (1833)

References

Notes Sources * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fabbrica, Isabella 1802 births 1860 deaths Operatic contraltos Singers from Milan Italian contraltos 19th-century Italian women opera singers Milan Conservatory alumni