Maddalena Allegranti by Francesco Bartolozzi

Maddalena Allegranti (1754–1829) was a pupil of Holtzbauer of Mannheim, and appeared for the first time at

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in 1771. After singing at other theatres in Italy, she went in 1774 to Germany, where she continued to perform at

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

and

Ratisbon Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

till the year 1779, when she returned to Venice. She sang there at the theatre of San Samuele during the

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

, and eventually came to England in 1781. Here she was enthusiastically admired in her first opera, ''Viaggiatori felici'' by

Pasquale Anfossi Pasquale Anfossi (5 April 1727 – February 1797) was an Italian opera composer. Born in Taggia, Liguria, he studied with Niccolò Piccinni and Antonio Sacchini, and worked mainly in London, Venice and Rome. He wrote more than 80 operas, both ...

. Her voice, though thin, was extremely sweet, of extraordinary compass upwards, and so flexible as to lead her to indulge in a flowery style of singing which had then the merit of considerable novelty. She was also a good actress. But it was soon found that there was a great sameness in her manner and embellishments, and she became gradually so disregarded, by the end of her second season, that she went to Dresden, where the Elector engaged her at a salary of a thousand ducats. She came a second time to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, many years later, and reappeared in Cimarosa's ''

Il matrimonio segreto ' (''The Secret Marriage'') is a dramma giocoso in two acts, music by Domenico Cimarosa, on a libretto by Giovanni Bertati, based on the 1766 play ''The Clandestine Marriage'' by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick. It was first performed on ...

''. Never was a more pitiable attempt; she had scarcely a thread of voice remaining nor the power to sing a note in tune: her figure and acting were equally altered for the worse, and after a few nights she was obliged to retire, and quit the stage for ever. She performed in oratorio in 1799.

References

Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

, second edition {{DEFAULTSORT:Allegranti, Maddalena 1754 births 1829 deaths Italian operatic sopranos Place of birth missing