Virginia Damerini was an Italian opera singer, active in the 1880s and 1890s.

Early life

Virginia Damerini was born and raised in the

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

region of Italy.

Career

Damerini was a dramatic soprano. In 1884 she toured several American cities from Brooklyn to San Francisco with the Milan Grand Opera Company. During that tour, ''The New York Times'' commented that "Signora Damerini's style is both refined and expressive." She performed in the premiere of

Alberto Franchetti Alberto Franchetti (18 September 1860 – 4 August 1942) was an Italian composer, best known for the 1902 opera ''Germania''. Biography Alberto Franchetti was born in Turin, a Jewish nobleman of independent means. He studied first in Venice, the ...

's ''

Asrael ''Asrael'' is a ''leggenda'' or opera in four acts by composer Alberto Franchetti and librettist Ferdinando Fontana. The plot, based on German fairy tale and folklore, displays the conflict between the spirit of evil and the spirit of Christian l ...

'' in 1888. She sang the title role in '' Fosca'' in 1889 at Modena and again in 1890, 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 ...

in Milan, with conductor

Arnaldo Conti Arnaldo Conti (Parma, 22 February 1855 — Milan, 24 March 1919) was an Italian conductor of opera. He spent much of his life on tour in opera houses around the world, directing performances with singers such as Adelina Patti, Luisa Tetrazzini, ...

. She sang the "notoriously difficult" title role in

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was a Sicilian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Many years later, in 1898, Giu ...

's ''

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid *Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy Geography *Norma, Lazi ...

'' with

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

conducting, at Palermo in 1893. In 1893, she was singing at El Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona on the night when the theatre was bombed by anarchist . Her sister Marie Damerini was reported among the casualties in the explosion."Anarchism in Spain"
''The San Francisco Chronicle'' (November 9, 1893): 2. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damerini, Virginia Italian operatic sopranos 19th-century Italian women opera singers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown