Virginia Ferni Germano (16 December 1849 – 4 February 1934) 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 ...

opera singer.

Early life

Virginia Ferni Germano (before 1934) - Archivio Storico Ricordi FOTO001488

Virginia Ferni was born in

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 ...

. Her mother was an actress, Francesca Ferni; her father was a cellist, Antonio Ferni; her siblings Angelo and Teresa were both musicians too. Virginia Ferni studied both violin and voice as a girl.Elizabeth Forbes
"Virginia Ferni-Germano"
''Grove Music Online'' (2002).

Karl-Josef Kutsch Karl-Josef Kutsch, also known as K. J. Kutsch, (born 11 May 1924) is a German physician and co-author with Leo Riemens of the ''Großes Sängerlexikon'', the standard reference for opera singers. Life and work Born in Gangelt, Kutsch studied me ...

Leo Riemens Leonardus Antony Marinus Riemens (3 December 1910 – 3 April 1985) was a Dutch musicologist and cultural journalist. He wrote a book about Maria Callas, and together with Karl-Josef Kutsch began a reference book about opera singers in 1962, which ...

, eds.
''Großes Sängerlexikon''
(Walter De Gruyter 2012): 1436.

Career

Virginia Ferni debuted on the opera stage in 1876, in

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

's ''Faust'', at Madrid's Teatro Reale. She was the first to play

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...

's ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'' in Italian, at Milan's

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 1885. She created the title role of

Alfredo Catalani Alfredo Catalani (19 June 1854 – 7 August 1893) was an Italian operatic composer. He is best remembered for his operas ''Loreley'' (1890) and ''La Wally'' (1892). ''La Wally'' was composed to a libretto by Luigi Illica, and features Catalani's ...

's ''

Edmea ''Edmea'' is an 1886 opera in three acts by Alfredo Catalani to a libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Cast of the première The opera was first performed on 27 February 1886 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. The cast of that first performance wa ...

'' when it premiered in 1896, and of Catalani's ''

Loreley The Lorelei ( ; ), spelled Loreley in German, is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at Sankt Goarshausen in Germany, part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site. ...

'', when it was first performed in 1890.

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 ...

made his professional conducting debut in Italy at an 1886 performance of ''Edmea'' starring Virginia Ferni Germano. Her 1886 appearance as ''

Mignon ''Mignon'' is an 1866 ''opéra comique'' (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel '' Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre''. The ...

'' in Milan prompted a London newspaper correspondent to comment that "her appearance is, to say the least, hardly suited for portraying a very youthful gipsy girl," but to concede that "her matured artistic abilities and fine voice sustain the part in a manner highly acceptable to her auditors." After retiring from the stage she taught voice in Turin. Among her students were Alba Anzelotti, Bianca Lenzi, and Marisa Morel.

Personal life

Virginia Ferni married Carlo Germano, a violinist. Their son Carlo (1880–1916) was also a violinist. Virginia Ferni Germano died in 1934, aged 84 years, in Turin. Her collection of autographed photos of other performers is archived in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini art collections.Virginia Ferni Germano
Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

References

External links

A painted portrait of Virginia Ferni Germano, by Rietti
in the Museo Teatrale (Scala) in Milan; at

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. is an American visual media company and is a supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three markets— creative ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferni Germano, Virginia 1849 births 1934 deaths Musicians from Turin Italian operatic sopranos 19th-century Italian women opera singers