Ilva Ligabue (May 23, 1932, Reggio Emilia – August 19, 1998, Palermo) was an Italian operatic soprano, best known for the role of Alice Ford in ''

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

'', which she recorded twice, under Georg Solti (RCA, 1963) and Leonard Bernstein (Sony, 1966). Ilva Ligabue studied 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 ...

in the class of Campogalliani and at La Scuola di Canto alla Scala where she made her debut as Marina in 1953. Blyth, Alan. Obituary for Ilva Ligabue. ''

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 libr ...

'', Vol 49 No 10, October 1998, p1165-6. After singing with success at most of the Italian opera houses, she won considerable acclaim in the title role of '' Beatrice di Tenda'' at La Scala in 1961, followed by Margherita in

Boito Arrigo Boito (; 24 February 1842 10 June 1918) (whose original name was Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito and who wrote essays under the anagrammatic pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio) was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composer, ...

's ''

Mefistofele ''Mefistofele'' () is an opera in a prologue and five acts, later reduced to four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera with music by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito (there are several completed operas for which he was libre ...

'' in Chicago. She then began appearing abroad, notably in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, also singing at the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...

, the Paris Opera, and became a regular guest artist at the

Glyndebourne Festival Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

and the

Aix-en-Provence Festival The Festival d'Aix-en-Provence is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumental ...

, where she was especially admired as Fiordiligi in ''

Cosi fan tutte Cosi, COSI or CoSi may refer to: * '' Così'', a 1992 play by Louis Nowra ** ''Cosi'' (film), 1996, based on the play * Così (restaurant), an American fast-casual restaurant chain * Compton Spectrometer and Imager, or COSI, a NASA telescope to ...

''. She also appeared in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. A sensitive and intelligent singer and a fine actress, other notable roles included Amelia in ''

Un ballo in maschera ''Un ballo in maschera'' ''(A Masked Ball)'' is an 1859 opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The text, by Antonio Somma, was based on Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's 1833 five act opera, '' Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué''. Th ...

'' and Desdemona in '' Otello''. Alan Blyth wrote that "those who saw and heard her will always remember the liveliness of her characterizations and the aplomb of her singing", representing an Italian vocal style "outgoing yet disciplined". Her complete opera recordings include Alice in ''Falstaff'' conducted by

Downes Downes may refer to: * Downes Sports F.C., the former name of Hinckley Downes F.C. * Downes v. Bidwell, a US Supreme Court case * Downes (surname), people with the surname ''Downes'' * USS Downes, USS ''Downes'', several United States Navy ships S ...

Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...

and Bernstein, Verdi's ''

Messa da Requiem The ''Messa da Requiem'' is a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass ( Requiem) for four soloists, double choir and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, whom Verdi admired. The first performance, at ...

'' on CD and DVD under Carlo Maria Giulini, as well as live recordings including Verdi's ''Otello'' in Dallas in 1962 with Del Monaco and Vinay (singing Iago);'' I masnadieri'' in Rome in 1972 with Raimondi, Bruson and Christoff; and ''La Forza del Destino'' at La Scala in 1965 with Bergonzi, Ghiaurov, and Simionato. Ligabue was married to the Italian baritone Paolo Pedani.

References

External links

* ''Dictionnaire des interprètes'', Alain Pâris,

Éditions Robert Laffont Éditions Robert Laffont is a book publishing company in France founded in 1941 by Robert Laffont. Its publications are distributed in almost all francophone countries, but mainly in France, Canada and in Belgium. It is considered one of the most ...

, Paris, 1989. * ''Opera News'', Obituaries, October 1998. 1932 births 1998 deaths People from Reggio Emilia Italian operatic sopranos Milan Conservatory alumni 20th-century Italian women opera singers {{Italy-opera-singer-stub