Lella Cuberli (September 29, 1945) is an American soprano, particularly associated with the

Belcanto Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing. The phrase was not associat ...

repertory. Born Lela Alice Terrell in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, she studied in Dallas and later in Milan. She made her professional debut in Siena, in 1973, and for some years pursued her career mainly in Italy, making her mark in Rossini,

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 duri ...

and Bellini operas. She sang at

Martina Franca Martina Franca, or just Martina ( Martinese: ), is a town and ''municipality'' in the province of Taranto, Apulia, Italy. It is the second most populated town of the province after Taranto, and has a population (2016) of 49,086. Since 1975, th ...

from 1976 to 1982, as Amenaide, Adalgisa, and in

Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born i ...

operas. She appeared at La Scala from 1978 to 1985, as

Aminta ''Aminta'' is a play written by Torquato Tasso in 1573, represented during a garden party at the court of Ferrara. Both the actors and the public were noble persons living at the Court, who could understand subtle allusions the poet made to that ...

, Ginevra, Rodelinda, Giunia, Contessa di Folleville . Other roles at the major opera houses of Italy have included;

Donna Anna ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spani ...

, Fiordiligi, Rossini's Elisabetta and

Desdemona Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a Moorish Venetian ...

, etc. She also appeared at the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

, 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 ...

, 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 ...

and the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

. Returning to the United States, she made her debut at the

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...

in 1989, as Amenaide, and at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

in 1990, as

Semiramide ''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Feni ...

. In 1990, she also made her debut at Covent Garden in London, as Mathilde. She can be heard on disc in works by Mozart, notably in Daniel Barenboim's recording cycle of the

Lorenzo Da Ponte Lorenzo Da Ponte (; 10 March 174917 August 1838) was an Italian, later American, opera librettist, poet and Roman Catholic priest. He wrote the libretti for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's most celebrated operas: ''The Marr ...

's operas, ''

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'', '' Don Giovanni'', ''

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 recorded Giunia in Mozart's ''

Lucio Silla ''Lucio Silla'' (), K. 135, is an Italian opera seria in three acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 16. The libretto was written by Giovanni de Gamerra, revised by Pietro Metastasio. It was first performed on 26 December 1772 ...

'' and the ''Great Mass in C minor'' under

James Levine James Lawrence Levine (; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March 1 ...

, the soprano part in

Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, wit ...

's recording of the Beethoven's

Missa Solemnis {{Audio, De-Missa solemnis.ogg, Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass, and is a genre of musical settings of the Mass Ordinary, which are festively scored and render the Latin text extensively, opposed to the more modest Missa brevis. In French ...

and the 9th Symphony, Rossini's ''

Il viaggio a Reims ''Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'albergo del giglio d'oro'' (''The Journey to Reims, or The Hotel of the Golden Fleur-de-lis'') is an operatic dramma giocoso, originally performed in three acts,Janet Johnson: ''A Lost Masterpiece Recovered'', pp. 37 ...

'' and ''

Tancredi ''Tancredi'' is a ''melodramma eroico'' ('' opera seria'' or heroic opera) in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi (who was also to write '' Semiramide'' ten years later), based on Voltaire's play ''Tancrède'' (17 ...

'', and Donizetti's '' Pia de' Tolomei''. She has also recorded two solo recitals of works by Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini, Pergolesi and Mozart. Cuberli's voice is not large, but rich and beautiful, and is firmly produced, flexible and used with style. She taught at the University of North Texas during the Spring Semester of 2008.

Sources

* ''Grove Music Online'', Elizabeth Forbes, Oxford University Press, March 2008.

Sources

References

Further reading