Adelaide Tosi ( – 27 March 1859) was an Italian operatic

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 ...

. Born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Tosi studied singing with

Girolamo Crescentini Girolamo Crescentini (Urbania, 2 February 1762 – Naples 24 April 1846) was a noted Italian soprano castrato, singing teacher, and composer. Biography He studied in Bologna with the noted teacher Lorenzo Gibelli and made his debut in 1783, qu ...

. She made her professional debut in her native city on 26 December 1820, singing Ippolito in

Simon Mayr Johann(es) Simon Mayr (also spelled Majer, Mayer, Maier), also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr (14 June 1763 – 2 December 1845), was a German composer. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the ...

's '' Fedra''.Ashbrook (1982), p. 612, note 149. On 12 March 1822 she portrayed Azema in the premiere of

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le di ...

's ''

L'esule di Granata (''The Exile of Granada'') is a ''melodramma serio'' (serious opera) in two acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The Italian libretto was by Felice Romani based on the rivalries between the Zegridi and the Abenceraggi factions in the last days of the kin ...

'' 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 ...

. Her debut in Naples was on 29 September 1824 at the

Teatro di San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent t ...

in the premiere of

Giovanni Pacini Giovanni Pacini (11 February 17966 December 1867) was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni's operas. The fami ...

's ''

Alessandro nelle Indie ''Alessandro nelle Indie'' (''Alexander in India'') is an opera seria in two acts by Giovanni Pacini to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola and Giovanni Schmidt, based on ''Alessandro nell'Indie'' by Pietro Metastasio. It was premiered at the Teatro ...

''. On 7 April 1828, she portrayed Bianca 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 ''

Bianca e Fernando ''Bianca e Fernando'' (''Bianca and Fernando'') is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini. The original version of this opera was presented as ''Bianca e Gernando'' and was set to a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni, based on ''Bianca e Fernando a ...

'' for the grand opening of the

Teatro Carlo Felice The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the side of Piazza De Ferrari. The hall is named for King Carlo Felice, and dates fr ...

in Genoa. She returned to that house later that season to sing Pamira in

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

's ''

Le siège de Corinthe ''Le siège de Corinthe'' (English: ''The Siege of Corinth'') is an opera in three acts by Gioachino Rossini set to a French libretto by Luigi Balocchi and Alexandre Soumet, which was based on the reworking of some of the music from the compose ...

''. She went on to portray roles in three world premieres of operas by

Gaetano 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 dur ...

in Naples: Argelia in ''

L'esule di Roma ''L'esule di Roma, ossia Il proscritto'' (''The Exile from Rome, or the Proscribed Man'') is a ''melodramma eroico'', or heroic opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Domenico Gilardoni wrote the Italian libretto after Luigi Marchionni's ''Il ...

'' (1828), Neala in ''

Il paria (''The Outcast'') is an opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti from a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni, based on ''Le Paria'' by Casimir Delavigne and Michele Carafa's ''Il paria'' with a libretto by Gaetano Rossi. Completed in the winter of 1 ...

'' (1829), and Elisabetta in ''

Il castello di Kenilworth (or, under its original name in 1829, ''Elisabetta al castello di Kenilworth'')Ashbrook and Hibberd (2001), p. 229 is a ''melodramma serio'' or tragic opera in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Andrea Leone Tottola wrote the Italian libretto aft ...

'' (1829). Tosi was married to Count Ferdinando Lucchesi Palli and had two children with him: daughter Clotilde and son Febo Edoardo. She died in Naples in 1859. Elizabeth Forbes. ''

The 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 ...

'', 2001.

References

Notes Sources * Ashbrook, William (1982), ''Donizetti and His Operas'', Cambridge University Press. *''

La Belle Assemblée ''La Belle Assemblée'' (in full ''La Belle Assemblée or, Bell's Court and Fashionable Magazine Addressed Particularly to the Ladies'') was a British women's magazine published from 1806 to 1837, founded by John Bell (1745–1831). Publishi ...

''
''"Memoir of Tosi"''
. Vol. XV, London: Edward Bull, 1832. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tosi, Adelaide Italian operatic sopranos 1800 births 1859 deaths 19th-century Italian women opera singers Singers from Milan