Daniela Dessì (14 May 1957 – 20 August 2016) was an Italian operatic soprano.

Life and career

Born in Genoa, Italy, Dessì completed her studies at the Arrigo Boito Conservatory in Parma and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena. She made her operatic debut on 7 December 1978 at Sanremo Casino's theatre as Serpina in '' La serva padrona'' by Pergolesi during the season of Savona's Teatro dell'Opera Giocosa. In 1980, she distinguished herself as a finalist at the Maria Callas International Competition organized by Italy's RAI TV. Her international career took her to a variety of opera theatres, singing under the direction of conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, and the Metropolitan Opera's James Levine. Dessì's 2008–2009 season began with ''Tosca'' in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, where she performed an encore of "Vissi d'arte", the first encore at Teatro Comunale di Firenze since Renata Tebaldi's "Amami Alfredo" in 1956. She later performed at the Verdi Theatre in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, and also performed ''Adriana Lecouvreur'' in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, Puccini's '' La fanciulla del West'' in Seville, '' Manon Lescaut'' in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, '' Madama Butterfly'' in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, and '' Aida'' in Verona and

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

. She closed the season in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

with '' Turandot''. In January 2009, she opened the season of recital at La Scala. Dessì's partner was the Italian tenor Fabio Armiliato, with whom she frequently performed and recorded. She died of colon cancer at Poliambulanza Hospital in Brescia on 20 August 2016, at age 59.

Repertoire

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

*'' Ernani'', Elvira *'' Luisa Miller'', Luisa *'' Rigoletto'', Gilda *'' Il trovatore'', Leonora *'' La traviata'', Violetta *'' I Vespri Siciliani'', Elena *'' Simon Boccanegra'', Amelia *'' Un ballo in maschera'', Amelia *'' La forza del destino'', Leonora *'' Don Carlos'', Elisabetta *'' Aida'', Aida *'' Otello'', Desdemona *'' Falstaff'', Alice Giacomo Puccini *'' Manon Lescaut'', Manon *''

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'', Mimì *'' Tosca'', Tosca *'' Madama Butterfly'', Cio-Cio-San *'' La fanciulla del West'', Minnie *'' Il tabarro'', Giorgetta *'' Suor Angelica'', Angelica *'' Gianni Schicchi'', Lauretta *'' Turandot'', Turandot / Liù Vincenzo Bellini *'' Norma'', Norma Gaetano Donizetti *'' Maria Stuarda'', Maria *''

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto. Her family arranged ...

'', Lucrezia *'' Alina, regina di Golconda'', Alina *'' Don Pasquale'', Norina *'' L'elisir d'amore'', Adina *'' Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali'', Corilla *'' Poliuto'', Paolina Gioachino Rossini *'' Ciro in Babilonia'', Amira *'' Il signor Bruschino'', Sofia *'' La pietra del paragone'', FulviaArchive Teatro alla Scala
. *'' Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra'', Matilde *'' Mosè in Egitto'', Amaltea *'' Guglielmo Tell'', Matilde *'' Il Barbiere di Siviglia'', Berta

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

*'' Le nozze di Figaro'', Contessa *'' Così fan tutte'', Fiordiligi *'' Don Giovanni'', Donna Elvira *'' La Clemenza di Tito'', Vitellia Pietro Mascagni *'' Cavalleria rusticana'', Santuzza *'' Iris'', Iris Umberto Giordano *'' Andrea Chénier'', Maddalena *'' Fedora'', Fedora *'' La cena delle beffe'', Ginevra Francesco Cilea *'' Adriana Lecouvreur'', Adriana Ruggero Leoncavallo *''

Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...

'', Nedda *'' I Medici'', Simonetta

Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of th ...

*'' Iphigénie en Tauride'', Iphigénie *'' Orfeo ed Euridice'', Euridice Claudio Monteverdi *'' L'incoronazione di Poppea'', Poppea Georg Friedrich Händel *'' Giulio Cesare'', Sesto Pompeo Arrigo Boito *'' Mefistofele'', Margherita

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, 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'', w ...

*'' Carmen'', Micaela Giovanni Battista Pergolesi *'' La serva padrona'', Serpina *'' Adriano in Siria'', Sabina *'' Il Flaminio'', Flaminio Domenico Cimarosa *'' Gli Orazi e i Curiazi'', Curiazio *''

Le astuzie femminili ''Le astuzie femminili'' (Feminine wiles) is a dramma giocoso in four acts by Domenico Cimarosa with an Italian libretto by . The opera buffa premiered at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in Naples, Italy, on 26 August 1794. The opera was subsequently per ...

'', Bellina *'' Il convito'', Lisetta

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

*'' Les Contes d'Hoffmann'', Antonia Amilcare Ponchielli *'' La Gioconda'', Gioconda Sergei Prokofiev *'' Igrok'', Polina Nino Rota *''Il cappello di paglia di Firenze'', Elena Antonio Salieri *''Les Danaïdes'', Ipermestra Tommaso Traetta *''Le serve rivali'', Carlina Antonio Vivaldi *''Farnace'', Selinda Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari *''Sly (opera), Sly'', Dolly Riccardo Zandonai *''Francesca da Rimini'', Francesca

Discography

* ''La Traviata''. Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Parma, John Neschling, conductor. SoloVoce * ''Puccini Arias''. Orchestra dell'Arena di Verona, Marco Boemi, conductor. Decca Records, Decca * ''Daniela Dessì sings Verdi''. Orchestra della Fondazione Toscanini, Steven Mercurio, conductor. Decca * Umberto Giordano, ''Andrea Chénier''. Armiliato, Guelfi, Rinaldi; Orchestra Sinfonica Verdi Milano, Vjekoslav Šutej, conductor. Universal * ''Love Duets''. conductor: Marco Boemi. Philips * Giacomo Puccini, ''Madama Butterfly''. Armiliato, Pons, Plácido Domingo, conductor. Dynamic * Giacomo Puccini, ''Tosca''. Armiliato, Raimondi. Opus Arte (BBC) * Giuseppe Verdi, ''Aida''. Armiliato, Fiorillo. Opus Arte (BBC) * Giacomo Puccini, ''Manon Lescaut''. Armiliato, Vanaud, Mercurio. Real Sound * Enrico Toselli, ''Le Romanze Ritrovate''. Armiliato, Leonardo Previero, piano. Real Sound * Francesco Cilea, ''Adriana Lecouvreur''. Borodina, Larin, Guelfi; Rizzi-Brignoli. TDK * Domenico Cimarosa, ''Gli Orazii e i Curiazii''. Angeloni, Bolognesi, Alaimo; De Bernart, conductor. Bongiovanni * Antonio Vivaldi, ''Il Farnace''. Dupuy, Angeloni, Malakova, Gamberucci; De Bernart, conductor. Arkadia Fonit Cetra/Agora Musica * Gioachino Rossini, ''Il barbiere di Siviglia''. Raffanti, Depuy, Portella; Zedda, conductor. Frequenz * Gioachino Rossini, ''Ciro in Babilonia''. Palacio, Calvi, Antonucci; Rizzi, conductor. Bongiovanni * Various authors, ''Ave Maria''. Decca, 2012. Roberto Scarpa Meylougan, organ.

Awards

* Premio Flaviano Labó (2010) * Premio Operaclick (2009) * Premio Città di Varese (2009) * Premio Myrta Gabardi (2009) * Pentagramma d'Oro Comune di Marnate (2009) * Premio Abbiati (2008) * Regina della Lirica dalla Associazione Tiberini a San Lorenzo in Campo (2007) * Premio Le Muse (2007) * Premio Zenatello Arena di Verona * Premio Giordano Comune di Baveno * Premio Giacomo Puccini Torre del Lago * Premio Cilea di Reggio Calabria * Gigli d’Oro Comune di Recanati * Premio Liguria Comune di Genova * Premio E. Mazzoleni

* Mascagni d’Oro Bagnara di Romagna * Premio Giuditta Pasta Saronno

References

External links

Official website
*
Streamopera.com/Daniela Dessì

January 15, 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dessi, Daniela 1957 births 2016 deaths Deaths from cancer in Lombardy Italian operatic sopranos Singers from Genoa 21st-century Italian women opera singers Deaths from colorectal cancer in Italy 20th-century Italian women opera singers Accademia Musicale Chigiana alumni Parma Conservatory alumni