Adelina Catalani

Adelina, sometimes Adelaide or Adele,^[1] Catalani (fl. 1818–1832)^[1] was a Franco-Italian soprano. She is remembered today largely for the circumstances surrounding her performance of the lead soprano role in Gaetano Donizetti's first staged opera, Enrico di Borgogna, in 1818.^[2]

Catalani was known variously as la cognate della famosa^[3] and la Catalani juniore to distinguish her from the far better-known Angelica Catalani,^[4] of whom she has been described as a sister-in-law in various sources.^[5][6] François-Joseph Fétis claimed that she was French originally, and gave her birthplace as Toulouse. He goes on to state that she had a pretty voice which she developed without difficulty before being married and taken in hand by Catalani's brother, with whom she moved to Italy.^[7] At the time of her engagement to sing Enrico di Borgogna, she was known only as a singer of accademie, or chamber music recitals; consequently, her performance in Donizetti's opera was to be her stage debut. The composer was pleased with her voice, describing it in a letter to his teacher Giovanni Simone Mayr as a "gran bella voce", a "fine, large voice", and indicating that he planned to rewrite her part to better suit her sound.^[4]

Enrico di Borgogna was premiered on November 14, 1818, at the Teatro San Luca in Venice; in the event, the entire opera was not performed. Catalani fainted from stage fright at the end of the first act, and as a result some of her music in the second act had to be omitted; furthermore her place in the finale of the opera was taken by another singer.^[2] Catalani's indisposition was noted by the critic of the Nuovo Osservatore Veneziano, who spoke of the way the work was "maltreated" by its cast but gave favorable considerations to Donizetti's talent.^[8] In the event, the soprano recovered sufficiently to essay the complete opera on December 15 and 16.^[4]

Catalani had a secondary career performing in many theaters;^[1] she is known to have sung in Odessa as a member of Luigi Buonavoglia's company,^[6] and appeared in Saint Petersburg as well.^[9] In 1828 she made her debut at the Théâtre Italien as Isabella in Gioacchino Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, a performance which met with less-than-favorable reception.^[3] Fétis, in his review of the evening, suggests that she appeared stricken with stage fright, and says that she sang with "timidity"; he calls audience reaction to her performance cold and indifferent, and describes the evening as the worst he had ever spent at that theater.^[7] Her performance of Amenaide in Rossini's Tancredi in the same house the following year was better-received.^[10] 1831 found Catalani singing in Naples.^[11] She is listed on the roster of La Scala as late as 1832 – she sang the role of Elena in the premiere of Elena e Malvina by Francesco Schira on November 17^[12] – but disappears from the record thereafter.^[1]

References

1. Dan H. Marek (20 October 2016). Alto: The Voice of Bel Canto. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 151–. ISBN 978-1-4422-3589-2.
2. Charles Osborne (1 April 1994). The bel canto operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini. Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-0-931340-71-0.
3. The Harmonicon. W. Pinnock. 1828. pp. 213–.
4. Liner notes to A Hundred Years of Italian Opera 1810–1820 2017-01-08 at the Wayback Machine, Opera Rara
5. Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. Breitkopf und Härtel. 1819. pp. 82–.
6. Richard Taruskin (2000). Defining Russia Musically: Historical and Hermeneutical Essays. Princeton University Press. pp. 188–. ISBN 0-691-07065-2.
7. François-Joseph Fétis (1828). Revue musicale. Au Bureau du Journal. pp. 569–.
8. William Ashbrook (29 July 1983). Donizetti and His Operas. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-27663-4.
9. Jean Mongrédien (2008). Le Théâtre-Italien de Paris 1801–1831: chronologie et documents. Symétrie. ISBN 978-2-914373-37-1.
10. Revue musicale. F. J. Fétis. 1829. pp. 43–.
11. Teatri, arti e letteratura. Tip. Government della Volpe al Sassi. 1831. pp. 162–.
12. Charles H. Parsons (November 1992). Opera premieres: an index of casts. Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 9780889464131.