Gina Cigna was born in Angers, department of Maine-et-Loire, to parents of Italian origin. She trained as a pianist at the Paris Conservatory studying with Alfred Cortot and graduated with a gold medal. She then started a career as a recitalist. She met French tenor Maurice Sens, whom she married in 1921, and following his advice turned to singing. She took private lessons with Emma Calvé, Hariclea Darclée and Rosina Storchio, but was mostly self-taught.
Two years later, still at La Scala, but this time under the name Gina Cigna, she sang the role of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and this time it was a triumph. A few weeks later she appeared as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser.
Cigna's career came to a halt in 1948 when she was involved in a serious car accident and suffered a heart attack. Forced to retire from singing, she turned to teaching. In 1996 at the age of 96 she appeared in Jan Schmidt-Garre's film Opera Fanatic.
Deathedit
Cigna died in Milan, Italy, on 26 June 2001, aged 101.[2]
gina, cigna, march, 1900, june, 2001, french, italian, dramatic, soprano, born, 1900, march, 1900died26, june, 2001, 2001, aged, other, namesgeneviève, sensgenoveffa, sensginetta, sens, occupationopera, singer, soprano, contents, biography, death, studio, reco. Gina Cigna 6 March 1900 26 June 2001 2 was a French Italian dramatic soprano Gina CignaBorn 1900 03 06 6 March 1900Died26 June 2001 2001 06 26 aged 101 Other namesGenevieve SensGenoveffa SensGinetta Sens 1 OccupationOpera singer soprano Contents 1 Biography 2 Death 3 Studio recordings 4 References 5 SourcesBiography editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed October 2017 Learn how and when to remove this message Gina Cigna was born in Angers department of Maine et Loire to parents of Italian origin She trained as a pianist at the Paris Conservatory studying with Alfred Cortot and graduated with a gold medal She then started a career as a recitalist She met French tenor Maurice Sens whom she married in 1921 and following his advice turned to singing She took private lessons with Emma Calve Hariclea Darclee and Rosina Storchio but was mostly self taught She made her debut as Genevieve Sens in 1927 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan as Freia in Das Rheingold and sang minor roles in Boris Godunov and Ariane et Barbe Bleue under Arturo Toscanini without much success Two years later still at La Scala but this time under the name Gina Cigna she sang the role of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and this time it was a triumph A few weeks later she appeared as Elisabeth in Tannhauser She was to sing regularly at La Scala until 1945 quickly establishing herself as one of the leading Italian dramatic soprano alongside Maria Caniglia in operas such as Il Trovatore Un ballo in maschera La forza del destino Aida Andrea Chenier and Tosca She recorded Norma in 1937 and Turandot opposite Francesco Merli with Magda Olivero as Liu in 1938 both for Cetra Records She sang at the Paris Opera the Royal Opera House in London the Lyric Opera of Chicago the San Francisco Opera and the New York Metropolitan Opera where she made her debut on 6 February 1937 as Aida Cigna s career came to a halt in 1948 when she was involved in a serious car accident and suffered a heart attack Forced to retire from singing she turned to teaching In 1996 at the age of 96 she appeared in Jan Schmidt Garre s film Opera Fanatic Death editCigna died in Milan Italy on 26 June 2001 aged 101 2 Studio recordings editBellini Norma Gina Cigna Ebe Stignani Giovanni Breviario Tancredi Pasero Vittorio Gui 1937 Puccini Turandot Gina Cigna Francesco Merli Magda Olivero Luciano Neroni Franco Ghione 1938References edit Harold Rosenthal and Alan Blyth 2001 Cigna Gina Grove Music Online 8th ed Oxford University Press ISBN 978 1 56159 263 0 a b Gina Cigna Operatic Soprano Dies at 101 The New York Times 4 July 2001 Sources editDictionnaire des interpretes Alain Paris Editions Robert Laffont 1989 ISBN 2 221 06660 X Guide de l opera R Mancini amp J J Rouveroux Fayard 1995 ISBN 2 213 59567 4 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gina Cigna amp oldid 1192005815, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
