Jolanda Meneguzzer (above) and Costanzo Gero in a scene from Act I of Puccini’s LA BOHEME. The recording is from 1970, with the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Firenze conducted by Erasmo Ghiglia. Listen here.
Ms. Meneguzzer is a singer whose name I had often heard in my earlier days of operatic obsession, but I’d never heard the voice til now. Born in Cantù, Italy, around 1930, she studied in Florence and made her operatic debut in 1957 in Monteverdi’s L’ORFEO at the Maggio Musicale. Her career centered mainly in Italy, but she made her American debut San Francisco as Maria in FIGLIA DEL REGIMENTO in 1962, and she appeared briefly at The Met during the 1963-1964 season as Musetta and Gilda.
Jolanda Meneguzzer sings Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate here…
…and a sampling of her Musetta:
Jolanda Meneguzzer – Musetta’s Waltz – with Scotto-Poggi-Gobbi
Ms. Meneguzzer passed away in June 2020, at the age of 90.
Oberon's Glade 