Oberon's Glade

Tag: South America

  • Alice Cucini

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    Alice Cucini (1870-1949), Italian contralto, was among the first generation of singers to be recorded. Debuting in 1891, she had a busy and successful career throughout Italy, and became very popular in South America where she toured frequently between 1901 and 1910. She also journeyed to St. Petersburg in 1898 for a series of performances there.

    Cucini passed away in 1949 at Verdi’s Casa di Riposo in Milan.

    In this truncated, Italian-language recording of Dalila’s famous aria, the slight catch in Cucini’s voice as she manipulates the chest voice is endearing to my ear.

    Alice Cucini – SAMSON & DALILA aria – abridged – in Italian

  • Natalia Troitskaya as Adriana Lecouvreur

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    Natalia Troitskaya, born in Belgrade of Russian descent, had a major career as a lirico-spinto soprano during the 1980s. She sang at many major European houses, having a long association with both the Vienna State Opera and the Staatsoper Hamburg. She sang in South America, and in the USA at Washington DC and Los Angeles.

    Troitskaya seemed to vanish from the operatic world around 1991; later, I learned that she had passed away in 2006 at the age of 55 following a long illness. She left hardly any commercial recordings, but there are some live performances that were preserved from broadcasts.

    Natalia Troitskaya – ADRIANA LECOUVREUR – Adriana’s entrance – Barbican~London 1987