Elena D'Angri Vitturi (also known as Elena Angri; May 1821 or 1824 in Corfu – 29 August 1886[1] in Barcelona) was a Greek-born operatic contralto of Italian origin who was active in the mid-19th century in European opera houses and in the United States.[2][3]
The daughter of Saverio Angri (originally from Naples) and Maria Vitturi di Giovanni, her real name was Nazarena Mattia Elena Catterina.[citation needed] She was baptised on 10 June 1821 at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Saint James and Saint Christopher in Corfu, Greece.[citation needed] She studied singing with Salvatore Taglioni and Giuseppe Doglia.[4] She made her opera debut in Lucca in 1843 and was engaged by La Scala in 1844.[4] She divided her time between the Vienna State Opera and La Scala from 1845 through 1847, and in 1846 was named a Kammersänger by Ferdinand I of Austria.[4] Her debut in London was in 1849.[5]
During the 1855 and 1856 season at the Teatro Regio in Turin, she performed in La Cenerentola (as Angelina), The Barber of Seville (as Rosina), and Il trovatore (as Azucena).[6] Later in 1856, she performed for the first time in New York City, accompanied by the pianist and composer Sigismond Thalberg.[7]
- ^ "Crónica". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 1 September 1886. pp. 4–5.
- ^ Elena D'Angri: North American Theatre Online
- ^ Kardamis (2014) gives her birth date as 14 May 1824. Moore (1880) gives 14 May 1821. The death date is from Kardamis (2004).
- ^ a b c Kardamis, Kostas (3 September 2014). "Angri [D'Angri], Elena [Nazarena, Mattia, Catterina]". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O008451. (subscription required)
- ^ Covent Garden playbill, 21 April 1849, her 'second performance in England'
- ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Elena d'Angri". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
- ^ French (1989), p. 397.