Portrait by Giovanni Carnovali
Italian opera singer 1799-1864
Rosa Mariani (1799–1864)[ 1] was an Italian coloratura contralto opera singer who was born and died in Cremona , Italy. She made her stage debut there in 1818.[ 2]
She played Isaura in the 1820 premiere of Giacomo Meyerbeer 's Margherita d'Anjou (in La Scala )[ 3] and in 1823 performed the role of Arsace in the premiere of Rossini 's Semiramide at the Teatro La Fenice opera house in Venice.[ 2] She was the older sister of bass Luciano Mariani , who played Oroe in the original production of Semiramide , and with whom she toured Italy.[ 2] In 1832, the siblings performed in London's King's Theatre .[ 2] (As announced by theater proprietor Thomas Monck Mason at the time.[ 4] )
^ Appolonia, Giorgio (1992). Le voci di Rossini . Eda. p. 242. ISBN 978-8888689180 .
^ a b c d Forbes, Elizabeth , "Mariani, Luciano" and "Mariani, Rosa" in Laura Williams Lacy (ed.), The Grove Book of Opera Singers , Oxford University Press US, 2008, p. 304. ISBN 0-19-533765-4
^ Naomi André (2007), "Women's roles in Meyerbeer's operas: How Italian heroines are reflected in French grand opera" , in Victoria Johnson; Jane F. Fulcher; Thomas Ertman (eds.), Opera and Society in Italy and France from Monteverdi to Bourdieu , Cambridge University Press, pp. 87–114, doi :10.1017/CBO9780511481734.007 , ISBN 9780511481734
^ The Ladies' Museum, New and Improved Series , vol III, January–June 1832, London: Simpkin and Marshall's, Stationers Court; G.G. Bennis, Paris. p. 91.