Licia Albanese (born July 22, 1913, in Bari, Italy) is a distinguished Italian-American soprano and chairman of The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, founded in 1974 and dedicated to assisting young artists and singers.
Licia Albanese made her unofficial debut in Milan in 1934, when she replaced an absent performer in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, the opera with which she would forever be connected. Over 40 years, she sang more than 300 performanc...
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Licia Albanese (born July 22, 1913, in Bari, Italy) is a distinguished Italian-American soprano and chairman of The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, founded in 1974 and dedicated to assisting young artists and singers.
Licia Albanese made her unofficial debut in Milan in 1934, when she replaced an absent performer in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, the opera with which she would forever be connected. Over 40 years, she sang more than 300 performances of Cio-Cio San. Although she has been praised for many of her roles, including Mimì, Violetta, Liù and Manon Lescaut, it is her portrayal of the doomed geisha which has remained her best loved. Her connection with that work began early with her teacher, Giuseppina Baldassare-Tedeschi, a contemporary of the composer and an important exponent of the title role in the previous generation.
There is some controversy regarding when she made her formal debut. It was either in that same year (1934) at the Teatro Municipale in Bari, singing in La...
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