Licia Albanese
Albanese was one of the most beloved sopranos in the Italian repertoire, specializing in roles that suited her physical and vocal appearances of vulnerability and delicacy. She specialized in Puccini, and was associated with his Madama Butterfly more than with any other role. Her voice was smallish and not always precise in pitch, and could turn edgy under pressure, but nonetheless, her vocal and dramatic intensity and sense of apt staging made her performances riveting.
She first studied piano, but switched her energies to voice, studying with Giuseppina Baldassare-Tedeschi. She won the Italian National Singing Competition in 1933, and her opera debut, as Butterfly, was as a mid-opera last-minute substitute for an ailing colleague at the Teatro Lirico in Milan, in 1934. Her La Scala debut was in 1935 as Lauretta in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, her Covent Garden debut as Liu in Turandot, and her Met debut was in 1940 as Butterfly, beginning an association with that house that lasted until 1966. She made the occasional forays into heavier repertoire during her career, even experimenting with the role of Elsa in Lohengrin in her early years in Italy, but rarely added such roles to her repertoire, and being careful with her performances of even such medium-weight roles as Tosca, though towards the end of her career, with little to lose, she performed heavier roles such as Aida.
After her retirement, she remained active, leading the Puccini Foundation (which she and her husband created), teaching master classes at the Juilliard School of Music and Marymount Manhattan College, and directing operatic scenes. In 1985 and 1987, she made cameo appearances in Steven Sondheim's Follies. In 2000, she received the Handel Medallion. The honor, which was bestowed upon her by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, is a tribute to individuals who have enriched New York City's cultural life.
© TiVo
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Saint-Saëns: Highlights from Samson and Delilah - Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Licia Albanese, Jan Peerce, Risë Stevens
Opera - Released by Signum-Cala on 26 apr. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Highlights from Samson and Delilah - Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Risë Stevens, Jan Peerce, Robert Merrill, Licia Albanese
Klassiek - Released by Cala Records on 1 jan. 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Manon Lescaut (Albanese, Bjorling, Perlea) (1954)
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 21 feb. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La Boheme (Recorded 1938)
Beniamino Gigli, Licia Albanese, Afro Poli
Opera - Released by Prima Voce on 1 jan. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Licia Albanese III
Klassiek - Released by Preiser Records on 17 jun. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi, G.: Traviata (La) (Toscanini) (1946)
Opera - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 apr. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La traviata (Recorded 1946)
Opera - Released by Urania Records on 1 jan. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebendige Vergangenheit - Licia Albanese
Klassiek - Released by Preiser Records on 27 jan. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La Bohème (Metropolitan Opera)
Licia Albanese, Carlo Bergonzi
Opera - Released by Sony Classical on 24 jan. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La Bohème
Beniamino Gigli, Licia Albanese
Opera - Released by C.R. Digital Contents on 9 aug. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebendige Vergangenheit - Licia Albanese (Vol.2)
Klassiek - Released by Preiser Records on 19 okt. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Manon Lescaut, Highlights (Mono Version)
Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Jonel Perlea, Licia Albanese, Jussi Björling
Klassiek - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Scène de la lettre d'Eugène Onéguine - Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 (Mono Version)
Licia Albanese, Léopold Stokowski
Klassiek - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La bohème (Mono Version)
Licia Albanese, Jan Peerce, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La traviata (Mono Version)
Licia Albanese, Jan Peerce, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La bohème (Mono Version)
Licia Albanese, Beniamino Gigli, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Umberto Berrettoni
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1944
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Les petites femmes de Puccini (Mono Version)
Licia Albanese, Renata Tebaldi, Leontyne Price
Klassiek - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Extraits d'opéras (Mono Version)
Licia Albanese, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, Jonel Perlea
Klassiek - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Primadonnas Vol. 2
Klassiek - Released by Documents on 1 sep. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La bohème
Jan Peerce, Licia Albanese, Fancesco Valentino
Opera - Released by Past Classics on 6 nov. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La Bohème (Metropolitan Opera)
Licia Albanese, Carlo Bergonzi
Klassiek - Released by Sony Classical on 24 jan. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo