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
Oper - Erschienen bei Signum-Cala am 26.04.2019
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Puccini: La Boheme (Recorded 1938)
Beniamino Gigli, Licia Albanese, Afro Poli
Oper - Erschienen bei Prima Voce am 01.01.1994
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
Klassik - Erschienen bei Cala Records am 01.01.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Manon Lescaut (Albanese, Bjorling, Perlea) (1954)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Naxos am 21.02.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Licia Albanese III
Klassik - Erschienen bei Preiser Records am 17.06.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi, G.: Traviata (La) (Toscanini) (1946)
Oper - Erschienen bei Music and Arts Programs of America am 01.04.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La traviata (Recorded 1946)
Oper - Erschienen bei Urania Records am 01.01.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebendige Vergangenheit - Licia Albanese
Klassik - Erschienen bei Preiser Records am 27.01.2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La Bohème (Metropolitan Opera)
Licia Albanese, Carlo Bergonzi
Oper - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 24.01.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La Bohème
Beniamino Gigli, Licia Albanese
Oper - Erschienen bei C.R. Digital Contents am 09.08.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebendige Vergangenheit - Licia Albanese (Vol.2)
Klassik - Erschienen bei Preiser Records am 19.10.2006
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
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1957
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
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La bohème (Mono Version)
Licia Albanese, Jan Peerce, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La traviata (Mono Version)
Licia Albanese, Jan Peerce, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La bohème (Mono Version)
Licia Albanese, Beniamino Gigli, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Umberto Berrettoni
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1944
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Les petites femmes de Puccini (Mono Version)
Licia Albanese, Renata Tebaldi, Leontyne Price
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Extraits d'opéras (Mono Version)
Licia Albanese, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, Jonel Perlea
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Primadonnas Vol. 2
Klassik - Erschienen bei Documents am 01.09.2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La bohème
Jan Peerce, Licia Albanese, Fancesco Valentino
Oper - Erschienen bei Past Classics am 06.11.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mélodies italiennes (Mono Version)
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo