Ferraresi del Bene, Adriana (née Gabrieli)

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Ferraresi del Bene, Adriana (née Gabrieli)

Ferraresi del Bene, Adriana (née Gabrieli), Italian soprano, known as La Ferrarese ; b. Ferrara, c. 1755; d. Venice, after 1799. She was trained at Venice’s Ospedaletto. After marrying Luigi del Bene in 1783, she was generally known as Ferraresi del Bene or La Ferrarese. In 1785 she appeared in Cherubini’s Demetrio at His Majesty’s Theatre in London and then created the role of Epponina in his Giulio Sabbino at Milan’s La Scala in 1787. In 1788 she made her debut in Vienna in Martin y Soler’s L’arbore di Diana and then sang there in operas by Salieri, Guglielmi, and Paisiello. As the mistress of Da Ponte, she became acquainted with Mozart, who wrote the role of Fiordiligi for her in his Cosi fan tutte (Jan. 26, 1790). All the same, Mozart thought little of her vocal abilities. Indeed, her quarrels with singers and her scandalous conduct in general led to her dismissal from the Viennese court in 1792.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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Ferraresi del Bene, Adriana (née Gabrieli)

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