Muzio, Claudia(real name, Claudina Muzzio)
Muzio, Claudia(real name, Claudina Muzzio)
Muzio, Claudia(real name, Claudina Muzzio), oustanding Italian soprano; b. Pavia, Feb. 7, 1889; d. Rome, May 24, 1936. She studied with Casaloni in Turin and Viviani in Milan. She made her operatic debut as Manon in Arezzo (Jan. 15, 1910); then sang in Turin (1911; 1914–15), at Milan’s La Scala (1913–14), and at London’s Covent Garden (1914). She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Tosca (Dec. 4, 1916), remaining on its roster until 1922; created the role of Giorgetta in Puccini’s II tabarro there (Dec. 14, 1918). In 1922 she made her first appearance with the Chicago Opera as Aida, and continued to sing there regularly until 1932; also sang in South America and again at La Scala (1926–27); after returning to the Metropolitan (1933–34), she pursued her career mainly in Rome. She was one of the most gifted dramatic sopranos of her time, excelling in such roles as Desdemona, Mimi, Santuzza, Margherita in Mefistofele, Violetta, and Madeleine de Coigny.
Bibliography
H. Barnes, C. M.: A Biographical Sketch and Discography (Austin, Tex., 1947).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire