Simionato, Giulietta
Simionato, Giulietta
Simionato, Giulietta, outstanding Italian mezzosoprano; b. Forlì, May 12, 1910. She studied with Locatello and Palumbo in Rovigo, winning the bel canto competition in Florence in 1933; she then returned there to sing in the premiere of Pizzetti’s Orsèolo (May 5, 1935). In 1939 she joined Milan’s La Scala, remaining on its roster as one of its principal artists until 1966. In 1947 she made her British debut as Cherubino at the Edinburgh Festival; her first appearance at London’s Covent Garden followed, as Adalgisa in 1953. In 1954 she made her U.S. debut at the Chicago Lyric Opera. On Oct. 26, 1959, she made her first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. as Azucena; sang there again in 1960 and 1962. She gave her farewell stage performance as Servilia in La clemenza di Tito at Milan’s Piccola Scala in 1966. A distinguished coloratura artist, Simionato excelled in the operas of Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, and Verdi.
Bibliography
J.-J. Hanine Vallaut, G. S.: Come Cenerentola divenne regina (Parma, 1987; second ed., rev., 1998).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire