Storace, Anna (Selina) (Nancy)

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Storace, Anna (Selina) [Nancy] (b London, 1765; d Dulwich, 1817). Eng. soprano, daughter of It. father. Début as singer, Haymarket Th., London, 1774. Sang in Florence 1780, Parma 1781, and Milan, Venice, and Rome 1782. Engaged as prin. sop. at Imperial Th., Vienna, 1784. Operas written for her by Paisiello and Soler. Created Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, 1786. Returned to Eng., 1787, singing in It. comic operas. For her farewell perf. in Vienna, Mozart comp. concert aria Ch'io mi scordi di te (K505) for sop., pf., and orch., and played kbd. part himself. She sang in her brother Stephen Storace's The Haunted Tower, 1789, thereafter confining herself to comic roles in Eng. works. Sang at Handel Fest. 1791. Became mistress of ten. Braham, bearing him a son, and touring Europe with him. CG 1801–8. Died very wealthy.