Cavalieri, Lina

views updated

Lina Cavalieri (lē´nä kävälyĕ´rē), 1874–1944, Italian operatic soprano. After her debut in Lisbon in 1900 she achieved great success throughout Europe and in the United States in the lyric French and Italian roles. Renowned as much for her great beauty and fiery temperament as for her light, pleasant voice, she sang with the Metropolitan Opera Company, New York City (1906–8), and with Oscar Hammerstein's Manhattan Opera Company (1909–10).