Waldmann, Maria (1842–1920)

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Waldmann, Maria (1842–1920)

Austrian opera singer . Born in 1842 in Vienna, Austria; died on November 6, 1920; studied with Passy-Cornet in Vienna, and with Lamperti in Milan; married and retired in 1878.

Considered by Giuseppe Verdi, who gave her away at her wedding, to be the ideal mezzo-soprano, Maria Waldmann debuted her "velvety tone" in St. Petersburg in 1865. Throughout the 1870s, she sang in Milan, Paris, Moscow, Vienna, Trieste, and Cairo. Highlights of her short career include singing Amneris in the first Italian Aïda, and creating the alto part in Verdi's Requiem.

Jacquie Maurice , freelance writer, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

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