Virginia Zeani

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Virginia Zeani

Virginia Zeani (born Virginia Zehan, October 21, 1925, in Transylvania, Romania) was one of the greatest operatic sopranos of the 1950s and 1960s. Her career was focused in Italy, where she sang in every major opera house and with every great tenor from Beniamino Gigli and Ferruccio Tagliavini right up to Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo. Like Leyla Gencer, her fame today rests on numerous "pirated" or live recordings. They show one of the most versatile and supremely gifted sopranos of the century.

Zeani was a particular favorite of Francis Poulenc, who chose her to sing the lead role in the world premiere of his Dialogues of the Carmelites.

A biography of Zeani by Roger Beaumont and Witi Imihaera is currently in preparation. "The Twilight of Belcanto" by Leonardo Ciampa, containing a chapter dedicated to her career, was published by AuthorHouse in 2003.

For a quarter decade and even still today, Zeani has been a sought-after voice instructor at Indiana University, where she and her late husband, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, were both Distinguished Professors. Zeani has since retired from Indiana University and is now living in West Palm Beach, Florida, where she continues to teach. Zeani is also the voice teacher for the Florida Grand Opera Young artist program and the Palm Beach Opera Young artist program. Zeani probably holds the record for the highest number of students to win competitions (especially the "Met Auditions"). Zeani's long list of successful pupils includes Sylvia McNair, Nova Thomas, Marilyn Mims, Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet, Stephen Mark Brown, Elizabeth Futral, Katheryn Krassovic, Vivica Genaux, Angela Brown, Patricia Risley, Christina Pier, Leah Partridge, Andrea Atkins, Mark Bowman, Kirsten Gunlogson, Kendrick Jacocks, Marina Levitt, Debra Mayer, Susan Patterson, Thomas Potter, Itzuko Shibata, and Peter Volpe.