Valentina Bartolomasi

Valentina Bartolomasi (1889-1932) was an Italian soprano who had a major opera career from 1910 through 1927. Particularly successful in the dramatic soprano repertoire, she was Italy's leading Wagnerian soprano of her day. She notably appears on the first complete recordings made of Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier (as Maddalena de Coigny), Giacomo Puccini's Tosca (in the title role), and Giuseppe Verdi's Aida (in the title role).

Bartolomasi was born in Modena and studied singing under her father, Bernardo Bartolomasi, a well known voice teacher. She made her professional opera debut in 1910. Early on in her career she had major successes at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan, La Fenice in Venice, the Teatro Comunale Florence, and the Teatro Scribe in Turin. She became a regular performer at La Scala between 1915 and 1925. She was committed to the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari from 1920-1921. In 1923 she was engaged by the Teatro Carlo Felice where she had particular triumphs as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera and Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana. She later returned to that house in 1925 to sing Elvira in Ernani with Tullio Verona in the title role.

In addition to appearing on the stages of most of Italy's major opera houses, Bartolomasi performed several times at La Monnaie and was a favorite singer of the Belgian court. Her career ended prematurely due to illness in 1927. Other roles in her stage repertoire included Abigaille in Nabucco, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, Elsa in Lohengrin, Odabella in Attila, Sieglinde in Die Walküre, and the title role in Isabeau among others.

After retiring from the stage, Bartolomasi lived with her husband, Count Antoniani of Padua, in Milan. She spent the last several years of her life fighting endometrial cancer from which she eventually died in 1932 in Milan. Her niece, Mirella Freni, also became a famous operatic soprano.

References

• Recording of Isabeau, with some biographical information