Albani, Emma (EN)

Albani Emma, actually Marie Louise Cćcile Emma Lajeunesse, *1 November 1847 Chambly (near Montreal), †3 April 1930 Kensington (near London), Canadian singer (initially a coloratura soprano, later a dramatic soprano). In 1868–70, she studied vocals in Paris with G. Duprez and in Milan with F. Lamperti. In 1870, she made her debut in Messina in Bellini’s Sleepwalker; she soon gained fame as an outstanding performer of his operas. She sang in opera theatres and on concert stages in Florence, Milan, Paris and London (1872), Moscow and St. Petersburg (1873–74, 1878–79), Berlin (1881, 1887), New York (1874–75), and also performed in Canada, Australia, South Africa. Her repertoire included parts from 19^th-century operas by Italian and French composers and R. Wagner. In 1872, she lived in London. In England, she also became famous as an oratorio singer. After her successes in Germany in 1896, where she performed the role of Isolde (with J. Reszke as Tristan), she withdrew from the opera stage. In 1911, she ended her concert activities. She also performed as a pianist. She published the memoir Forty Years of Song (London 1911).

Literature: H. Charbonneau L’Albani, Montreal 1938.