Galli-Curci Amelita, *18 November 1882 Milan, †26 November 1963 La Jolla (California), Italian singer (soprano). In 1903, she graduated from the Milan Conservatoire with a first prize as a pianist. She was essentially self-taught in singing, having taken only a few lessons with S. Dufes and C. Carignani. In 1906, she made her debut in Trani as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and in 1908 she appeared in Rome in the Italian premiere of Bizet’s Don Procopio. She subsequently sang in Italy, Spain, Russia, South America and Middle America, gaining a reputation as an outstanding performer of coloratura part. In 1916, following a triumphant performance in Chicago as Gilda, she signed an eight-season contract with the local opera house, singing, among others, in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Linda di Chamounix, Verdi’s La Traviata, Massenet’s Manon, Puccini’s La Bohème and Madame Butterfly, and Delibes’s Lakmé. She remained a member of the Metropolitan Opera House performing company until 1930. In 1936, she attempted a return to the stage following throat surgery, performing before a Chicago audience in La Bohème, but without success.
Galli-Curci had a fascinating voice with an exceptionally beautiful tone and a wide range (up to E3). Her singing seemed to defy technical challenges such as intonation in the highest register, breath control and coloratura; however, her interpretation might have raised some objections due to a lack of dramatic expression. Her performances in Manon and Lakmé, as well as in Bellini’s I Puritani, Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots, Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera and Thomas’s Mignon, received the greatest acclaim. In the 1920s, she was one of the most famous recording stars. Her duet recordings with T. Schipa and G. De Luca are particularly interesting and valuable.
Literature: C.E. Le Massena Galli-Curci’s Life of Song, New York 1945; A. Favia-Artsay Amelita Galli-Curci, “Record Collecter” IV, 1949 (with discography).
