Patti Adelina, in fact Adela Juana Maria, *10 February 1843 Madrid, †27 September 1919 castle Craig-y-Nos (near Brecon, Wales), Italian singer (soprano), daughter of Salvatore and Caterina. At the beginning, her singing and piano teacher was E. Barilli, her half-brother, then her sister Carlotta and, from 1855–1859, brother-in-law M. Strakosch (1825–1887), Czech pianist and well-known impresario, Amalia Patti, husband of Adelina Patti’s sister, who was also a singer (1831–1915). Between 1851 and 1955, Adelina Patti performed in concerts organised by Strakosch in New York as a child prodigy (under the pseudonym Little Florinda). In 1859 she made her successful debut at the Academy of Music in New York in the title role in G. Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, which was followed by an American tour (1860–1861) and performances in Europe. In 1861 she made her Covent Garden debut in the part of Amina in The Sleepwalker by V. Bellini, which became one of her showpiece roles, in which she later appeared at the Théâtre Italien in Paris (1862) and the Carltheater in Vienna (1863), among others. From 1866 she sang on Italian stages: in Turin (Teatro Regio), Rome, Naples, and at La Scala in Milan, where she made her debut in 1877 in the part of Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata. Adelina Patti’s partner on European stages and on tours of North and South America at the time was the French singer (tenor) E. Nicolini, actually E. Nicolas (1834–1898), whom she married in 1886. Her first husband until 1885, was the horseman to Emperor Napoleon III, the Marquis H. de Caux, whereas her third, from 1899, was the Swedish Baron R. Cederström. Despite her numerous artistic travels and appearances at leading opera houses, including. Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Madrid, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg (1869–1877), New York (Metropolitan Opera House, 1887) Adelina Patti was for the longest time associated with Covent Garden (1863–1885), where she appeared in 6 farewell performances in 1895 as Zerlina (Mozart’s Don Giovanni), Violetta (Verdi’s La Traviata) and Rosina (Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia). At her farewell concert in Vienna (22 January 1895), the 13-year-old B. Huberman participated, causing a sensation. Adelina Patti’s partners on opera stage, and not only, were also Polish singers: W. Mierzwiński, M. Sembrich-Kochańska and E. Reszke (Floral Hall in London, 4 June 1881) and J. and E. Reszke in a revived performance of Romeo and Juliet by Ch. Gounod under the direction of the composer (Grand Opéra, Paris, 28 November 1888). In 1914, she performed for the last time in a series of concerts for charity, ending a remarkable singing career of more than fifty years.
Adelina Patti had a repertoire of around 40 operatic roles, mostly lyric and coloratura. She achieved great success in the roles of: Rosina, the title role in Rossini’s Semiramide, Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, and also parts in other operas, such as, Amina, Lucia, Violetta. She was considered the greatest coloratura soprano next to A. Catalani. Her voice (with a scale of up to F3) perfect intonation and bravura vocal technique won the admiration of Berlioz and Verdi. P. Tchaikovsky, charmed by Adelina Patti’s singing, already in 1861 in London (Händel’sMessiah in at the Crystal Palace), reviewed her performances in Moscow in 1871 and 1872 with the same, delight (Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Violetta in La traviata). “There is something superhuman in the enchanting beauty of her voice, in the nightingale purity of her trills, in the fabulous effortlessness of her coloratura. (…) It is hard to imagine anything more perfect than the singing of this wonderful singer”. The cult of Adelina Patti, particularly evident in Russia, was reflected in the satirical work M. Mussorgsky’s Rajok (1880), in which Adelina Patti was among several musical personalities painted.
Literature: T. de Grave Biographic d’Adelina Patti, Paris 1865; G. de Charnacé Adelina Patti, Paris 1868; P. Czajkowski Italjanskaja opiera, “Russkije wiedomosti” from 24 October 1872; P. Czajkowski Bieniefis Patti, “Russkije wiedomosti” from 18 November 1872; J.M. Dalmazzo Adelina Patti’s Life, London 1877; A. Weissmann Die Primadonna, Berlin 1919; H. Klein The Reign of Patti, London 1920, reprint 1978; J.F. Cone Adelina Patti. Queen of Hearts, Portland, Oregon, 1993.
