The 100th Anniversary of Adelina Patti's Death

Thursday, September 26, 2019

As is revealed by the milestones of her life, Adelina Patti (1843–1919) was a genuine world star. Born the daughter of Italian parents in Madrid, Patti grew up in New York, was active mainly in London, and died 100 years ago tomorrow in Wales (Craig-y-Nos Castle). Her concert tours took her throughout Europe as well as to North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. Patti was celebrated not only as a singer – especially in the roles of Amina (in Bellini’s La somnambula), Lucia (in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor), and Violetta (in Verdi’s La traviata) – but also as an outstanding actress.

In RISM, her name can be found as a singer in two of these roles. In 1879, she gave guest performances in Dresden as Violetta and Lucia.

Lesser known is that Adelina Patti was also a composer. The RISM catalog only has one piece from her pen: The piano waltz Fior di primavera was published by Ricordi in 1866. Evidence of a further composition by her, Il Bacio d’addio, can be found in the Ricordi Archive.

Image: Portrait of Adelina Patti, from Wikimedia Commons.

Category: Musical anniversaries