Virginia Zeani 'L' Assoluta' in clips from seven contrasting roles

Virginia Zeani is an 'Assoluta' , one of those rare sopranos who can sing almost everything. In an operatic career of thirty five years she sang some 70 major roles in a wide variety of styles. Blessed with a glorious natural instrument and prepared with a securely grounded technique she handled her career wisely. She began as, in her words, a "lyric soprano with high agility" and her first roles were Violetta, Marguerite, Massenet's Manon and Mimi.

She made her brilliantly successful debut as Violetta in Bologna at the age of twenty two, deputising for Margherita Carosio, and was immediately offered thirty more performances. Violetta became her most performed role and, being ideally cast, she was in constant demand. Early in her career she sang many coloratura roles including Lucia di Lammermoor, Amina in La Sonnambula and Elvira in I Puritani , but she also enjoyed great success as a singularly touching Mimi.

At La Scala Milan her debut role was as Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare followed by the world premiere of Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites in which she created the role of Blanche. She showed remarkable versatility In The Tales of Hoffman when she triumphed singing all three principal female roles on one night. These range from the high coloratura doll Olympia, to the near mezzo Giulietta and the lyric dramatic soprano Antonia

As her voice matured she gradually undertook heavier roles such as Puccini's Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly and Tosca, and in 1964, at the suggestion of Zubin Mehta, she sang the first of many Aidas. Other roles included Adriana Lecouvreur, Fedora, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin and Charlotte in Werther.

She sang in several modern works, notably as Blanche in The Carmelites, Maria Wetsera in Mayerling, the Female Corifee in Pizzetti's Assassinio nella Cattedrale and in 1972 enjoyed one of her greatest successes as Magda in Menotti's The Consul.

Her voice had now grown into a grand spinto and she sang two Wagnerian heroines, Elsa in Lohengrin and Senta in The Flying Dutchman, as well as Elisabetta in Verdi's Don Carlo.

Virginia Zeani kept her voice in magnificent condition throughout a long, incredibly arduous career. In thirty five years, in which she regularly sang very large, demanding roles, she cancelled only two performances. Today, at the age of 84 her voice continues in marvellous shape and she still sings a brilliant top E.

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NB The recordings of Mme Virginia Zeani are mostly from radio broadcasts or private or in-house tapes. They were saved by her fans and later, without her permission, sometimes transferred to CDs by companies who pay her no royalties. They are now posted on YouTube so that new opera lovers can freely experience and enjoy her remarkable performances.

Видео Virginia Zeani 'L' Assoluta' in clips from seven contrasting roles канала CharlotteinWeimar