Adalgisa Gabbi

Adalgisa Gabbi (23 May 1857 – 16 December 1933) was an Italian operatic soprano. After her 1875 debut in Lecco as Maria in Filippo Marchetti's Ruy Blas, she first made a name abroad, performing in Poland, Latin America, and London. It was not until the late 1880s that she established herself in Italy, performing in Turin, Naples, and in Milan, where she appeared in December 1889 at La Scala as Eva in the Italian premiere of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Early life Born in Parma on 23 May 1857, Gabbi began to study voice in Bologna when she was 14. In October 1872, she was admitted to the Parma Conservatory, where she studied under Lodovico Spiga and Vincenzo Lombardi. In 1875, she became a pupil of Felice Varesi in Milan who arranged for her to make her debut that year in Lecco as Maria in Marchetti's .

Career In 1876, after appearing in Verdi's La traviata in Cremona, Gabbi joined an Italian opera company in Poland, performing in Warsaw, Kraków, and in Lemberg, where she was so successful that she was engaged for the next two seasons. She performed the title role in Verdi's Aida and Élisabetta in his Don Carlos as well as the title role in Moniuszko's Halka.

After appearing in Bucharest in early 1884, she returned to Italy, appearing in Turin as Valentine in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots. acting as a stand-in for Romilda Pantaleoni. She then spent the next two years at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, appearing in Don Carlos, Otello, Gounod's Faust and Meyerbeer's L'Africaine. In April 1889, she appeared in the Neopolitan premiere of Wagner's Tannhäuser and on 26 December 1889, in Milan at La Scala in the Italian premiere of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Gabbi retired from the stage after appearing in Trieste in 1900 in the title role of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.

Adalgisa Gabbi died in Milan on 16 December 1933 at the age of 76.