Carolina Crespi

Carolina Crespi (c. 1790 – after 1842), later known as Carolina Crespi-Bianchi and Carolina Bianchi, was an Italian soprano active on the opera stages of Paris and Northern Italy from 1803 to 1820. She was born in Prague, the daughter of the soprano Luigia Prosperi-Crespi (1770–1824). Crespi was married to the tenor Eliodoro Bianchi and appeared with him in three world premieres at La Scala.

Life and career Crespi was born in Prague, where her mother, Luigia Prosperi-Crespi, was singing with Domenico Guardasoni's opera troupe. In her childhood, she travelled around Europe with her mother, a prominent Italian soprano who sang in some of the earliest performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni. She first appeared on the stage in Barcelona in 1800, singing the child role of Elamir in Salieri's Axur, re d'Ormus with her mother singing the role of Atar. She began appearing in adult roles in Italy in 1803 at the Teatro d'Angennes in Turin and in 1804 with her mother at the Teatro de' Quattro Compadroni in Pavia.