Fiora Contino

Fiora Corradetti Contino (June 17, 1925 – March 5, 2017) was an American opera conductor and teacher. She was particularly known for her interpretations of Italian verismo works of the late 19th century, and was described as one of the most important figures in opera of the 20th century. Anne Midgette of The New York Times once suggested that she "might have had a far bigger career had she been a man". a seamstress; her father, , had been a noted baritone singer at La Scala and other European venues. Fiora Corradetti had no strong singing voice, and said later that she "had no voice but learned as a conductor to sing vicariously". She studied piano and later conducting. She had an older half sister, Iris, who was an opera singer and vocal coach. Her father died when she was 14. Corradetti graduated from Long Beach High School and then studied piano performance at Oberlin College, Ohio, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in piano in 1947.

Conducting

In her late 20s, Contino founded the Amherst Community Opera in Massachusetts. Peter G. Davis wrote in 2001 of her performance of Alfano's Risurrezione, based on Leo Tolstoy's last novel, that she "may be the last conductor on earth with the music of Alfano and his generation in her bloodstream".

She considered Italian verismo opera to be her most favored music to conduct, stating in The New York Times in 2001 that it was "visceral", and she "just knew how to do it".

Teaching Contino held faculty positions at Bowling Green State University from 1963–1966, the Peabody Institute from 1978–1979, and the University of Texas at Austin. Kenneth Kiesler, and E. Wayne Abercrombie.

Personal life and death

Contino's marriage to Joseph Contino ended in divorce, yet she never changed her name. She had four children; three daughters: Lisa, Adriana, who was at one time principal cellist for the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, and Francesca), and one son (Frederic). At the time of her death she had nine grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Her long-term companion, Jeraldine Baumgartner, died in 2012. Contino died aged 91 in Carmel, Indiana, of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.