Giuseppina Brambilla

Giuseppina (or Giuseppa) Brambilla (9 May 1819 – April 1903) was an Italian opera singer who, like her sisters Marietta and Teresa Brambilla, sang leading roles in the major opera houses in Italy, Spain, France and England. Although often described in modern reference works as a contralto, she also sang many soprano roles including Marie in La fille du régiment and Abigaille in Nabucco. She married the tenor Corrado Miraglia in 1857 and retired from the stage in 1862. Her niece, Teresina Brambilla, was also an opera singer.

Life and career Brambilla was born in Cassano d'Adda, the daughter of Gerolamo and Angela (née Columbo) Brambilla. She was the fourth of five sisters, all of whom became opera singers. Marietta (1807–1875) was a contralto who specialised in travesti roles. Teresa (1813–1895) was a soprano who created the role of Gilda in Rigoletto. Both had very prominent careers. Annetta (1812–?) and Lauretta (1823–1881) were both sopranos who had lesser careers, appearing primarily in provincial Italian opera houses. (Lauretta (or Laura) Brambilla had the shortest career of the five sisters.) She attended the Milan Conservatory but was very unhappy there and eventually left before finishing her course. She appeared on stage in Milan and Venice in 1844–45, but then retired to marry and raise a family. She died of cancer at the age of 56.

She appeared in Rome's Teatro Apollo, again as Sinaide, in January 1841, and in April made her La Scala debut as Lisa in La sonnambula. Later in the season there she created the role of Elisa in Giuseppe Manusardi's Il biricchino di Parigi. She then left for Spain, where she was the leading prima donna in multiple productions in Barcelona from November 1841 until January 1845.

On her return to Italy, she sang in several provincial theatres before accepting a contract as the prima donna with the Italian opera company at the City Theatre in Odessa, where she was particularly popular and appeared in multiple leading soprano roles from 1850 through 1851. The 1852–1853 season found her in Jassy (now a city in Romania), where again she proved very popular. She returned to Jassy in the 1855 season to appear in four more operas, including Il trovatore where she sang the role of Leonora with the Italian tenor Corrado Miraglia as Manrico. She married Miraglia in 1857 and retired from the stage five years later. Her last performances were at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, where she sang Isabelle in Robert le diable, Delizia in Ricci's Corrado d'Altamura, and Amina in La sonnambula. Miraglia died in 1881. Brambilla lived on for another 20 years. Her death in Milan at the age of 84 was announced on 11 April 1903.