Rita Fornia

Rita Fornia (17 July 1878 – 27 October 1922) was an American soprano, later mezzo-soprano. She joined the Metropolitan Opera company in 1907 where she performed regularly in mostly supporting roles until her retirement in 1922. She is best remembered today for portraying the role of the Abbess in the world premiere of Puccini's Suor Angelica in 1918.

Career Fornia was born in San Francisco, California as Regina Newman on 17 July 1878. Her parents were immigrants from Prussia and her father owned a successful business as a wholesale jeweller. At the age of 12, she attended Adelina Patti's 1890 concert in San Francisco which inspired her to become an opera singer. Her father eventually allowed her to move to New York City in 1898 to pursue her desire.

While in New York, Fornia studied with Emil Fischer and Sofia Scalchi in New York City and then, under Fischer's advice, moved to Berlin in 1899 to study with Selma Nicklass-Kempner. Kempner, later the teacher of Frieda Hempel, trained her as a coloratura soprano. She made her professional début with the Hamburg State Opera in 1901 as Eudoxie in Halévy's La Juive. The funeral service was held at the Anglican, or Episcopalian, Church of St George in la Rue Auguste-Vacquerie, Paris, on November 2. Her widower survived her by exactly 24 years before his death at the West Side Hospital, New York at the age of 74 on October 26, 1946.

Recordings Fornia was among the first generation of musicians to be recorded. Her few recordings were all made by the Victor Talking Machine Company. Among the recordings she left are trio from Madama Butterfly ("Lo so che alle sue pene") with Antonio Scotti and Riccardo Martin, Stéphano's aria ("Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle") from Roméo et Juliette, Siebel's aria ("Faites-lui mes aveux") from Faust, and a number of French and German art songs. Marston Records has recently released a number of these recordings on CD.