Adelina Stehle (born

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...

, 30 June 1860 – died

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

, 24 December 1945) was an Austrian-born

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

tic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

, associated almost entirely with the Italian repertory. She studied singing in

and debuted as Amina in 1881 in

Broni Broni is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy, located about 45 km south of Milan and about 15 km southeast of Pavia. Broni borders the following municipalities: Albaredo Arnaboldi, B ...

Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...

. Her career eventually brought her to

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

in 1890 where she flourished. She took part in a series of important premieres in the 1890s. In 1893 she was the first Nannetta in

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the ...

's '' Falstaff'' to the Fenton of her husband,

Edoardo Garbin Edoardo Garbin (12 March 1865 – 12 April 1943) was an Italian operatic tenor. He was married to the soprano Adelina Stehle. One of the most important Italian tenors of his day, Garbin created, inter alia, tenor roles in Alberto Franchetti's ...

, and they were later important in the popularization of Puccini's ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

''. In 1902 she went to South America before singing in Paris with the Sonzogno Company, as well as in Berlin,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. She became identified with the heavier roles of Italian verismo opera such as ''

Adriana Lecouvreur ''Adriana Lecouvreur'' () is an opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the 1849 play '' Adrienne Lecouvreur'' by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé. It was first performed on 6 November 1902 ...

'' and ''

Fedora A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both side ...

''. When she retired from the stage she became a noted teacher. Among her pupils were Giannina Arangi-Lombardi.

Roles created

* Walter in

Alfredo Catalani Alfredo Catalani (19 June 1854 – 7 August 1893) was an Italian operatic composer. He is best remembered for his operas '' Loreley'' (1890) and ''La Wally'' (1892). ''La Wally'' was composed to a libretto by Luigi Illica, and features Catalani' ...

's ''

La Wally ''La Wally'' is an opera in four acts by composer Alfredo Catalani, to a libretto by Luigi Illica, first performed at La Scala, Milan, on 20 January 1892. The libretto is based on a hugely successful ' by Wilhelmine von Hillern (1836–1916), ' ...

'' (La Scala, Milan, 1892) * Nedda in Leoncavallo's ''

Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, "Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who ...

'' ( Teatro Dal Verme, Milan, 1892) * Nannetta in

's '' Falstaff'' (La Scala, Milan, 1893) * Fioretta de' Gori in Leoncavallo's ''

I Medici ''I Medici'' is an opera in four acts composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo, with a libretto by the composer. Set in Renaissance Florence at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici, it was intended as the first part of a planned but unfinished trilogy called ' ...

'' (Teatro dal Verme, Milan, 1893) * Maria in Mascagni's ''

Guglielmo Ratcliff ''Guglielmo Ratcliff'' is a tragic opera in four acts by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Andrea Maffei, translated from the German play ''Wilhelm Ratcliff'' (1822) by Heinrich Heine. Mascagni had substantially finished the composition ...

'' (La Scala, Milan, 1895) * Matilde in Mascagni's '' Silvano'' (La Scala, Milan, 1895)

Recordings

Stehle made a number of recordings for the Fonotipia Company in 1905 but only two recordings were published (both concerted pieces), which according to

J. B. Steane John Barry Steane (12 April 1928 – 17 March 2011) was an English music critic, musicologist, literary scholar and teacher, with a particular interest in singing and the human voice. His 36-year career as a schoolmaster overlapped with his caree ...

"reveal little about her voice and art".Steane, J B (1992), 'Stehle, Adelina' in ''The

New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London)

References

*Steane, J B (1992), 'Stehle, Adelina' in ''The

'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stehle, Adelina 1860 births 1945 deaths Austrian operatic sopranos Musicians from Graz Voice teachers 19th-century Austrian women opera singers 20th-century Austrian women opera singers Austrian expatriates in Italy Women music educators