Martha Angelici (22 May 1907 – 11 September 1973), was a French operatic soprano of Corsican origin, particularly associated with the French lyric repertoire. Angelici was born in

Cargèse Cargèse (; or ; it, Cargese ; el, Καργκέζε, Kargkéze) is a village and ''commune'' in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the west coast of the island of Corsica, 27 km north of Ajaccio. , the commune had a population ...

. While still very young she moved with her family to Belgium, where she studied voice in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

with Alfred Mahy. She began singing on radio for the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourgian audiences in 1933, and gave her first public concert at the Kurzaal of

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

in 1934. Her first stage performance was in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, as Mimi in ''

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 1936. She made her debut at the Opéra-Comique in 1938, where she had a long and successful career, and made her debut at the Palais Garnier in 1953, as Micaela in '' Carmen'', other notable roles included Leila, Pamina, Nedda, etc. She made a few guest appearances at the

Monte Carlo Opera Monte may refer to: Places Argentina * Argentine Monte, an ecoregion * Monte Desert * Monte Partido, a ''partido'' in Buenos Aires Province Italy * Monte Bregagno * Monte Cassino * Montecorvino (disambiguation) * Montefalcione Portugal * Mont ...

and

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...

in Brussels. She was much admired in French baroque music notably in

Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and ...

's ''

Les Indes galantes (French: "The Amorous Indies") is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Louis Fuzelier. It takes the form of an ''opéra-ballet'' with a prologue and (in its final form) four ''entrées'' (acts). Following an allegorical prologue, ...

''.

Personal life/death

She was married to the director of the Opéra-Comique, François Agostini. She died in Ajaccio, aged 66.

Selected recordings

* 1950 – Bizet – ''Carmen'' –

Solange Michel Solange Michel (27 November 1912 – 15 December 2010) was a French classical mezzo-soprano who sang in concerts, recitals, and operas from the 1930s to the 1970s. She was particularly associated with the French opera repertory and was one of th ...

, Raoul Jobin, Martha Angelici, Michel Dens – Choeurs et Orchestre de l'Opéra-Comique,

André Cluytens André Cluytens (, ; born Augustin Zulma Alphonse Cluytens; 26 March 19053 June 1967)Baeck E. ''André Cluytens: Itinéraire d’un chef d’orchestre.'' Editions Mardaga, Wavre, 2009. was a Belgian-born French conductor who was active in the con ...

–

EMI Classics EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged in 1996, its recorded mus ...

* 1953 – Charpentier – Messe A Six Voix Et Symphonie ''Assumpta Est Maria'' – Martha Angelici, soprano, Solange Michel, mezzo-soprano, Jeannine Collad, alto, Jean Archimbaud, conter-tenor, Jean Giraudeau, tenor,

Louis Noguéra Louis Noguéra was a French bass-baritone (born in Algiers on 12 October 1910, died in Paris on 8 March 1984 Kutsch, K. J. and Riemens, Leo (2003). ''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (fourth edition, in German). Munich: K. G. Saur, . .) who enjoyed a lon ...

, bass – Henriette Roget, organ – Chorus of the Jeunesses musicales de France, Louis Martini, director. Recorded in Paris St-Eustache Church, 28–29 April 1953. Pathé DTX 140, Vox PLP-8440, Club National du Disque CND 546. * 1955 – Bizet – ''Les pêcheurs de perles'' – Martha Angelici,

Henri Legay Henri Legay (1 July 1920 in Paris – 16 September 1992 in Paris) was a French operatic tenor. He was primarily French-based as his light lyric voice was especially suited to the French operatic repertoire. Life and career Legay studied in Bru ...

, Michel Dens, Louis Noguéra – Choeurs et Orchestre de l'Opéra-Comique, André Cluytens – EMI Classics

Sources

Operissimo.com
* Klaus Ulrich Spiegel: "La voix de Corse. Lucidité, Douceur, Style: Martha Angelici" - HAfG Edition Hamburger Archiv 1907 births 1973 deaths French operatic sopranos People from Corse-du-Sud 20th-century French women opera singers {{France-opera-singer-stub