Adelina Stehle (30 June 1860 – 24 December 1945) was an Austrian Empire-born

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical 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 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

, associated almost entirely with the Italian repertory.

Biography

Born 30 June 1860, in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, she studied singing in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and debuted as

Amina Amina (or Aminah) is the loose transcription of two different Arabic female given names: * ʾĀmina (Arabic: آمنة, also anglicized as ''Aaminah'' or ''Amna'') meaning "safe one, protected" * ʾAmīna (Arabic: أمينة, also anglicized as ''Am ...

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 The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

. Her career eventually brought her to

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

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, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

's ''

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

'' to the Fenton of her husband,

Edoardo Garbin Edoardo Garbin (12 March 1865 – 12 April 1943) was an Italian operatic lirico-spinto 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 Alber ...

, and they were later important in the popularization of

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, s ...

's ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

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

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. She became identified with the heavier roles of Italian

verismo In opera, , from , meaning 'true', was a post-Romantic operatic tradition associated with Italian composers such as Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Francesco Cilea and Giacomo Puccini. ''Verismo'' as an operatic ge ...

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 sides ...

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

Giannina Arangi-Lombardi Giannina Arangi-Lombardi (20 June 1891, Marigliano – 9 July 1951, Milan) was a spinto soprano, particularly associated with the Italian operatic repertory.

. She died on 24 December 1945, in Milan.

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 Catala ...

'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. It was Catalani's last opera. The libretto is based on a hugely successful ' by Wilhelmin ...

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

Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo (23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Throughout his career, Leoncavallo produced numerous operas and songs but it is his 1892 opera ''Pagliacci'' that remained his lasting co ...

'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 mu ...

'' (

Teatro Dal Verme The Teatro Dal Verme is a theatre in Milan, Italy located on the Via San Giovanni sul Muro, on the site of the former private theatre the ''Politeama Ciniselli''. It was designed by Giuseppe Pestagalli to a commission from Count Francesco Dal Ve ...

, Milan, 1892) * Nannetta in

's ''

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

'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 of ...

'' (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 "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. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...

'', 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 Austrian voice teachers 19th-century Austrian women opera singers 20th-century Austrian women opera singers Austrian expatriates in Italy Sopranos from Austria-Hungary Music educators from Austria-Hungary Austrian women music educators