Sara Scuderi (December 11, 1906 – December 24, 1987) was an Italian

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 ...

singer. She sang widely in Italy and Europe (most notably in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

), having had a seven-year contract at

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 ...

, "where she received high praise for her interpretations of the most well-known operas".

Biography

Born in

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, Scuderi made her debut at the '' Teatro Lirico Coccia'' in

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

playing Leonora in '' Il Trovatore'' (November 1925). Scuderi studied under Matteo Adernò. She was engaged in a seven-year contract with Milan's

Teatro Alla Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was a church). The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's ''Europa r ...

, where she received high praise and partnered with the most famous male artists of her time, including

Beniamino Gigli Beniamino Gigli ( , ; 20 March 1890 – 30 November 1957) was an Italian opera singer ( lyric tenor). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tenors of his generation. Early life Gigli was born in Recanati, in the Marche, the son of a sho ...

and Galliano Masini. Her interpretations of ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'' are particularly celebrated, with the 1937 production at the Terme di Caracalla, with Beniamino Gigli and Luigi Montesanto being among the best known. Additionally, she premiered the operas ''Il volto della Vergine'' (Ezio Camussi) and ''Giulio Cesare'' ( Malipiero). Scuderi sang in the most important theatres of the day, both in Italy and abroad, particularly in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, where she signed a seven-year contract and was a major star. She toured several times with

to Brazil and Argentina, where she sang ''Tosca'' with Giuseppe Lugo. She retired from the stage at the end of the 1940s. For the latter part of her life, she lived at the ''

Casa di Riposo per Musicisti The Casa di Riposo per Musicisti (literally 'rest home for musicians') is a home for retired opera singers and musicians in Milan, northern Italy, founded by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (whose statue is in the piazza outside the building) ...

'', the world's first nursing home for retired opera singers, founded by composer

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

in 1896. Film director

Daniel Schmid Daniel Walter Schmid (26 December 1941 – 5 August 2006) was a Swiss theatre and film director. Biography In 1982, his film ''Hécate'' was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival. His film ''Beresina, or the Last Days of Sw ...

used Scuderi as a central character in his capture of the essence of the retirement home for these former glories in his '' Il Bacio di Tosca'', in 1984. Scuderi died three years later, in 1987.

References

* Rasponi, Lanfranco ''The Last Prima Donnas'', Alfred A. Knopf,
ClassicalManac entry on the birth of Sara Scuderi

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scuderi, Sara 1906 births 1987 deaths Musicians from Catania Italian operatic sopranos 20th-century Italian women opera singers