Alboni, Marietta
ALBONI, MARIETTA (1823-1894), Italian opera-singer, was born at Cesena, Romagna, and was trained in music at Bologna, where she became a pupil of Rossini. She had a magnificent contralto voice, and in 1843 made her first appearance at La Scala, Milan, being recognized at once as a public favourite. In England her reputation was established by her appearance at Covent Garden in 1847, and she had brilliant success all over Europe in the leading operatic roles; in 1853 she repeated these triumphs in the United States. Indeed, with the exception of Malibran, she had no compeer among the contraltos of the century, the old Italian school of singing finding in her a really great representative. She married first Count A. Pepoh, who died in 1866, and secondly (1877) a French officer, M. Zieger; she lived in Paris after her first marriage, and died at Ville d'Avray in 1894.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
