Erminia Borghi-Mamo (November 18, 1855 – July 29, 1941) was an Italian opera singer.
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Early life
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Erminia Borghi-Mamo was born in Paris, the daughter of Michele Mamo and Adelaide Borghi-Mamo, both Italian opera singers. She was literally born into the theatre: Adelaide Borghi-Mamo finished a performance of Verdi's Il Trovatore, then gave birth to Erminia hours later, in a room within the theatre La Comédie Italienne. She was named for soprano Erminia Frezzolini, a friend of Adelaide's.[1] She studied voice with her mother and with Alessandro Busi. Fellow soprano Ayres Borghi-Zerni was her cousin.
Career
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Erminia Borghi-Mamo made her opera stage debut in 1873, in Nice, in La forza del destino.[2] She was active in Italian opera for the next twenty years. "Still quite young, Mdlle. Borghi-Mamo is already mistress of the vocal art," an English writer reported in 1876, adding that "intelligence and soul are her characteristic qualities; she is all sympathy. The opening of her artistic career promises the most splendid future, for her voice is capable of the most delicate expression, and the most varied effects."[3] Her best-known roles included the title parts in Aida and Lucrezia Borgia, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, Margherita and Elena in Mefistofele,[4] and Leonora in Il trovatore. Her last performance was in 1893.[5]
Personal life
editErminia Borghi-Mamo married. She died in 1941, in Bologna, aged 85 years.[6] Her grave is in the Certosa di Bologna.[7]
References
edit- ^ G. Sangiorgi, "Erminia Borghi-Mamo" Il Teatro Illustrato (Maggio 1883): 66-67.
- ^ "Nice" The Musical World (January 10, 1874): 28.
- ^ "Notes" The Musical Standard (July 1, 1876): 13.
- ^ "Mefistofele" in Stanley Sadie and Laura Macy, eds., The Grove Book of Opera (Oxford University Press 2009): 403. ISBN 9780195309072
- ^ Il Mefistofele di Boito al Comunale con Erminia Borghi Mamo, Biblioteca Salaborsa.
- ^ "Erminia Borghi Mamo, Once Great Soprano" Daily News (July 31, 1941): 88. via Newspapers.com
- ^ Daniela Schiavina, "Erminia Borghi-Mamo" Storia e Memoria di Bologna.
External links
edit- Erminia Borghi-Mamo at Find a Grave
- A portrait of Erminia Borghi-Mamo from the 1870s, in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands.