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made in
Holland in collaboration with the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam. I spent thousands of hours listening and sorting through them in preparation for the project. Listening to the first CD after it came out: “Magda Olivero in Concert”, Magda, kind of surprise of what she was hearing, added: “Now I can understand the reason for those passionate outbursts when I sing.” It was the first time she heard her own voice reproduced with such quality and fidelity.
75:
331:, in Verona; her stage career ended at age 71, after spanning nearly 50 years. She continued to sing sacred music locally and made occasional singing appearances well into her nineties. Her last public recital was in Milano on November 5th 1991 at the Centro Culturale Rosetum, many of her contemporary artists were in the audience, including her friend Renata Tebaldi who said after the recital: "It's a great lesson in signing"
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manifests his general dislike for both
Olivero's dated and affected style, and her mediocre voice quality throughout her career. He also admits, however, that an exceptional theatrical personality is evidenced by each of her recordings and that how to evaluate her performances is bound to remain open
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Despite having a large cult following, Magda
Olivero was never at the centre of the operatic star system, being largely restricted to Italian provincial theatres, and she was almost completely ignored by the official record industry. There exist only two studio recordings of complete operas featuring
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Unfortunately, that CD anthology was never finished due to the loss of interest in the CD format. Instead, I decided to create a YouTube channel entirely dedicate to the art of Magda
Olivero. This channel now offers over 100 videos of her best performances; mostly audio videos visually complemented
553:
Magda
Olivero was a unique artist. People generally praise her mostly for her dramatic stage presence. What always impressed me in her interpretations was the ability, beyond her stagecraft, to use her God given natural voice and unsurpassed technique, as well as superior and cultured musicianship,
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Olivero performed widely and increasingly successfully until 1941, when she married the industrialist Aldo Busch and retired from the stage, only taking part in sporadic charity events for almost a decade. Not having had children as she would have liked to, however, she resumed her career in 1951,
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In 1996, as a friend of Magda
Olivero, I wanted to offer her and all her fans an anthology, in CD format, of the best moments of her career. Having presented my project to Magda, she graciously offered me all the audio archives she possessed: many “live” broadcasts made in Italy by RAI, and others
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on tour in 1979), Olivero acknowledged the insistent cheers of the throng pressing forward on the orchestra floor by edging along the narrow lip at the base of the proscenium to touch the outstretched hands of her admirers. A misstep would have plunged her into the pit. With this gesture, Olivero
502:(lengthening or shortening notes or groups of notes) to convey the music’s tension and repose. More, hers is “il cantar che nell’anima si sente”—singing that is sensed in the soul. Her London/Decca Fedora, made in 1968, is the last emotionally important commercial recording of an Italian opera.
304:." Her only three performances caused a furore, being met with wild applause from audiences, and were later referred to as "legendary". Her farewell to the Met's public is narrated in these words in a recent history of the New York theatre:
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in 1974. The role of Medea, belonging to an eighteenth-century repertoire that was quite alien to her ordinary interests, was again taken at the Music Hall
Theater in Kansas City in 1968, as well as, three years later, at Amsterdam's
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Despite scant interest shown by the official record industry, live recordings exist of many of her performances that are fully able to document her artistic skills. The extent of
Olivero's ability was identified by her great admirer
152:
From 1951 until her final retirement, Olivero appeared in opera houses throughout Italy and, mainly in the 1960s and 1970s, all around the world (Europe, Egypt, the U.S., and Latin
America), but never in such premier venues as the
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should at last engage
Olivero: "She practically gave acting and singing lessons while onstage; honestly, you could learn more from watching an Olivero performance than from reading most books on those very subjects."
1021:, Volume 41, New York, H. W. Wilson Company, 1981, p. 295. In 1964 Celletti had written Olivero's version was "almost certainly the most heart-felt and quivering rendition of this aria ever given on record" (
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described as "the most fascinating performance of this scene and aria ever committed to the phonograph." Apart from these pieces, there are only two other official records: a sacred music recital entitled
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Olivero was coached by Cilea and a number of now-obscure verismo composers and is the last singer with such a background. For me, she distills and exemplifies the tradition. From
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862:: in Ira Siff's memory it had been 'the most touching, spectacularly sung "Vissi d'Arte" of his experience' as a listener (article cited above).
43:
119:, Italy, she followed complete musical studies (piano, harmony and composition), graduating in piano at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in
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123:. She later studied singing outside the Conservatory and made her singing debut in 1932 on radio performing Nino Cattozzo's (1886–1961)
99:. Her career started in 1932 when she was 22, and spanned five decades, establishing her "as an important link between the era of the
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Studio recordings of individual pieces are also rare. Between 1939 and 1953 Olivero was called upon by Cetra to record arias by
498:, the verismo era was transfigured by searing vocal actresses. Unlike Olivero, few also were consummate musicians able through
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in Brescia on 3 February of that year, but Cilea did not see his wish come true as he had died less than three months earlier.
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composers and the modern opera stage". She has been regarded as "one of the greatest singers of the twentieth century".
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754:. Throughout the second part of her career she appeared at La Scala only 20 times overall, in just three productions.
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514:’s, her style as exaggerated and campy." Yet, in Italy, too detractors have not been lacking. In his praised book
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858:, 5 April 1975. An unofficial recording of Olivero's rendition of "Vissi d'Arte" from the Met is available on
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Zucker also adds that "Olivero’s reviews in Italy always were laudatory", whereas in America "critics such as
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In 1993, when her stage career had been over for many years, Olivero recorded, with piano accompaniment,
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On the occasion of her death, sympathetic obituaries appeared in the press around the world. In his
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Olivero died at the Istituto Auxologico di Milano aged 104. Olivero attributed her longevity to her
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that states a Knowledge editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic.
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with photos of hers singing the part. (Denis Robert, director of "The Magda Olivero Archives")
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720:, Turin, Italgrafica, 1984, p. 61. She had already made her second debut on 20 January as
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She debuted successfully in the United States in 1967 as Medea in the Italian version of
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to put all these components at the service of a controlled and unified performance.
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as the Princesse de Bouillon): excerpts from this recording were published on the
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showed what made her unique: she sang and acted as if her life depended on it.
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and Barton Wimble wrote of her with derision, regarding her vocalism as like
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169:. Among her most renowned interpretations were those of the leading roles in
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968:"OPERA NEWS - Magda Olivero, 104, the Last Great Verismo Soprano, Has Died"
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Her last performances on stage were in March 1981, in the one-woman opera,
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1183:, Vol. 70, No. 7, January 2006. (accessed via subscription 28 March 2010)
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to debate, fundamentally depending on one's own subjective sensitivity.
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Les stars de l'opéra: Grands artistes lyriques de l'histoire de l'opéra
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She is buried in the Famedio (famous people's memorial chapel) of the
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had died at the Istituto Auxologico di Milano 1 1/2 months earlier.
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La cantatrice italienne Magda Olivero est morte à l’âge de 104 ans
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Stinchelli, Enrico (2002). "L'art n'a pas d'âge: Magda Olivero".
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1025:, Rome, Istituto per la Collaborazione Culturale, 1964, p. 589).
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Magda Olivero, 104, the Last Great Verismo Soprano, Has Died
946:"È morta a 104 anni Magda Olivero, grande soprano milanese"
677:, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 1979, pp. 358–359;
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https://www.youtube.com/@themagdaoliveroarchives9199/videos
430:, no longer available at present), and the highlights from
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personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay
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On April 18, her third and last Met performance (she sang
139:, who asked her to sing the title role again in his opera
817:, Oakland, University of California Press, 2014, p. 266,
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In 1975, at the age of 65, Olivero made her debut at the
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La Scala West: The Dallas Opera Under Kelly and Rescigno
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label. At age 86, she performed Adriana's monologue in
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Drama, magic and music just fed each other perfectly.
390:, 1969). There exists a film, too, drawn from a 1960
92:) (25 March 1910 – 8 September 2014), was an Italian
486:, summarizes his opinion on Olivero in these words.
280:, sung for the first time in French; and finally as
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426:, performed at the Angelicum Theatre in Milan (
994:. telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
852:Opera: Magda Olivero Sings Tosca in Met Debut
413:and others, including the finale of Act 1 of
262:, where she subsequently appeared in 1969 as
1168:From Another World: The Art of Magda Olivero
914:, Universitat de València, 2005, pp. 90–91.
813:Affron, Charles & Affron, Mirella Jona,
541:reported the following opinion expressed by
799:Magda Olivero: Una voce per tre generazioni
718:Magda Olivero: Una voce per tre generazioni
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695:"Magnificent Obsession: Why Magda Olivero
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471:, who, in 1975, firmly insisted that the
62:Learn how and when to remove this message
1291:20th-century Italian women opera singers
1213:Magda Olivero's biography at Opera Vivrà
1108:L'opera in CD e video. Guida all'ascolto
318:Charles and Mirella Jona Affron (2014),
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1191:(in French). Gremese. pp. 80–81.
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675:The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera
650:Olivero, Maria Maddalena, detta Magda
161:. Olivero performed just once at the
1154:Franco Alfano, Transcending Turandot
1134:, "TheaterJones", 15 September 2014.
737:Royal Opera House Collections Online
656:Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
82:Italian operatic soprano (1910–2014)
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1015:Moritz, Charles (editor-in-chief),
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801:, Turin, Italgrafica, 1984, p. 113.
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1051:Horne, Marilyn and Scovell, Jane,
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1053:Marilyn Horne: The Song Continues
815:Grand Opera: The Story of the Met
424:Quando il Canto Diventa Preghiera
320:Grand Opera: The Story of the Met
145:. She performed this role at the
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300:, "as a late replacement for
1148:Magda Olivero, foreword, in
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561:"The Magda Olivero Archives"
537:article musician and critic
347:Monumental Cemetery of Milan
165:, and exceedingly rarely at
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836:Metropolitan Opera Archives
778:The Assoluta Voice in Opera
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1245:The Magda Olivero Archives
992:"Magda Olivero - obituary"
748:Wiener Staatsoper Archives
266:, in 1970 as Giorgetta in
1301:Italian operatic sopranos
880:"The Unstoppable Soprano"
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394:-television broadcast of
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884:New York Review of Books
353:Recordings and appraisal
912:Voces: Ritmo, 1987–2000
906:Masó, Gonzalo Badenes,
797:Quattrocchi, Vincenzo,
716:Quattrocchi, Vincenzo,
539:Gregory Sullivan Isaacs
512:Florence Foster Jenkins
113:Maria Maddalena Olivero
90:Maria Maddalena Olivero
775:; Riggs, Geoffrey S.,
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42:by rewriting it in an
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878:(24 September 2014).
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200:La Fanciulla del West
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848:Schonberg, Harold C.
673:, "Olivero, Magda",
440:, for Decca, 1969).
338:diet and practicing
1306:People from Saluzzo
1173:Hastings, Stephen,
1095:New York Daily News
954:, 8 September 2014
699:Adriana Lecouvreur"
693:Hastings, Stephen,
647:Landini, Giancarlo
622:, 9 September 2014.
600:, 8 September 2014.
433:Francesca da Rimini
1311:Women centenarians
1081:2008-05-17 at the
856:The New York Times
763:Davis, Ronald L.,
669:Rosenthal, H. and
445:Adriana Lecouvreur
294:Metropolitan Opera
171:Adriana Lecouvreur
163:Vienna State Opera
142:Adriana Lecouvreur
135:at the request of
129:I Misteri Dolorosi
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78:Magda Olivero 1972
44:encyclopedic style
31:is written like a
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