Amelita Galli-Curci was born on November 18, 1882, and died on November 26, 1963. She was an Italian lyric coloratura soprano, a type of singer known for performing high, clear notes in operas. She was one of the most well-known opera singers of the 20th century and a famous recording artist. Her records sold in large quantities.

Early life

Amelita Galli was born into an Italian family with a good income and Spanish background in Milan. She studied piano at a music school in Milan. She won a gold medal for her piano playing. At 16, she was offered a teaching position. Her grandmother inspired her to sing. A composer of operas named Pietro Mascagni also supported her singing goals. At the start of her career, she taught herself how to sing. She improved her skills by listening to other sopranos, reading old singing books, and practicing piano exercises by singing instead of using a keyboard. During the 1920s and 1930s, she received guidance from Estelle Liebling in New York City.

Career

Galli-Curci made her operatic debut in 1906 in Trani, where she performed the role of Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto. In 1908, she appeared for the first time in Rome as Bettina in Bizet's Don Procopio. Her voice was praised for its sweetness and skill, and her musical performances were widely admired across Italy. Many critics viewed her as a contrast to other sopranos at the time, who often sang in a more dramatic, realistic style.

Galli-Curci performed in Europe, Russia, and South America. In 1915, she sang two performances of Lucia di Lammermoor with the famous tenor Enrico Caruso in Buenos Aires. These were her only operatic performances with Caruso, though they later performed together in concerts and recorded music. Galli-Curci and Caruso also served as godparents to the son of the Sicilian tenor Giulio Crimi.

Throughout her career, Galli-Curci performed extensively as a concert artist. In 1924, she toured Great Britain, appearing in 20 cities, though she never performed opera there. In 1925, she toured Australia.

In the fall of 1916, Galli-Curci arrived in the United States with little recognition. Her planned visit was short, but her debut performance as Gilda in Rigoletto in Chicago on November 18, 1916 (her 34th birthday) was met with great praise. This led her to stay in the United States and continue performing with the Chicago Opera Association until the end of the 1924 season. In 1916, she signed a recording contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company and made her first records shortly before her American debut. She recorded exclusively for Victor until 1930.

On November 14, 1921, while still under contract with the Chicago Opera, Galli-Curci made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Violetta in La traviata, singing opposite tenor Beniamino Gigli as Alfredo. She was one of the few singers of her time to perform for both the Metropolitan Opera and the Chicago Opera simultaneously. Galli-Curci remained at the Met until she retired from the operatic stage nine years later.

In 1922, Galli-Curci built a country estate in Highmount, New York, which she named "Sul Monte." She spent summers there for several years before selling the property in 1937. A theater in the nearby village of Margaretville was named in her honor, and she performed at its opening. "Sul Monte" was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

Vocal decline and retirement from opera

Galli-Curci grew tired of the challenges of opera house politics and believed that opera was no longer a popular art form. In January 1930, she left the operatic stage to focus on concert performances. For several years, she had difficulty hitting high notes and experienced throat problems. In 1935, she had surgery to remove a thyroid goiter. During the surgery, which used local anesthesia, great care was taken. However, it was believed that the surgery damaged a nerve in her larynx, the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve. This injury likely caused her to lose the ability to sing high pitches. This nerve is now known as the "nerve of Galli-Curci."

In 2001, researchers Crookes and Recaberen studied newspaper articles from the time of her surgery, interviewed colleagues and relatives of the surgeon, and compared Galli-Curci’s career with those of other singers. They concluded that her loss of vocal ability was probably not caused by the surgery.

Other researchers, Marchese-Ragona and others, suggested that pressure from the goiter on the windpipe may have ended Galli-Curci’s career as a coloratura soprano early. However, nerve damage during the surgery likely prevented her from continuing as a lyric or dramatic soprano.

Personal life

In 1908, Amelita Galli married an Italian nobleman and painter named Marchese Luigi Curci. She took his last name, becoming Amelita Galli-Curci. The couple divorced in 1920. In 1922, Marchese Curci asked the church in Rome to cancel their marriage. In 1921, Amelita Galli-Curci married Homer Samuels, who was her musical partner. Their marriage continued until Samuels died in 1956.

Amelita Galli-Curci studied with Paramahansa Yogananda, a teacher from India who taught meditation and yoga. She wrote the introduction for Yogananda's book Whispers from Eternity, which was published in 1929.

Return to opera, death and legacy

On November 24, 1936, Galli-Curci, who was 54 years old, returned to opera in a single performance as Mimi in La bohème in Chicago. It was clear that her best singing years had passed. After one more year of giving recitals, she retired completely and moved to live in California. She spent much of her time painting and taught singing privately until shortly before her death from emphysema in La Jolla, California, on November 26, 1963, at the age of 81. One of her students was soprano Jean Fenn.

Galli-Curci’s voice can still be heard today on original 78-rpm records and their reissues on LP and CD. Based on her recordings and reviews from the time, Michael Scott, an opera commentator, wrote in The Record of Singing (volume 2, Duckworth, London, 1979) that her vocal skills were not as strong as those of earlier coloratura sopranos like Nellie Melba and Luisa Tetrazzini. However, he noted the special beauty of her voice and the lasting charm of her singing.

Galli-Curci is honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her recordings, with a star located at 6121 Hollywood Boulevard. In Studio Ghibli’s film Grave of the Fireflies, her recording of “Home! Sweet Home!” plays at the end. In the film Wake in Fright (1971), her recording of “Caro nome” from Rigoletto is heard as the character 'Doc' Tydon, played by Donald Pleasence, says, “What a doll… Galli-Curci.”

Select LP and CD collections

• The Art of Galli-Curci: RCA Camden CAL-410
• The Art of Galli-Curci Vol. 2 Bellini/Donizetti: RCA Camden CAL-525
• Galli-Curci: Golden Age Coloratura: RCA Victrola VIC-1518
• Golden Age Rigoletto: RCA Victrola VIC-1633

• Amelita Galli-Curci: RCA Victor Vocal Series 61413-2-RG
• Amelita Galli-Curci The Complete Acoustic Recordings Volume 1: Romophone 81003-2
• Amelita Galli-Curci The Complete Acoustic Recordings Volume 2: Romophone 81004-2
• Amelita Galli-Curci The Victor Recordings (1925–28): Romophone 81020-2
• Amelita Galli-Curci The Victor Recordings (1930): Romophone 81021-2