Abigaille Bruschi-Chiatti | |
|---|---|
 Portrait fromIl Teatro Illustrato, 1887 | |
| Born | c. 1855 Arezzo, Italy |
| Died | after 1888 |
| Occupation | Opera singer (soprano) |
| Years active | 1877–1888 |
Abigaille Bruschi-Chiatti (c. 1855 – after 1888) was an Italian soprano who sang in the principal opera houses of Italy as well as in Latin America and at theTeatro Real in Spain. Amongst the roles she created were Amelia di Egmont in the 1882 posthumous premiere of Donizetti'sIl duca d'Alba and Élisabeth de Valois in the 1884 revised version of Verdi'sDon Carlos.[1][2]
Bruschi-Chiatti was born inArezzo and initially studied singing there with Giovanni Guidieri. In 1871 she was accepted at the Regio Istituto Musicale di Firenze (now known as theConservatorio Luigi Cherubini) where she studied underGiuseppe Ceccherini.[3] One of her earliest appearances in a major role was asAida at the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele inMessina in 1877. By 1879, she was singing at theTeatro Regio di Torino where she created the role of Ero inGiovanni Bottesini'sEro e Leandro and sang the role of Sulamith in the theatre's first performance of Goldmark'sDie Königin von Saba.[4] The critic reviewing the premiere ofEro e Leandro forNuova Antologia praised the young singer for the beauty of her voice and its evenness throughout the registers as well as her elocution and phrasing.[5]
Later in 1879 she sang in Buenos Aires at theTeatro Colón and in Rio de Janeiro at theTheatro Dom Pedro II with Angelo Ferrari's Italian opera company whose singers includedFrancesco Tamagno. On her return to Italy she sang Rachel in Halévy'sLa Juive at theTeatro Apollo in Rome during the 1881/82 season and atLa Scala in the 1882/83 season. In 1882, she created the role of Amelia di Egmont in the posthumous premiere of Donizetti'sIl duca d'Alba at the Teatro Apollo. In his review of the premiere, the critic forLa Gazzetta Musicale di Milano wrote: "Signora Bruschi-Chiatti with her beauty and a voice that was brilliant, fresh, robust and a true soprano ... sang with warmth and passion."[2]
On 10 January 1884, Bruschi-Chiatti appeared at La Scala as Élisabeth de Valois in the premiere of Verdi's revised version ofDon Carlos with Francesco Tamagno in the title role. Contemporary accounts noted that she had very evidentstage fright on the opening night (a problem she also had at the premiere ofIl duca d'Alba) which negatively impacted her performance in the first three acts. However, she had overcome it by the final act and received great applause and requests for an encore after her performance of the aria "Tu che le vanità".[6][2] She appeared again at La Scala later that season in the title role of Verdi'sAida. During the course of her career her other Verdian roles included Amelia inUn ballo in maschera, Leonora inLa forza del destino, and Leonora inIl trovatore.[1]
In the later years of her career, Bruschi-Chiatti also appeared at theTeatro Real in Madrid, notably in an acclaimed performanceLa Juive in 1887.[7] She was scheduled to sing Aida at theTeatro Argentina in Rome during the autumn of 1888, but withdrew from the production after becoming ill during the rehearsals.[8]
