Death of a Callas double, 87
mainThe fine Italian soprano Eugenia Ratti died this week in her home town of Piacenza.
She made her La Scala debut in January 1955 in the premiere of Darius Milhaud’s David. She next appeared as Lisa in La sonnambula, opposite Maria Callas, in the Visconti production conducted by Leonard Bernstein.
In 1957, she created the role of Sister Constance in Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites.
Internationally, she appeared at the Holland Festival, Paris Opéra, Munich, Vienna and Glyndebourne. She made her US debut in 1958 at San Francisco Opera and sang the following years at Dallas Opera in Franco Zeffirelli’s production of Il barbiere di Siviglia, replacing Callas as Rosina.
She had a lovely voice, and was a welcome member of many opera companies throughout US and Europe.
But what makes her a “Callas double”??
Although she and Callas did share some roles, ER’s voice was much lighter, almost soubrette-like. I have two Callas recordings in which ER sang – La Sonnambula (Bernstein) and Un Ballo (Votto). Their voices are very dissimilar.
R.I.P., Maestra.
Eugenia Ratti was a charming and popular soprano who made her contribution to the world of music with graceful , stylish singing and fine diction.
Ratti was a magnificent singer and a humble and humane person. A lot of singers today could learn from the example she set. RIP.
FM