The soprano Orianna Santunione, who sang in three productions at La Scala under Riccardo Muti, died in obscurity on December 16.
Her international exposure was limited chiefly to the Paris Opéra, where she sang Il trovatore and Tosca in 1973-4.
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Sang a fair bit at ROH too, mid 1960s to mid 70s or so…
Died in obscurity?? What are you talking about? Just because you are just hearing about it doesn’t mean that the rest of us didn’t know about it immediately. She was a great artist, as many live recordings will attest, and she deserved better than this glancing appraisal.
She’s an estimable soprano especially in Verdi. I treasure her Leonora in Forza del Destino from Firenze conducted by Muti. The Maggio Musicale has been issuing a series of excellent recordings taped live from the house of which this is one!
To go out of f one’s way to say she died “in obscurity” is rather uncalled for, unnecessary and of poor taste.
Rather cheeky to say “died in obscurity” … she did not deserve that slight! She was one of Riccardo Muti’s go-to artists in Florence. While she was often in the second cast in many Italian opera houses in the late 70s, she was frequently better than the soprano in the first cast. The bigger name didn’t always have the better voice.
At the time of her death, she was living at Casa Verdi in Milan.
RIP, Orianna!
I remember her in several Florentine productions, conducted by Riccardo Muti. She was a great singer, a hard worker, and had no divistic behaviours. For her value, she deserved to be more famous. We shall not forget her.