Patti as Marguerite in Faust, 1875.

Adelina Patti (10 February 1843 - 27 September 1919) was one of the most highly regarded opera singers of the 19th century. Giuseppe Verdi was not alone in calling her the greatest singer he ever heard. Adelina Patti, as Marguerite in Faust, from early 1920s edition of the Victrola Book of the Opera. Photo dated 1875. ... Adelina Patti, as Marguerite in Faust, from early 1920s edition of the Victrola Book of the Opera. Photo dated 1875. ... February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 95 days remaining. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... LeAnn Rimes singing in concert A singer is a type of musician who uses his or her voice to produce music. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Giuseppe Verdi, by Giovanni Boldini, 1886 (National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome) Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (October 10, 1813 – January 27, 1901) is to date the most influential composer of the 19th centurys Italian School of Opera. ...

Patti was born Adela Juana Maria Patti to Italian parents in Madrid, Spain. Like many great singers, she came from a singing family. Both her parents, Savlatore Patti and Caterina Barilli, were singers. Her sisters Carlotta and Amalia were also singers. In her childhood the family moved to New York City. Patti sang professionally from childhood, and developed into a coloratura soprano. It was thought that Patti learned much of her singing technique from her brother in law Maurice Strakosch, although later in life Patti, like many singers, claimed that she was entirely self-taught. This article is about the Spanish capital. ... Nickname: The Big Apple Motto: Official website: City of New York Location [[Image:|250px|250px|Location of City of New York, New York]] Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R... Coloratura is an ornate, flowery style in classical singing. ... Look up Soprano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary In music, a soprano is a singer with a voice ranging approximately from the A below middle C to high C two octaves above middle C (i. ...

Patti's career was success after success. She sang in the United States, all over Europe, and in South America, inspiring frenzy and critical raves whereever she went. Her girlish good looks made her an appealing stage presence. In her prime she reportedly had a beautiful soprano voice of birdlike purity, and she excelled in both soubrette roles like Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Rosina in Barber of Seville and famous coloratura roles like Lucia di Lammermoor and La Sonnambula, as well as lyric roles in Gounod's Faust and Romeo et Juliette. Patti was known as a somewhat unadventurous singer, whose concert programs invariably consisted of the same old tunes, especially "Home Sweet Home", sung to an adoring audience. However, she was known as a dramatic, effective actress in roles that called for deep emotions, like Gilda in Rigoletto, Leonora in Il Trovatore, Semiramide, and Violetta in La Traviata. As her voice matured, she took on heavier roles in operas like L'Africaine, Les Huguenots, and Aida. Overall, for a singer often criticized for being unadventurous, her repertoire was quite large and varied. World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. ... The Barber of Seville is a theatre play by Beaumarchais, written in 1775, and originally entitled Le Barbier de Séville in French. ... Lucia di Lammermoor is an opera in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. ... La Sonnambula is an opera by Vincenzo Bellini. ... Faust (Latin Faustus) is the protagonist of a popular German tale of a pact with the Devil, assumed to be based on the figure of the German magician and alchemist Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480-1540). ... Roméo et Juliette is a symphonie dramatique, a large scale work in French for mixed voices and orchestra, by French composer Hector Berlioz. ... Gilda (1946) is a black-and-white film noir directed by Charles Vidor. ... Il trovatore (The Troubadour) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Leone Emanuele Bardare and Salvatore Cammarano, based on the play El Trobador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. ... Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioacchino Rossini. ... La traviata, an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, takes as its basis the novel La dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, published in 1848. ... LAfricaine (The African Woman) is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer. ... Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer. ... Aida is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a story by Auguste Mariette. ...

What made Patti great was not just her voice, but her shrewd business acumen. In her prime, she demanded to be paid $5000 a night, in gold, before the performance. No money, no Patti. Her contracts stipulated that her name was to be top-billed, and larger than any other name in the cast. Her contracts also said that while she was "free to attend all rehearsals, she was not obligated to attend any." The famous Colonel Mapleson in his memoirs recalls Patti's stubborn personality and her smart-as-a-hawk business acumen. She reportedly had a parrot whom she trained to shriek, "CASH! CASH!" whenever Mapleson walked in the room. Although Patti ruthlessly sucked every last dollar that she could from impresarios, she was known as being very generous to the less fortunate. It was said that no one who wrote to Patti for help didn't get some money in return.

It was unfortunate that like many sopranos Patti did not know when to call it quits. Her last tour to the USA, in 1903, was a critical and personal failure. From then on she restricted herself to the occasional concert here or there, or to private performances at the little theater she built in her home at Craig-y-Nos.

Patti made a few phonograph recordings when she was in her 60s, at which time by all accounts her voice was past her prime but still impressive. They show a lively singing personality, and a surprisingly strong, developed chest voice and dark timbre, as well as a wonderful trill. There are differing opinions as to what extent the vibrato heard on some of the selections is Patti's technique or an artifact of the primitive sound recording. It was said that Patti went into ecstasies when she heard the sound of her own voice for the first time. Edison cylinder phonograph from about 1899 The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common device for playing recorded sound from the 1870s through the 1980s. ... Methods and media for sound recording are varied and have undergone significant changes between the first time sound was actually recorded for later playback until now. ...

Patti's personal life was not as successful as her professional life, although it was not as disatrous as many operatic singers' (Maria Callas, Lillian Nordica, et al) either. She was thought to have had an affair with the tenor Mario, who bragged at Patti's first wedding that he had already "made love to her many times." She married three times: once to the Marquis de Gaux. That marriage ended in a lot of bitterness (and a hefty alimony payment to the Marquis). Patti lived "in sin" with the tenor Ernesto Nicolini for many years before finally being allowed to marry him; that marriage lasted until his death and was seemingly happy, but Nicolini cut Patti out of his will completely, suggesting marital tension in the last years. Patti's last marriage was the a priggish "Baron" many years her junior, who severely curtailed Patti's social life. Patti had no children, but was close to her nieces and nephews. For over 20 years, Mario has been Nintendos official mascot. ...

In her retirement, Adelina Patti settled in the Swansea valley in south Wales, where she purchased Craig-y-Nos Castle. In 1918, she presented the Winter Garden building from her Craig-y-Nos estate to the city of Swansea. It was re-erected and renamed the Patti Pavilion. She died at Craig-y-Nos and was buried in Père Lachaise in Paris. the River Tawe is a river in south Wales which meets the sea at Swansea (Abertawe in Welsh). ... For an explanation of often confusing terms such as Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom and England, see British Isles (terminology). ... Swansea (Welsh: Abertawe, mouth of the Tawe) is a city and county in South Wales, situated on the coast immediately to the east of the Gower Peninsula. ... Looking down the hill at the Père-Lachaise cemetery The Cimetière du Père-Lachaise is the largest cemetery in Paris, and one of the most famous cemeteries in the world. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...

There are currently two biographies of this remarkable soprano:

1. Adelina Patti: Queen of Hearts, by Frederick Cone. It is still available and is a remarkable narrative of her life, with an abundance of beautiful pictures.
2. Reign of Patti, written by her friend and music critic Herman Klein.

External links

• Adelina Patti on opera-singer.co.uk