Rita Fornia
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Rita Fornia (17 July 1878 San Francisco-27 October 1922 Paris) was an American opera singer. She began her career in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century singing coloratura soprano roles. Early on in her career her voice darkened and dropped slightly causing her to focus more within the mezzo-soprano repertoire while still singing some soprano roles.[1] She joined the Metropolitan Opera company in 1907 where she performed regularly in mostly supporting roles until her retirement in 1922. She is best remembered today for portraying the role of the Abbess in the original production of Puccini's Suor Angelica in 1918.[2]
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[edit] Career
Fornia was born with the name Regina Newman in 1878.[3] She studied with Emil Fischer and Sofia Scalchi in New York City and then moved to Berlin to study under Selma Nicklass-Kempner. She made her professional début with the Hamburg State Opera in 1901 as Eudoxie in Halévy's La Juive.[1] Over the next two years she sang mostly coloratura soprano roles in Germany and France. During this time she studied with Jean de Reszke in Paris. In 1904 she joined Henry Savage's Opera Company in America as both a mezzo and a soprano. Her roles with Savage's company included both Leonora and Azucena in Verdi's Il trovatore and both Elisabeth and Venus in Wagner's Tannhäuser.[2]
From 1907 to 1922 Fornia sang in more than 400 performances with the Metropolitan Opera, where she occasionally performed leading roles but more frequently was heard in a wide range of smaller supporting parts.[1] She debuted with the company as the Geisha in Mascagni's Iris on December 6, 1907 where her name was billed as Rita Fornia for the first time. Most notably, Fornia created the parts of Enya in the original 1912 production of Horatio Parker's Mona and the Abbess in the original 1918 production of Puccini's Suor Angelica.[2] Her other roles with the company included Amarante in La fille de Madame Angot, Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Eleanora in Le Donne Curiose, Eurydice in Monteverdi's Orfeo, Flowermaiden in Parsifal, Frasquita in Carmen, Geltrude in Il maestro di cappella, Gertrud in Hänsel und Gretel, Giulia in Madame Sans-Gêne, Giulietta in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Gutrune in Götterdämmerung, Helmwige in Die Walküre, the Innkeeper's Daughter in Königskinder, Leonora in Il Trovatore, Marianne in Der Rosenkavalier, Marzelline in Fidelio, Nedda in Pagliacci, Pepa in Tiefland, Poussette in Manon, the Priestess in Aida, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, the Shepherd in Tannhäuser, Siebel in Faust, Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette, and Wellgunde in Das Rheingold among others. Her last performance at the Met was in her most celebrated role, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, on April 7, 1922.[1]
Fornia died six months after her retirement during a visit to her sister's home in Paris, France on October 27, 1922.[2]
[edit] Recordings
Fornia was among the first generation of musicians to be recorded. Her few recordings were all made by the Victor Talking Machine Company and show a pleasing, well-managed voice and a sensitive style.
[edit] References
[edit] Sources
- J.B. Steane: "Rita Fornia", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed November 14, 2008), (subscription access)
- Rita Fornia biography from Operissimo.com (In German)
- Metropolitan Opera Archives
