Licia Albanese

Italian born American operatic soprano

Licia Albanese (July 22, 1909 – August 15, 2014) was an Italian born American operatic soprano. Noted especially for her portrayals of the lyric heroines of Verdi and Puccini, Albanese was a leading artist with the Metropolitan Opera from 1940 to 1966. She also made many recordings and was chairwoman of The Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation, which is dedicated to assisting young artists and singers.

Albanese appeared in the very first live telecast from the Metropolitan Opera, Verdi's Otello, opposite Ramón Vinay and Leonard Warren, conducted by Fritz Busch. One of the first generation of opera singers to appear widely in recordings and on the radio, her performances, now reappearing on both compact disc and video, have provided a lasting testament to her ability. From these recordings, future generations will be able to form some impression of what she was like as a singer and to understand what made her unique as an artist. Arturo Toscanini invited Albanese to sing Mimì in the 1946 NBC Symphony Orchestra performance of La bohème. The broadcast marked the 50th anniversary of the opera's premiere which he had conducted in 1896. The following season Toscanini cast her again, this time as Violetta in a now classic performance of La traviata, broadcast nationally on NBC Radio on December 1 and 8, 1946. Both performances were subsequently released on records by RCA Victor and have since continuously remained in print. Albanese was noted for the grace with which she performed La traviata under the maestro's famously intense direction. "Maria Callas once asked me how I ever got through it, but Toscanini wanted it that way," Albanese later recalled. "'It should be like champagne,' he said. I complained to him, and he said, 'You can do it.' Before I sang the part, I went to a hospital to study the behavior of people with tuberculosis and I learned that sometimes they can be hysterical." She recorded mainly for RCA Victor. Among her recordings are Bizet's Carmen under the direction of Fritz Reiner, with Risë Stevens and Jan Peerce (1951) and Puccini's Manon Lescaut with Jussi Björling and Robert Merrill, conducted by Jonel Perlea (1954). For a 1951 recording conducted by Leopold Stokowski of Tatiana's Letter Scene from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, a part she had never sung before, she learnt Russian especially for the occasion. Soprano Teresa Stratas was quoted as crediting a Metropolitan Opera performance of La traviata starring Albanese at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, with motivating her toward a singing career. Albanese was chairman of The Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation, founded in 1974 and dedicated to assisting young artists and singers. She also served as a trustee of the Bagby Foundation. She worked with the Juilliard School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and Marymount Manhattan College, and conducted master classes throughout the world.

Albanese became a United States citizen in 1945. On October 5, 1995, President Bill Clinton presented her with the National Medal of Honor for the Arts. She received awards and honorary degrees from Marymount Manhattan College, Montclair State Teachers College, Saint Peter's College, New Jersey, Seton Hall University, University of South Florida, Fairfield University, Siena College, Caldwell College, and Fairleigh Dickinson University. She was awarded the prestigious Handel Medallion, the highest official honor given by the City of New York and presented to individuals for their contributions to the city's cultural life, from Rudolph Giuliani in 2000. At the ceremony, Mayor Giuliani commemorated the career of a woman who is "without question [one] of the most loved and respected performers in the world."