Carmen Melis

Carmen Melis (15 August 1885 – 19 December 1967) was an Italian operatic soprano who had a major international career during the first four decades of the 20th century. She was known, above all, as a verismo soprano, and was one of the most interesting singing actresses of the early 20th century. She made her debut in Novara in 1905 and her career rapidly developed in her native country over the next four years. From 1909-1916 she performed with important opera companies in the United States; after which she was busy performing at many of Europe's most important opera houses. From 1917 until her retirement from the stage in 1935 she was particularly active at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome and at La Scala in Milan. After her singing career ended, she embarked on a second career as a voice teacher. Her most notable student was soprano Renata Tebaldi.

Born in Cagliari, Melis began her voice studies with dramatic soprano Teresina Singer in Florence. This was followed by further studies with baritone Antonio Cotogni in Rome, and with Jean de Reszke in Paris. She made her professional opera debut in 1905 in the title role of Jules Massenet's Thaïs at the Teatro Coccia in Novara at the age of 20. She had her first major success in 1906 at the Teatro di San Carlo as the title heroine in Pietro Mascagni's Iris.

In 1907 Melis toured Russia, notably giving performances at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. She sang Thaïs again for her debuts at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome (1907) and La Fenice in Venice (1908). She returned to the Teatro Costanzi in 1908 to sing Desdemona in Giuseppe Verdi's Otello with Giuseppe De Luca as Iago.

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