Emma Calve
| Emma Calvé | |
|---|---|
Emma Calvé as Carmen
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| Born |
Rosa Emma Calvet 15 August 1858 Decazeville, Aveyron |
| Died | 6 January 1942 (aged 83) Montpellier, Hérault |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Operatic soprano |
| Spouse(s) | Galileo Gasparini (m. 1911; div. 1921) |
Emma Calvé, born Rosa Emma Calvet (15 August 1858 – 6 January 1942), was a French operatic soprano.
Calvé was probably the most famous French female opera singer of the Belle Époque. Hers was an international career, and she sang regularly at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, and the Royal Opera House, London.
Calvé was born on 15 August 1858 in Decazeville, Aveyron. Her birth name was Rosa Emma Calvet. Her father, Justin Calvet, was a civil engineer. She spent her childhood at first in Spain with her parents, then in different convent schools in Roquefort and Tournemire (Aveyron). After her parents separated, she moved with her mother to Paris. There she attempted to enter the Paris Conservatory, while she studied singing under Jules Puget.
She started learning music in Paris from Mathilde Marchesi, a retired German mezzo-soprano and Manuel García. She made a tour of Italy, where she saw the famous actress Eleonora Duse, whose impersonations made a deep impression on the young singer. She trained herself in stage craft and gesture by closely observing Duse's performances.
She made her operatic debut on 23 September 1881 in Gounod's Faust at Brussels' La Monnaie. Later she sang at La Scala in Milan, and also at the principal theatres of Naples, Rome, and Florence.
Returning to Paris in 1891, she created the part of Suzel in L'amico Fritz by Pietro Mascagni, playing and singing the role later at Rome. Because of her great success in it, she was chosen to appear as Santuzza in the French premiere of Cavalleria rusticana, which was viewed as one of her greatest parts. She repeated her success in it in London.
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