Eugenia Burzio

Eugenia Burzio (13 June 1882 – 16 May 1922 – the dates on her grave ) was an Italian operatic soprano known for her vibrant voice and passionate style of singing. "There were legions of Burzio fans. One cannot imagine the following she had. People were hysterical about her." (Ester Mazzoleni).

She was particularly prominent in the verismo repertoire, creating the role of Delia Terzaghi in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Goffredo Mameli as well as singing Minnie in the Italian premiere of Giacomo Puccini's La fanciulla del West but was also admired in Verdi and other 19th century repertoire. While many music critics found her interpretations imaginative and exciting, others criticized her for the unevenness of her voice and other technical shortcomings.

Burzio was born in Poirino, Piedmont. Initially, she pursued a career as a violinist but decided instead to concentrate on opera singing whilst a teenager, stating she was born in 1879 in order to study voice at the Milan Conservatory with Carolina Ferni who herself had studied with Giuditta Pasta. She made her professional début as Santuzza, in Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, at the Teatro Vittorio Emmanuel, Turin in 1899.

She went on to enjoy a highly successful career throughout her homeland as a lyric-dramatic soprano, although her ardent, larger-than-life mode of vocalism was not calculated to appeal to the taste of more conservative British and American audiences and she never sang at Covent Garden or the Metropolitan Opera. This has limited the scope of her international reputation. However she had huge successes in South America, Egypt and Russia—at St Petersburg's Aquarium Theatre.

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