Fiora Contino
| Fiora Contino | |
|---|---|
Contino in 1979
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| Born |
Fiora d'Itala Rosa Corradetti June 27, 1925 Lynbrook, New York, United States |
| Died | March 5, 2017 (aged 91) Carmel, Indiana, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Conductor, educator |
Fiora Corradetti Contino (June 27, 1925 – March 5, 2017) was an American opera conductor and teacher. She was particularly known for her interpretations of Italian verismo works of the late 19th century, and was described as one of the most important figures in opera of the 20th century.Anne Midgette of The New York Times once suggested that she "might have had a far bigger career had she been a man".
Fiora d'Itala Rosa Corradetti was born in 1925 on Long Island in Lynbrook to Italian immigrant parents. Her mother was Anna Contino (née Lisarelli), a seamstress; her father, Ferruccio Corradetti, had been a noted baritone singer at La Scala and other European venues. Fiora Corradetti had no strong singing voice, and said later that she "had no voice but learned as a conductor to sing vicariously". She studied piano and later conducting. She had an older half sister, Iris, who was an opera singer and vocal coach.
At the age of 12, she was appointed as the church organist at the parish of St. Ignatius Martyr in Long Beach. Her father died when she was 14. Corradetti graduated from Long Beach High School and then studied piano performance at Oberlin College, Ohio, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in piano in 1947. She married Joseph Contino, a fellow Oberlin graduate, changing her name.
From 1958, she studied conducting at the Conservatoire Americain in Fontainebleau, France, at the École Normale in Paris, and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in Austria. She studied with teachers such as Nadia Boulanger and Hans Swarowsky.
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