Giuseppina Brambilla
| Giuseppina Brambilla | |
|---|---|
Cast of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda with Brambilla as Elisabetta, performed at the Teatro Grande, Barcelona in 1843
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| Born |
9 May 1819 Cassano d'Adda, Italy |
| Died |
April 1903 Milan, Italy |
| Known for | Opera singer |
Giuseppina (or Giuseppa) Brambilla (9 May 1819 – April 1903) was an Italian opera singer who, like her sisters Marietta and Teresa Brambilla, sang leading roles in the major opera houses in Italy, Spain, France and England. Although often described in modern reference works as a contralto, she also sang many soprano roles including Marie in La fille du régiment and Abigaille in Nabucco. She married the tenor Corrado Miraglia in 1857 and retired from the stage in 1862. Her niece, Teresina Brambilla, was also an opera singer.
Brambilla was born in Cassano d'Adda, the daughter of Gerolamo and Angela (née Columbo) Brambilla. She was the fourth of five sisters, all of whom became opera singers. Marietta (1807–1875) was a contralto who specialised in travesti roles. Teresa (1813–1895) was a soprano who created the role of Gilda in Rigoletto. Both had very prominent careers. Annetta (1812–?) and Lauretta (1823–1881) were both sopranos who had lesser careers, appearing primarily in provincial Italian opera houses.
The family moved to Milan in 1828, and Giuseppina had hoped to train at the Milan Conservatory where both Marietta and Teresa had gone. However, she was not accepted when she auditioned in 1833 (as one of 28 candidates for 3 places) and consequently studied singing privately. Her first public appearance was in Vienna on 13 May 1839 when she sang with her sister Marietta in a concert celebrating the name day of Prince Metternich. She made her operatic debut in August 1840 at the Teatro Ricciardi in Bergamo, singing the soprano role of Sinaide in Rossini's Mosè in Egitto, a role she repeated in October of that year at the Teatro Grande in Trieste. The following month she appeared there in the contralto role of Maffio Orsini in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia, a role which had been created by her sister Marietta in 1833.
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