Maria Labia

Maria Labia was an Italian operatic soprano who had a successful international career, and who was particularly associated with roles of the verisimo repertoire. She made her professional opera début in Stockholm in 1905 portraying the role of Mimì in Puccini's La bohème. She toured Europe, North America, South America, and La Scala Milan. She sang Giorgetta in the first European performance of Il tabarro (1919, Rome). She also portrayed Felice in La Scala's first production of Wolf-Ferrari’s I quattro rusteghi (1922), a role that became her favourite and in which she continued to appear until 1936.

Her performances in verismo operas were said to be impulsive and, for their day, ‘shamelessly sensual’. She used her warm, not especially large, voice with particular reliance on the chest register. Some early recordings remain of her Tosca and Carmen.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Labia
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