Barbieri, Fedora
Barbieri, Fedora
Barbieri, Fedora, Italian mezzo-soprano; b. Trieste, June 4, 1920. She studied in Trieste with Luigi Toffolo and in Milan with Giulia Tess. She made her professional debut as Fidalma in Cimarosa’s II matrimonio segreto at Florence’s Teatro Comunale in 1940; in 1942 she made her first appearance at Milan’s La Scala as Meg Page; in 1950 she first sang at London’s Covent Garden as a member of the visiting La Scala company, and returned to Covent Garden as a guest artist in 1957–58 and 1964. From 1947 she sang at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. On Nov. 6, 1950, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Eboli, remaining on its roster until 1954, and again for the 1956–57, 1967–68, 1971–72, and 1974–77 seasons. Her large repertory included over 80 roles, both standard and modern, among them Adalgisa, Carmen, Amneris, Santuzza, and Azucena.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire