Olivero, Magda (actually, Maria Maddalena)

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Olivero, Magda (actually, Maria Maddalena)

Olivero, Magda (actually, Maria Maddalena), remarkable Italian soprano; b. Saluzzo, near Turin, March 25, 1912. She studied at the Turin Cons. She made her operatic debut as Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi in Turin in 1933; then sang in the Italian provinces. She temporarily retired from the stage when she married in 1941, but resumed her career in 1951; made successful appearances at La Scala in Milan, and in Paris and London. On Nov. 4, 1967, she made her U.S. debut in Dallas in the title role of Cherubini’s Médée; she was 63 years old when she made her first appearance with the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y., on April 3, 1975, as Tosca; on Dec. 5, 1977, she gave a highly successful recital in a program of Italian art songs at Carnegie Hall, N.Y. Among her other notable operatic roles were Violetta, Fedora, Liù, Suor Angelica, and Minnie; she was praised mainly for her dramatic penetration of each character and her fine command of dynamic nuances.

—Nicolas Slominsky/Laura Kaun/Dennis McIntire

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