Ponselle (real name, Ponzillo), Rosa (Melba)

Ponselle (real name, Ponzillo), Rosa (Melba) , brilliant American soprano, sister of Carmela Ponselle ; b. Meriden, Conn., Jan. 22, 1897; d. Green Spring Valley, Md., May 25, 1981. Her parents, who emigrated to the U.S. from southern Italy, gave her, with a prescient hope, the middle name Melba. Her father owned a grocery store in Meriden; she studied music with her mother, an amateur singer, and sang in a local church choir. Her older sister, Carmela, also learned to sing, and the 2 sisters, billed under their real name, Ponzillo, as “Italian Girls,” sang in vaudeville shows in Pittsburgh and in N.Y. Later she took voice lessons in N.Y. with William Thorner, who became her manager; he introduced her to Caruso, who in turn arranged for her audition at the Metropolitan Opera. She made a fine impression, and was engaged for a debut on Nov. 15, 1918, in the role of Leonora in La forza del destino, opposite Caruso, who sang the male lead of Don Alvaro. Among her subsequent notable roles there were Santuzza (1918), Racehl in La Juive (1919), Aida (1920), Maddalena in Andrea Chénier (1921), Sélika (1923), Leonora in Il Trovatore and Gioconda (1924), Norma (1927), Violetta (1931), and Carmen (1935). She was equally successful in London when she appeared at Covent Garden as Norma (May 28, 1929). She made her last appearance at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. as Carmen on Feb. 15, 1937. After her retirement, she became active in social affairs. Her 80^th birthday was celebrated in 1977 at her estate, with a multitude of friends and itinerant celebrities in attendance.

Bibliography

E. Aloi, My Remembrances of R. P. (N.Y., 1994); E. Aloi, R. P.: A Pictorial History (N.Y., 1996); J. Drake, R. P.: A Centenary Biography (Portland, Ore., 1997); M. Phillips-Matz, R. P.: American Diva (Boston, 1997).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire