Ronzi de Begnis (originally, Ronzi), Giuseppina

Ronzi de Begnis (originally, Ronzi ), Giuseppina , notable Italian soprano; b. Milan, Jan. 11, 1800; d. Florence, June 7, 1853. She married Giuseppe de Begnis in 1816, and that same year made her operatic debut in Bologna. She then appeared in Genoa, Florence, and Bergamo. In 1818 she sang Ninetta in La gazza ladra in Pesaro under Rossini’s direction, and soon acquired a fine reputation for her performances in his operas. In 1819 she went to Paris with her husband, where she sang Rosina opposite his Don Basilio in the first production there of Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Théâtre-Italien on Oct. 26 of that year. She and her husband continued to appear in Paris until 1821, when they proceeded to London. She made her debut there at the King’s Theatre on May 19, 1821, singing Fiorilla opposite her husband’s Don Geronio in Rossini’s Il turco in Italia. She continued to sing with her husband until they were separated in 1825, and she subsequently pursued her career in Naples, where she created roles in Mercadante’s Zaira (1831) and Donizetti’s Fausta (1832), Sancia di Castiglia (1832), Buondelmonte (1834), and Roberto Devereux (1837). Donizetti also chose her to create the title role in his Gemma di Vergy at Milan’s La Scala on Dec. 26, 1834. In 1843 she returned to London to sing Norma in an English-language staging at Covent Garden. In addition to her Italian portrayals, she had marked success in Mozartian roles.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire