Bene, Adriana Gabrieli del (c. 1755–1799)

Italian soprano who originated roles in two of Mozart's immortal operas. Born Adriana Gabrieli La Ferraresi around 1755 in Ferrara, Italy; died in 1799 in Venice; studied with Antonio Sacchini at the Conservatorio dei Mendicanti in Venice; married Luigi del Bene, in 1783.

Sang in London (1785–86), at the Teatro alla Scala (1787); in Vienna (1788–91); premiered in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte (1790); sang in Warsaw (1792–93).

Adriana Gabrieli del Bene was brought up at an institution for illegitimate girls in Venice, where she and her peers were given an outstanding musical education by the finest masters in Italy. Antonio Sacchini, the composer, was one of del Bene's teachers. Her career, however, did not begin until after she was almost 30 when she eloped with Luigi del Bene. In 1785, she performed at the King's Theater in London and was given leading roles. Although reviews for these first performances were mixed, her reputation was such that the Burgtheater in Vienna engaged del Bene as their prima donna. Audiences and critics were astounded by the extraordinary range of her voice, although Emperor Joseph II was not a fan. In Vienna, she became the mistress of Lorenzo Da Ponte, the librettist of the Burgtheater. In 1789, she took the part of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro (Marriage of Figaro), singing two new arias Mozart composed for her. He also wrote arias for her as Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte. After she left Vienna in 1791, she no longer sang in leading opera houses, but, because Mozart wrote compositions expressly for her in two immortal operas, Gabrieli del Bene's place in the history of opera is secure.

John Haag , Athens, Georgia