Fiorenza Cossotto facts for kids
Fiorenza Cossotto is a famous Italian opera singer, born on April 22, 1935. She is known as a mezzo-soprano, which means she sings in a lower voice range than a soprano but higher than a contralto.
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Her Amazing Career
Fiorenza Cossotto was born in Crescentino, Italy. She went to the Turin Academy of Music to study singing with Mercedes Llopart.
Early Performances
Her first time singing in an opera was in 1957. She played Sister Matilde in a new opera called Dialogues of the Carmelites at La Scala in Milan. This is a very famous opera house.
She then sang internationally at the Wexford Festival in 1958. She performed as Giovanna Seymour in Donizetti's Anna Bolena. In 1959, she made her debut at the Royal Opera House in London. She sang the role of Neris in Cherubini's Médée, alongside the legendary singer Maria Callas.
Becoming Famous
In 1962, Fiorenza Cossotto became even more famous. She sang the main role in La favorita at La Scala. Two years later, in 1964, she performed the same role in America. This was at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 1968, she sang as Amneris in Aida at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
Her Roles at the Met
Between 1967 and 1989, Cossotto performed 148 times at the Metropolitan Opera. She always sang the main roles. She was especially good at playing important mezzo-soprano parts in Italian operas from the mid-1800s.
Some of her most famous roles included:
- Leonora in La favorita
- Amneris in Aida
- Azucena in Il trovatore
- Eboli in Don Carlos
- Preziosilla in La forza del destino
- Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera
- Laura in La Gioconda
She also sang as Carmen, Cherubino in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and Romeo in Bellini's Romeo.
Singing Different Voice Types
Even though she was a mezzo-soprano, Cossotto also sang some roles usually sung by sopranos. These included Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana and Adalgisa in Norma. She sang Adalgisa alongside other famous sopranos like Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, and Montserrat Caballé.
Her roles at the Met also included Dalila, Principessa di Bouillon in Adriana Lecouvreur, and Mistress Quickly in Falstaff. She added Mistress Quickly to her list of roles in 1985.
Later Years
In 2005, Fiorenza Cossotto celebrated her 70th birthday. She performed in the opera Suor Angelica in Liège, Belgium.
She was married to the Italian bass singer Ivo Vinco for over 40 years. They had one son together.
Many people in the opera world believe that Fiorenza Cossotto was one of the best Italian mezzo-sopranos of the 1960s and 1970s. She was praised for her beautiful voice, perfect singing technique, and how easily she could sing different notes.
Images for kids
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Fiorenza Cossotto dressed as Amneris for a rehearsal of the opera Aida in Milan in 1963.
See also
In Spanish: Fiorenza Cossotto para niños
