Virginia Ferni Germano
{{Short description|Italian musician (1849–1934)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
File:VirginiaFerniGermano1885.png
Virginia Ferni Germano (16 December 1849 – 4 February 1934) was an Italian lyric soprano opera singer.
Early life
File:Virginia Ferni Germano (before 1934) - Archivio Storico Ricordi FOTO001488.jpg
Ferni was born in Turin to actress Francesca and cellist Antonio Ferni. Her siblings Angelo and Teresa were musicians, too. She studied violin and voice as a girl.Elizabeth Forbes, [http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O901596 "Virginia Ferni-Germano"] Grove Music Online (2002).Karl-Josef Kutsch, Leo Riemens, eds., [https://books.google.com/books?id=dsfq_5dFeL0C&dq=Francesca+Ferni&pg=PA1436 Großes Sängerlexikon] (Walter De Gruyter 2012): 1436. {{ISBN|9783598440885}}
Career
File:Loreley libretto cover, 1890.jpg
Ferni debuted on the opera stage in 1876, in Charles Gounod's Faust, at Madrid's Teatro Reale.[http://www.lavoceantica.it/Soprano/Ferni%20Germano%20Virginia.htm Virginia Ferni Germano chronology], La voce antica. She was the first to play Bizet's Carmen in Italian, at Milan's La Scala in 1885.Victoria Etnier Villamil, [https://books.google.com/books?id=oW0pDwAAQBAJ&dq=Carmen+Virginia+Ferni&pg=PT185 "O ma Carmen": Bizet's Fateful Gypsy in Portrayals from 1875 to the Present] (McFarland 2017): 175. {{ISBN|9781476663241}} She created the title role of Alfredo Catalani's Edmea when it premiered in 1896, and of Catalani's Loreley, when it was first performed in 1890.Program, [https://www.loc.gov/resource/musschatz.10290.0/?sp=4 Loreley] Teatro Regio (Torino 1890): 4; in the U.S. RISM Libretto Project, Albert Schatz collection, Library of Congress.
Arturo Toscanini made his professional conducting debut in Italy for an 1886 performance of Edmea starring Ferni.Harvey Sachs, [https://books.google.com/books?id=8HVIDQAAQBAJ&dq=Virginia+Ferni-Germano&pg=PT42 Toscanini: Musician of Conscience] (Liveright Publishing 2017). {{ISBN|9781631492723}} Her 1886 appearance as Mignon in Milan prompted a London newspaper correspondent to comment that "her appearance is, to say the least, hardly suited for portraying a very youthful gipsy girl" and concede that "her matured artistic abilities and fine voice sustain the part in a manner highly acceptable to her auditors".[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24463260/virginia_ferni_germano_1886/ "Amusements in Italy"] The Era (May 15, 1886): 13. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}
After retiring from the stage, Ferni taught voice in Turin. Among her students were Alba Anzelotti, Bianca Lenzi and Marisa Morel.[http://www.esdf-opera.de/saengerliste/saenger_f/ferni-germano_virginia.htm Virginia Ferni-Germano], ESDF Opera.
Personal life
Ferni married Carlo Germano, a violinist. Their son Carlo (1880–1916) was also a violinist. She died in 1934 in Turin, aged 84.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24463065/virginia_ferni_germano_1934/ "Virginia Ferni Germano, Once Noted Soprano, Dies"] Chicago Tribune (February 6, 1934): 16. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}
Legacy
Ferni Germano's autographed photos of other performers are archived in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini art collections.[http://www.cini.it/collezioni/i-fondi-et/teatro/virginia-ferni-germano Virginia Ferni Germano], Fondazione Giorgio Cini.
References
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External links
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- [https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-virginia-ferni-germano-italian-singer-painting-news-photo/159829307 A painted portrait of Virginia Ferni Germano, by Rietti], in the Museo Teatrale (Scala) in Milan; at Getty Images.
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