Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

27-8

text excerpt

Marietta Alboni, Contessa di Pepoli, the most famous contralto of the nineteenth century, was another of the unwilling exiles who found a home in London in 1871. I then heard her sing on two occasions. The first time was in the “Messe Solennelle" of her beloved teacher and friend, Rossini, which the master had rescored for full orchestra some four years previous,—in fact, only a few months before he died. Thirteen years had elapsed since Alboni was last heard in London, and some time since she had retired from the stage altogether. Even then she was only in her forty-ninth year, and, despite her unusual stoutness, her tones retained well-nigh all their pristine charm of quality and organ-like richness of volume. What a magnificent voice it was! How marvelous— for a pure contralto—its evenness and range! Mr. Julian Marshall, in his article on Alboni in Grove's Dictionary, describes her compass as "fully two octaves, from G to G." To be correct, he should have added quite another half-octave to the head register and nearly as much below; for Alboni sang with perfect ease to the upper C, and could descend when she pleased to the middle space of the bass clef—altogether a scale extending not far short of three octaves! The purity and fluency of her style were indescribable. She was one of the last great exemplars of the old Italian school.

excerpt from 'Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900' pp. 27-8 (239 words)

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