Born 1925, Solovăstru, Romania
Died 2023, West Palm Beach, FL
If you were told that there was a very successful operatic soprano who sang Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata 648 times in her 34-year career, yet you had never heard of her, would you want to know more? This was the case with Virginia Zeani.
Born in a Transylvanian village in Romania, Zeani studied with the famous Italian tenor Aureliano Pertile and made her debut in 1948 as Violetta at the Teatro Duse in Bologna.
She made her Florence debut in 1952, replacing Maria Callas in Bellini’s I Puritani, and there she met basso Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, who would become her husband and frequent colleague on the operatic stage.
In 1957 Zeani created the role of Blanche in Francis Poulenc’s The Dialogues of the Carmelites in its world première at La Scala. It was performed in an Italian translation from the French, as Poulenc wanted his opera performed in the vernacular of his audiences. From 1970, Zeani sang heavier roles such as Aida, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Elsa, and Senta.
She retired from the operatic stage in 1980 and taught at Indiana University until 2004, coming out of retirement in 1982 to sing the role of Mother Marie in Poulenc’s opera at the San Francisco Opera. Among her students were Vivica Genaux, Sylvia McNair, Elizabeth Futral, and Ailyn Perez.