Profile of Margherita Carosio on Famous Like Me

Margherita Carosio (June 7, 1908 – January 10, 2005) was an Italian operatic soprano.

Singing opera in public at the extraordinarily young age of 14, she was still singing leading roles in her early 60s and, until the arrival of Maria Callas, she was considered the leading bel canto soprano in Italy.

In 1928, Carosio sang Musetta and Feodor to Chaliapin's Boris Godunov at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, but did not return to London until after the second world war.

On this visit, in 1946 with the San Carlo Company, she sang a peculiarly affecting Violetta in La Traviata, much admired by the many troops who had seen her in the role in Naples and acquired a taste for opera. Petite and with a gift of charm mixed with pathos, Carosio portrayed the demi-mondaine as to the manner born. Later still, she appeared with a scratch Italian company in one of her most piquant roles, that of the flighty Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir D'amore, which she had by then sung at La Scala and recorded for EMI.

Carosio was born in Genoa, the daughter of a singing teacher and composer, Natale Carosio, who not only supervised her studies but launched her on a career in public concerts at 14. She once said of her father: "Everything I became I owe to him. I used to say to him: 'I am good wool, but you are an extraordinary weaver.'"

In 1924, still only 16, she made her operatic debut in the taxing role of Lucia di Lammermoor at Novi Ligure. Soon after, she was recommended by the Irish soprano Margaret Sheridan to Covent Garden. As Feodor, she sang in Italian to Chaliapin's Russian, with the chorus singing in French. The death scene was recorded off stage, where Carosio's clear tones can easily be discerned. Later she said that working with the great Russian bass made her realise what it meant not just to take on a role but to become it.

Carosio was soon singing all over Italy, in demand for roles requiring her light, coloratura voice - notably Amina in Bellini's La Sonnambula, Norina in Donizetti's Don Pasquale, and Konstanze in Mozart's Entführung. Her Oscar in Verdi's Ballo In Maschera was her debut role at La Scala, followed there by an enchanting Philine in Thomas's Mignon, which won all hearts.

But she essayed more adventurous repertory, including the Queen of Shemakhan in Rimsky's The Golden Cockerel and the title role of Stravinsky's The Nightingale. She also sang Aminta in the first Italian performances of Richard Strauss's The Silent Woman, and Egloge in the 1935 premiere of Mascagni's Nerone (in which she stole all the reviews), both at La Scala.

Latterly, she was noted in the more lyrical roles of Mimi and Violetta; her purity of tone and ability to convey fragility were very appropriate for these parts. As late as 1954, she returned to La Scala to appear in the premiere of Menotti's Amelia Al Ballo, which she recorded.

She also had a brief career in Italian films, and even received an offer from MGM in Hollywood, which she turned down because of her Italian commitments. But she evinced her popular appeal in recordings of songs of the day.

A noted beauty, always dressed by Italy's most famous designers, Carosio's voice was not large, but she knew how to deploy it to greatest advantage. She always seemed to be an instinctive singer, her natural intentions allied to technical skill and a gift for spontaneity. These gifts made her Lucia heartbreaking, her Adina witty and elegant, and her Violetta wholly convincing in its tragic implications.

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