Opera Scotland

Eugenia Ratti Suggest updates

Born Genoa, 5 April 1933.

Died Piacenza, 14 November 2020.

Italian soprano.

Eugenia Ratti studied with, among others, the tenor Tito Schipa.  Her central repertoire included Mozart (Susanna,  Zerlina, Despina);  Rossini (Fiorilla,  Rosina);  Donizetti (Adina,  Norina)  and Verdi (Oscar,  Nannetta).

Her debut in 1954 was at Sestri Levante.  Her La Scala debut followed in 1955 in Milhaud's David.  Other parts in Milan included Lisa in La sonnambula with Callas.  She appeared in the 1957 premiere of Dialogues des Carmélites, creating the part of Soeur Constance.  Other appearances in Italy included Olga in Fedora at Naples in 1965 with Magda Olivero and Mario Del Monaco.

In the 1950s she sang at the Holland Festival and at Aix-en-Provence.  She worked in many leading houses including Paris, Vienna and Munich.  In the USA she sang several times in San Francisco and in 1959 performed in Dallas as Rosina.

Her appearances in Britain were infrequent.  She first came to the Edinburgh Festival in 1955 with the Glyndebourne company as Nannetta (Falstaff).  She returned in  1957 as a leading member of the La Scala company, singing Elisetta Il matrimonio segreto and Fiorilla Il turco in Italia.  Her third Festival appearance was in 1971 as Clorinda in the Florence/Edinburgh co-production of La cenerentola, though it was her alternate Margherita Guglielmi who sang in the recording made between performances.  She also sang at Glyndebourne in 1973 as the Italian soprano in Capriccio.  She repeated this part in 1976.

Her recordings include Elisetta (ll matrimonio segreto) and Oscar (Un ballo in maschera), both made at La Scala, the latter with Maria Callas as Amelia.