1945 book on opera prima donna coloratura GALLI CURCI Start Price USD 9.99 Current Price USD 9.99 Time Left - Bid Count 1 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Sunday, August 24, 2008 End Time Sunday, August 31, 2008 Location silver spring, md See more about '1945 book on opera prima donna coloratura GALLI CURCI' Description . Title: ..................................................................................................................................... Galli-Curci's Life of Song by C. E. LE MASSENA The Paebar Company Publishers New York . satnrose · © 1945 Cloth hardcover 8-5/8" tall, 336 pages , illustrated with photos . . No owner name Some minor wear and agetoning, but the book is still in very good or better condition In a worn and slightly soiled and agetoned dustjacket that is still serviceable in a new Brodart mylar dustjacket protector . . . The following information was taken from the Wikipedia: Amelita Galli-Curci (18 November 1882 – 26 November 1963) was an Italian operatic coloratura soprano. She was one of the best regarded singers of the early 20th century. She was born as Amelita Galli into an upper-middle-class family in Milan, where she studied piano in her youth. She was inspired to sing by her grandmother. Operatic composer Pietro Mascagni also encouraged Galli-Curci's singing career. By her own choice, Galli-Curci's singing was largely self-trained, from listening to other sopranos, reading old singing method books, and practicing piano exercises with her voice. Galli-Curci made her operatic debut in 1906 at Trani, as Gilda in Rigoletto and she rapidly became acclaimed throughout Italy. In 1908 she married the Marchese Luigi Curci, and added his last name to hers. They eventually divorced and in 1921 Galli-Curci married Homer Samuels, her accompanist. She toured widely in Europe and South America. In 1915 Galli-Curci sang two performances of Lucia di Lammermoor with Enrico Caruso in Buenos Aires. These were to be her only appearances with the legendary tenor. Galli-Curci arrived in the United States in 1916 a virtual unknown. Her stay was intended to be brief, but the acclaim she received for her performance as Gilda in Rigoletto in Chicago, Illinois was so wildly enthusiastic that she accepted an offer to remain with the Chicago Opera Company. She was a member of the company through 1924. Also in 1916, Galli-Curci signed a recording contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company and recorded extensively for the company until 1930. In 1921 Galli-Curci joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York remaining with this organization until her retirement from opera in 1930. Galli-Curci was a student of the Indian meditation and yoga teacher Paramhansa Yogananda. She wrote the forward to Yogananda's 1929 book Whispers from Eternity. Convinced that opera was a dying art form, Galli-Curci retired from the operatic stage in January 1930 to concentrate instead on concert performances. Throat problems had plagued her for many years and she underwent surgery in 1935 for the removal of a thyroid goiter. Great care was taken during her surgery, which was performed under local anethesia; however, her voice suffered following the surgery. A nerve to her larynx (or "voice box"), the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve, is thought to have been damaged, resulting in the loss of her ability to sing high pitches. This nerve has since become known as the "nerve of Galli-Curci." In 2001, Crookes and Recaberen "examined contemporary press reviews after surgery, conducted interviews with colleagues and relatives of the surgeon, and compared the career of Galli-Curci with that of other singers" and found that her vocal decline most likely did not result from a surgical injury. In 1936, Galli-Curci made her ill-advised return to opera as Mimi in La Boheme in Chicago. It was painfully clear that her singing days were over and after a few more recitals she went into complete retirement living in California until her death in November 1963 at the age of 82. A portrait of Galli-Curci, by the artist Violet Oakley, hangs in the private collection of Bishop Council Nedd II in Harrisburg, PA...... For the rest of the article, click here: wikipedia . . To see our other auctions: click here * . . Winning bidder add $6.00 for Shipping and Handling in the USA Foreign bidders must pay more for postage . We accept payment by check, money order, cashiers check, or PAYPAL . One more thing, and please note: we never never never use "Second Chance Offers" , so, if you get a messageoffering you a second chance to buy this item after the auction closes - IT IS SPAM ! Do not reply! . . Click here for a guide toA Book That Looks Like Nothing Also: Satnrose's Bookselling Hints and Tip of the Day and, just for fun: Deposit Haiku Here ¼ ½ ¾ · · --- Place a Bid!