Anita Cerquetti
With a comparative analysis of the career of Caterina Mancini.
There is a group of names known to record collectors around the World, names that immediately invoke images of grandeur. Some were known for their beauty of form, others for a junoesque but imperial presence while still others transcended their natural physical limitations with stupendous vocal attributes. They are the Italian dramatic sopranos. Celestina Boninsegna, Eugenia Burzio, Ester Mazzoleni, Giannina Russ, Tina Poli Randaccio, Giannina Arangi Lombardi, Lina Bruna Rasa, Maria Caniglia, Gina Cigna and Renata Tebaldi would likely be on everyone’s list. We cannot overlook the Greek American, Maria Callas, who was inextricably linked to Italy and that country’s lyric traditions. At the end of this magnificent rainbow, there was indeed a pot of gold. Or two! Caterina Mancini, who first told us who she was in 1948 and Anita Cerquetti, who established her place in history for the first time in 1949, kept the flame alive, until, upon their exits from the opera houses of the World, opera’s most enduring tradition ended.
Despite my best efforts I have been able to find nothing about the early life of Caterina Mancini, not even where she was born. In any case, Mancini made headlines throughout Italy in May of 1948 when she debuted at the Florence Maggio Musicale in Verdi’s “I Lombardi”. It is an opera rarely performed in this Century and the curious came from all over the operatic world for the event. Mancini was hailed by virtually every critic and was immediately engaged to perform in both “Der Freischutz” (Franco Cacciatore) and “Battaglia di Legnano” for Italian Radio (RAI). The latter performace is still available to us and it is an amazing document of utterly passionate vocalism. So heady was her beginning that the Rome Opera presented her on the opening night of the 1948-49 season in Rossini’s “Mose” and a month later in “Il Trovatore”.
While all of this activity was going on, Anita Cerquetti, who was born on 13 April 1931 in the vicinity of Macerata, was quietly studying voice at Perugia’s Liceo Morlacchi. Anita had established solid musical credentials before entering the conservatory. There were seven years of violin instruction to facilitate an easy completion of her entrance examinations.
Anita’s precocious and prodigious vocal talents were recognized by her mentors as entirely extraordinary, and at the age of eighteen, she was allowed to debut as a soloist in a concert at Citta di Castello. The date was 8 February 1949 and the program included the “Jewel Song” from Gounod’s “Faust” and music of Verdi, Bizet and Puccini. There are no extant reviews of that evening’s events but it is known that it was not a presage to stardom.
Anita returned to the Morlacchi for an additional two years of study and on 16 March 1951, not yet twenty, she debuted at Perugia’s Circolo della Musica in an all Verdi program. There was nothing special about the evening and Anita retreated to her family home, where, she was unexpectedly approached by the management of Spoleto’s Teatro Nuovo who wished to engage her for the role of Aida. On 6 September she debuted in opera at Spoleto in the dual roles of Aida and the Priestess. She was praised for her “limpid tone, powerful voice, and the perfection of her intonation and diction”. Still, nothing extraordinary happened. It was not until the following July that Cerquetti reappeared on the stage when the Teatro Nuovo of Milano presented her in two performances of “Il Trovatore”. She was recognized by several important Italian musicologists, and on 25 August she appeared at Recanati with Beniamino Gigli in a concert. Her selections were “Vissi d’arte” and “O terra addio” and a week later she appeared with the great tenor at Macerata’s Arena Sferisterio. Again she chose a selection from “Aida”, “O cieli azzurri” and “Ah forse lui” from Traviata. The chronology specifically notes that she did not attempt the hazards of “Sempre Libera”. The program was repeated on 6 September at Porto Civitanova and on the 15th, she again joined Gigli at Osimo. As in the past, there was no follow up to these few engagements and Anita waited, rather impatiently, it has been said, for further offers.
Mancini, in the intervening time, had risen spectacularly through Italy’s operatic ranks, and had already been seen in “Simon Boccanegra” “Nabucco” and “Il Trovatore” at Cagliari, in “Ernani”, “Boccanegra” “Attila” and “Trovatore” at Venice’s Teatro la Fenice, in Perugia and Assisi in several performances of Oratorio music, at Bologna, Catania, Enna, Caltanisetta, Rome’s Caracalla Reggio Calabria and Ascoli Piceno in “Trovatore”, at Reggio Calabria, and Enna in “Norma”, at Turin, Bologna, Genoa and Palermo in “Simon Boccanegra” at Florence in “Mose”, and in “Nabucco” at Rome and Guglielmo Tell at Turin. In 1951 she had also debuted at La Scala in “Lucrezia Borgia”. Though her career had taken on an almost mythic patina during these first few seasons, the Scala engagement was clearly not a success, and she never returned to that theater. It was also during these early years that all of Italy became familiar with Mancini when she sang in performances of “Battaglia di Legnano” as well as in “Norma”, “Rinaldo”, “Ernani”, “Nabucco”, “Aida”, “Trovatore”, “Attila” and “Duca d’Alba” for Italian Radio. “Ernani”, “Nabucco”, “Aida” and “Trovatore” have been available on Lp and CD for many years and are representative of the many reasons why she is still so admired. The “Ernani” and “Nabucco” recordings, in particular, reveal a dramatic talent that was always rare upon the stages of the World, and the vocalism, while not perfect, reveals a tremendously exciting timbre allied to dramatic instincts that have seldom been heard.
Time was standing still for Cerquetti and she desperately desired to make her own mark. The fact is, that Mancini’s career on the lyric stage would remain one of larger proportions, though Anita Cerquetti’s legend would assume a grandeur known to few in this Century.
Sadly, for Anita, the foundations of that incredible legacy would not be realized for several more years, and the light that glowed so brightly would last for only a very few more. Anita returned to Perugia for a recital of arias from “Trovatore”, “La Forza del Destino” and “Aida” on 6 January 1953 and two weeks later she sang an all Verdi program at Busseto. The selections included “Madre, madre pietosa Vergine”, the Recordare from the Manzoni Requiem with Amelia Lazzarini, “O cieli azzurri” and the trio from “I Lombardi” “Qui posa il fianco”. This concert reintroduced Anita to several prominent impressarios, who were impressed enough that they attempted to gain her commitment as her manager.
She, however, had other plans. She had decided to continue vocal training, and she enrolled at the school of the Teatro Comunale at Florence where she buried herself in exercises to improve her technique as well as being coached in stage deportment.
On 2 August Anita finally broke away from the ranks of the provinces when she debuted at the Verona Arena as Aida. Her reviews compared her not unfavorably to Maria Callas who had preceded her in the production and on the 13th she sang a performance of “Il Trovatore” before some twenty thousand. Again, the purity of her line, the strength of her voice and her imperious presence were highlighted in the next day’s reviews. It seemed that the time for stardom had finally arrived, and Anita keenly anticipated other offers. They were not to be found. She again had to content herself with concerts, one at Rimini on 20 August and another at Montecatini on 6 September. Her repertoire was constantly expanding and it now included music of Liviabella and Kodaly as well as “Ebben, ne andro lontano”. On 2 December, Anita traveled to Sardinia for a debut in “Il Trovatore” at Sassari’s Teatro Verdi, and so ended another extremely disappointing year.
Persuaded that her time would come, Anita continued studies at the Comunale, and in February 1954 she sang in Catalani’s “Loreley” and in “Il Trovatore” at Reggio Emilia. In March, the commercial center of Mestre on the ouskirts of Venice engaged her for “Trovatore” and in April she debuted at Pisa’s Teatro Verdi in “La Forza del Destino”.
Milan’s Radio Station engaged Anita for a concert in early May, where, for the first time she sang “La Mamma Morta” and in June she toured to Enghien Les Bains, Belgium for “La Forza del Destino” with her first stellar cast : Carlo Bergonzi, Piero Guelfi and Tancredi Pasero. On 28 June at Bologna’s Piazza Maggiore she sang in “Aida” with Mario Filippeschi and Anzelmo Colzani and on 24 July, Anita had an enormous success at Naples’ Arena Flegrea as Aida. Elena Nicolai, Gino Penno, Guelfi and Boris Christoff shared honors with the debutante and Cerquetti finally received coverage in newspapers throughout the country. There was enormous praise for the effulgence of her tone and for the repose of the most difficult passages in the opera. But, the major theaters continued to ignore Anita and she contented herself as best she was able with concerts at Perugia and Citta di Castello along with “Il Trovatore” at Vigevano.
The management of the Comunale knew that a treasure was theirs, and on 16 December, Anita debuted at her spiritual and actual home in “Nabucco” with Tito Gobbi and Boris Christoff. This time there would be no looking back. Tullio Serafin conducted the revival and he expressed extreme satisfaction at the extraordinary preparation that had obviously been made by Anita, though she had been very concerned at his lack of critical comment, either positive or negative, during rehearsals. One critic praised “her ability to rise to the cruelest demands of the role, while retaining the sweetest of tones”. Time after time, “tour du force” was recalled by the press.
In January 1955 Anita debuted at Modena’s important Teatro Comunale as the “Trovatore” Leonora and then embarked on a tour to Nice, Marseilles and Toulouse in “Trovatore” and, at Marseille, a performance of “Aida”.
On 26 June, history was made when Anita sang “Norma” for the first time at her adored and adoring Florence. The Boboli Gardens presented her in five performances with Fedora Barbieri, Franco Corelli and Giulio Neri. This time it was the “almost unbelievable security of Signora Cerquetti’s technique” that most impressed the critics. The Rome Opera offered Anita a contract for “Aida” at their summer home, Caracalla, and on 6 August she impressed Romans and thousands of tourists with a “rapturous performance of this most demanding role. From the drama of the first two acts through the lyricism of the last two, Anita Cerquetti knew no fear, and conquered an enormous audience of opera enthusiasts” (Il Messagero).
Anita repeated Aida at Messina in late August and then recorded the most demanding of all Verdi roles, Elena in “I Vespri Siciliani”. It is the opinion of the author, that, if he had to live contendedly with only one of her complete opera performances, this would be the one. It has everything, fioratura of an extraordinary accuracy and expressivity, legato that carries through the longest passages, breath control that can only be termed prodigious and plangent tone that reminds me of “molten lava” with a golden glow.
Carol Fox was as impressed by these recent conquests as had been the rest of the opera world, and she offered Anita a contract with the Chicago Lyric Opera for the 1955 Autumn season. In early November Anita left for the United States and one of the greatest triumphs in her career.On 29 November “Un Ballo in Maschera” was presented before a sold out auditorium with Anita, Jussi Bjorling, Tito Gobbi, Claramae Turner and Andrea Foldi. The second act duet created a storm of enthusiasm that last for several minutes and the usually undemonstrative Chicago audience rose to its collective feet at the opera’s conclusion. Claudia Cassidy - “The 1955 Ballo…introduced what should have been the next great dramatic soprano, Anita Cerquetti. She was a big girl with an avalanche of a voice pouring like lava. But, something happened, one of those inexplicable things that halts and destroys great promise. Just the same, to have heard that promise was to have known what can be”.
Though it was an enormous personal success for Anita, there were only two performances, but she returned to Italy with a raft of superb notices, ready to continue her journey.
The last three years had seen a litany of triumphs for Mancini, who succeeded against the extraordinary competition of Callas, Tebaldi and Antonietta Stella. In Italy in 1953, there was always room for one more, and Mancini wisely expanded her repertoire to include Elisabetta di Valois, which she performed at Rome with Nicolai, Gobbi, Corelli and Christoff, “La Forza del Destino”, which she sang at Genoa, Ancona, Dublin and throughout the French provinces, and “Cavalleria Rusticana”, which was seen at Rome’s Caracalla. Norma was performed with Franco Corelli at Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia and Ravenna. Palermo mounted Norma for her in 1954 and Dublin presented her in the role in 1955. Lisbon’s Sao Carlo offered “Mose”, Catania presented “Aida” with Barbieri and Corelli and Oviedo, Spain saw Mancini in “Il Trovatore”, “Aida” and her first performances of “Tosca”. “Un Ballo in Maschera” was seen at Dublin and Cagliari, “Aida” and “Nabucco” at Caracalla and a reprise of “Guglielmo Tell” at Turin. Hers was a career on fire.
On 7 January 1956 Anita sang in “La Gioconda” for the first time in a production mounted by the Comunale. Her partners were Ebe Stiganani, Lucia Danieli, Gianni Poggi and Ettore Bastianini. All four performances were sold out and again, Cerquetti was a headline name in Italy’s periodicals.
On the 26th, she appeared in concert for Milan’s Radio Station and sang “Ebben”, “La fatal pietra”, “Anch’io dischiuso” and “La Mamma Morta”. This concert has been preserved on both LP and CD and shows Cerquetti at her very best. The voice is in superb condition and the singing itself is of an order rarely heard. There is an inexhaustible supply of power coupled with her justly famous ease of emission and repose. The top register is thrillingly vibrant and the lower register appears as the natural extension of a completely integrated voice.
In February, Anita traveled to Avignon and Marseilles for “Il Trovatore” and on the 26th she sang in “Aida” at the Fenice of Venice with Adriana Lazzarini, Corelli and Aldo Protti. On 23 March, Anita debuted at Lisbon’s Sao Carlo in “Don Carlo” with Simionato, Bergonzi, Giuseppi Taddei and Christoff to enormous acclaim and in April she recorded “Guglielmo Tell” for the Milan Radio Studio. Dietrich Fischer Dieskau, Gianni Jaia and Giuseppe Modesti were her unfortunate partners, though her contribution is everything for which one might hope. On 16 June, she sang in Don Carlo at the Comunale with Barbieri, Angelo Lo Forese, Cesare Siepi and Bastianini. Hers is among the most beautiful expositions of the role ever heard. There is a sweep that is not to be found in the work of any other soprano. The final scene is of a grandeur that is breathtaking. Siepi and Bastianini are worthy partners, though Barbieri is well past her best days. It has been released in several versions on CD.
On 27 June, Rome Radio presented “Mose” with Rosanna Carteri and Nicola Rossi Lemeni and it was a triumph for all three. Anita returned to France in July for “Aida” at Nimes and “Trovatore” at Arles.Verona’s venerable Arena presented her in an epic revival of “Nabucco” on the 19th and Rome’s Caracalla saw her in “Aida” on the 31st. The summer season ended at Cagliari with “La Forza del Destino” and the autumn found Anita at Lausanne for “Nabucco”, at Macerata for “La Forza del Destino” and at Catania for “Norma”.
On 6 December, Anita Cerquetti debuted as the Druid priestess at Barcelona’s Liceo and it was, without question, the greatest triumph of her life. Her first solo curtain call brought three thousand people out of their seats and the ovation lasted for nearly an hour. The critics admitted that they simply could not find words to describe the performances on either side of the footlights, and Anita was compared to the likes of Malibran and Pasta by writers who could find no contemporary equivalents. Mirto Picchi, who sang Polione in the revival spoke of the event “There was delirium preceding the exit from the theater and police were summoned to act as a cordon when (Cerquetti) made her way to her hotel. Hers was the ultimate lyrica-drammatica Italian voice…”
Cerquetti closed out 1956 with a concert for RAI, which, for the first time allowed the world to hear her “O Re dei Ceili” from Agnese di Hohenstauffen. No singer has ever been so identified with one piece of music, and it remains for the author the single passage by which I would wish her to be remembered. There is simply nothing like it in the recorded annals of spinto vocalism. Or so we thought, until she made a commercial recording of the same aria a year later. What seemed impossible was very possible, in her hands. The later version is even more stunning.
Anita Cerquetti had reached the top of the highest mountain.
On 6 January 1957 she appeared in “Un Ballo in Maschera” at Florence with Stignani, Poggi and Bastianini. The performance, which at one time was owned by Cerquetti, was released about ten years ago, and, while it is not in good sound, it is a portrayal that should be heard and owned by anyone who loves Italian opera. It is not an exaggeration to say that Cerquetti, in the second act at least, is the most impressive that the author has ever heard, and it is obvious that the first night audience agreed. The ovation at the end of the aria is one of the longest and loudest ever heard in a live performance.
In late January, Anita returned to Rome for “Aida” with Simionato, Corelli and G. Guelfi and in April she returned to Palermo for “Don Carlo” with Corelli.
The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino mounted Cherubini’s “Gli Abenceragi” for Cerquetti and it was the talk of Italy. The music was dismissed as clearly inferior to that of his “Medea” but Cerquetti again walked away with superb reviews, several expressing awe at the flexibility of her voice.
The season at Florence continued with Ernani in a performance that is also preserved on CD and shows her in almost immaculate vocal form. The rest of the cast, Mario del Monaco, Bastianini and Christoff , are her equals and Dmitri Mitropoulos paces the performance with an authority and sensitivity that bring out the best in each of them.
Cerquetti’s top register is, to be fair, a little pressed, but the singing is of such enormous grace and style that it is of no matter.
The next month was to be among the most important in her life. Cerquetti made her first and only commercial recordings, “La Gioconda” featuring Simionato, Del Monaco, Bastianini and Siepi in a well balanced and extremely exciting performance, and her one solo recital for London/Decca , which includes the fabled “O Re dei Cieli”.
Far more important, though, was her marriage to Edo Ferretti just before she appeared at Verona’s Arena in “Norma” with Simionato and Corelli. It was to be a wonderful partnership and Anita was overjoyed to finally find some personal fulfillment. The rest of the summer was spent at Rome’s Caracalla in “Aida” and “La Forza del Destino”.
Cerquetti was scheduled for a debut at Mexico City in October, but before leaving Italy she appeared with RAI in "La Forza del Destino” and “Oberon”, both preserved on CD. They are superb examples of character drawn in extraordinarily vivid terms. “Oberon” is among her very grandest vocal displays and the author is not the only observer who feels that “Mare, superbo Mare” (Ozean) is the most satisfying recording of the aria ever made.
At Mexico City she triumphed in “Aida” and “Il Trovatore” and was begged to extend her commitment for additonal performances. It was impossible since she was contracted for two performances of “Norma” at Philadelphia, a concert version of “Paride ed Elana” at New York’s Town Hall and a return to Chicago for “Un Ballo in Maschera” and “Don Carlo”. The United States tour was the subject of unbridled praise, and though audiences were stunned at the sight of her physical dimensions, especially on the concert stage in New York, her singing and artistic instincts received unanimous critical acclaim.
In the happiest of circumstances Anita returned to Italy and a debut at Naples’ Teatro San Carlo that would result in the most important musical event of her life.
Caterina Mancini was beginning to show serious signs of vocal distress and this deterioration took a heavy toll on what had been a most impressive career. In 1956, she had engagements at Bilbao, Caltagirone, Reggio Emilia, Genoa and at Dublin. In addition, Caracalla presented her in “Mose” and “Cavalleria Rusticana” and she debuted at the Verona Arena as Gioconda, but all was not well. In 1957 she returned to Dublin for “Un Ballo in Maschera” and her only performances in “Andrea Chenier” and she debuted at Mexico City in a single unsuccessful performance of “Aida”. She would continue to appear for several more years, but there was no question that by the end of 1957 her glory days were behind her.
On 26 December 1957, Anita debuted at the San Carlo in the role of Norma, and she received her accustomed superlatives. The voice was described as of enormous dimensions, and the technique and expression worthy of comparison to the greatest. She repeated the role on the 28th and spent a quiet New Year with Edo at their hotel.
On the evening of 2 January Anita arrived at the San Carlo for her third recitation of the role and received long ovations at the end of acts one and two. While she was resting in her dressing room during the second interval, a frantic phone call was received from Guido Sampaoli of the Rome Opera. Maria Callas had just abandoned the stage of the Teatro del Opera at the end of act one, with the president of Italy in the audience. Anita would have to perform the role there on the evening of the fourth. The audience at the San Carlo had already heard about the events at Rome and there were overwhelming demonstrations after acts three and four, partially ignited by anger toward the Greek “interloper”.
It remains unclear to this day as to who fired whom, but the official story stands that Callas’ “insult” could not be tolerated and her services were no longer needed. It ended years later in litigation and Maria was ultimately exonerated.
In any case, Anita reluctantly agreed and on the evening of 4 January, she received an ovation only equaled at Barcelona a year earlier. The performance is known to all collectors of vocal art. It shows Cerquetti in superb form and the audience in a mood to turn the evening into an unforgettable historical event, which is exactly what it was.
On the 5th she repeated the role at Naples, to another demonstration tinged with political heroics, and completed the run at Rome on the 8th and the 11th.
The name, Anita Cerquetti, had appeared on the front page of newspapers throughout the World and would stay there at intervals until the story had played itself out in the courts.
On 21 February, Anita joined Simionato, Corelli and Modesti in a hugely praised revival of “Norma” at Palermo and then she took a long rest. La Scala had offered her a debut and Anita wanted to be properly rested and fully prepared for this final conquest. On 1 June before a house sold beyond its capacity, Cerquetti sang the role of Abigaille in “Nabucco”. Poggi, Bastianini, Nicola Zaccaria and Simionato were very well received, but it was Anita who stole the evening. Stomping, cheering ovations with showers of roses came from every corner of the theater. She repeated the role four times before retreating to her family villa for a long vacation.
Little did she know that it was to be her last important engagement in Italy, and one of the last anywhere.
In August, she sang in Aida at the small town of Fermo, and then she and Edo traveled to Mexico City for performances of “Aida” and “La Forza del Destino”. “Hail the conquering heroine” was one critic’s assessment. Philadelphia audiences were overwhelmed by her “Trovatore” Leonora in late October, and the audience at Barcelona tried to outdo its previous welcome when she returned to the Liceo for “Norma” in December.
Events from this point forward remain cloudy, but the author will state that he does not accept Cerquetti’s own description of her departure from the lyric stage. There were no performances in 1959, and it is true that the deaths of her father and one of her early mentors in quick succession devastated Anita. About that, there should be no doubt. However, the absence continued until June of 1960, when she timidly appeared at La Scala in a concert, Buchi’s “Laudes Evangeli”. There was a single performance. Three weeks later she returned to La Scala for two performances of Rossini’s “Stabat Mater” with Simionato, Gianni Raimondi and Nicolai Ghiaurov then again retreated into the mist of obscurity. On 13 September she attempted a return to the stage at Lucca with “Un Ballo in Maschera” and was lovingly received by an overflow audience.
At the end of October she traveled to Holland for “Nabucco” and upon the conclusion of that engagment, Anita Cerquetti, withdrew from the stages of the World. The Nabucco performance is known to many, including the author, and I find serious vocal problems in it, though certainly not enough to have cancelled a career. The voice is simply not as round and effulgent as it had been, and the top is very strained. The musicianship and general execution are still thrilling to hear but it is a souvenir that belies the contention that the voice remained unimpaired. Recent events have indicated that there were serious physical problems; a stroke has been mentioned. Cerquetti, in interviews, has stated that it was the birth of her daughter that finally convinced her to retire. Daniela was born in 1965, nearly five years after Anita had sung her last performance. I will leave it to the reader to determine his and her own truth, because we will never know with certainty.
Caterina Mancini continued to appear with some regularity until 1964. There were impressive recordings of “Mose” and “Cavalleria Rusticana” which have not had circulation in the CD era, as far as I am aware. Among her stage performances, there were tours to Spain in “Ballo” and “Ernani”, a tour to France in “Norma” and a return to Dublin for “Ballo”. Rome remained faithful and presented her regularly until the end, including Eboli in 1958, a role that served as her debut at Monte Carlo in 1962. In 1959 there were no performances and in 1960 there was a single revival of “Il Trovatore” at Rome. In 1961 she sang in “La Gioconda” at Barcelona and Sao Paolo, Brazil engaged her for "Tosca". ” Mancini traveled to the United States for “La Forza del Destino” and “Il Trovatore” at Philadelphia and ”L’Incoronazione di Poppea” and the contralto music of “Messiah” at Dallas in 1963. She closed out her career in 1964 after “Forza del Destino” at Naples, “Aida” and “La Gioconda” at Oviedo, and “Aida” at Trapani. With her departure from the stage, it may honestly be said that the last of the heroic dramatic Italian soprano voices had been heard, and we have been the poorer for some thirty five years.
Mancini and Cerquetti shared many common vocal qualities. Both voices were centered in the middle range, and each had extraordinary vibrancy at both the top and the bottom of their ranges. They each displayed enormous temperament in their expositions and each successfully executed a great range of styles in their choices of repertoire. I find Mancini’s sound to be more exciting, and Cerquetti’s to be infinitely more intrinsically beautiful. There is no question in my mind that Cerquetti was the finer musician, that she never failed to display her talents within the constraints of excellent taste and that her ability in soft music was a defining aspect of her art. Would that we were blessed with such choices today, or at any time.
With enormous gratitude for their contributions to our history!
© Bob Rideout
Despite my best efforts I have been able to find nothing about the early life of Caterina Mancini, not even where she was born. In any case, Mancini made headlines throughout Italy in May of 1948 when she debuted at the Florence Maggio Musicale in Verdi’s “I Lombardi”. It is an opera rarely performed in this Century and the curious came from all over the operatic world for the event. Mancini was hailed by virtually every critic and was immediately engaged to perform in both “Der Freischutz” (Franco Cacciatore) and “Battaglia di Legnano” for Italian Radio (RAI). The latter performace is still available to us and it is an amazing document of utterly passionate vocalism. So heady was her beginning that the Rome Opera presented her on the opening night of the 1948-49 season in Rossini’s “Mose” and a month later in “Il Trovatore”.
While all of this activity was going on, Anita Cerquetti, who was born on 13 April 1931 in the vicinity of Macerata, was quietly studying voice at Perugia’s Liceo Morlacchi. Anita had established solid musical credentials before entering the conservatory. There were seven years of violin instruction to facilitate an easy completion of her entrance examinations.
Anita’s precocious and prodigious vocal talents were recognized by her mentors as entirely extraordinary, and at the age of eighteen, she was allowed to debut as a soloist in a concert at Citta di Castello. The date was 8 February 1949 and the program included the “Jewel Song” from Gounod’s “Faust” and music of Verdi, Bizet and Puccini. There are no extant reviews of that evening’s events but it is known that it was not a presage to stardom.
Anita returned to the Morlacchi for an additional two years of study and on 16 March 1951, not yet twenty, she debuted at Perugia’s Circolo della Musica in an all Verdi program. There was nothing special about the evening and Anita retreated to her family home, where, she was unexpectedly approached by the management of Spoleto’s Teatro Nuovo who wished to engage her for the role of Aida. On 6 September she debuted in opera at Spoleto in the dual roles of Aida and the Priestess. She was praised for her “limpid tone, powerful voice, and the perfection of her intonation and diction”. Still, nothing extraordinary happened. It was not until the following July that Cerquetti reappeared on the stage when the Teatro Nuovo of Milano presented her in two performances of “Il Trovatore”. She was recognized by several important Italian musicologists, and on 25 August she appeared at Recanati with Beniamino Gigli in a concert. Her selections were “Vissi d’arte” and “O terra addio” and a week later she appeared with the great tenor at Macerata’s Arena Sferisterio. Again she chose a selection from “Aida”, “O cieli azzurri” and “Ah forse lui” from Traviata. The chronology specifically notes that she did not attempt the hazards of “Sempre Libera”. The program was repeated on 6 September at Porto Civitanova and on the 15th, she again joined Gigli at Osimo. As in the past, there was no follow up to these few engagements and Anita waited, rather impatiently, it has been said, for further offers.
Mancini, in the intervening time, had risen spectacularly through Italy’s operatic ranks, and had already been seen in “Simon Boccanegra” “Nabucco” and “Il Trovatore” at Cagliari, in “Ernani”, “Boccanegra” “Attila” and “Trovatore” at Venice’s Teatro la Fenice, in Perugia and Assisi in several performances of Oratorio music, at Bologna, Catania, Enna, Caltanisetta, Rome’s Caracalla Reggio Calabria and Ascoli Piceno in “Trovatore”, at Reggio Calabria, and Enna in “Norma”, at Turin, Bologna, Genoa and Palermo in “Simon Boccanegra” at Florence in “Mose”, and in “Nabucco” at Rome and Guglielmo Tell at Turin. In 1951 she had also debuted at La Scala in “Lucrezia Borgia”. Though her career had taken on an almost mythic patina during these first few seasons, the Scala engagement was clearly not a success, and she never returned to that theater. It was also during these early years that all of Italy became familiar with Mancini when she sang in performances of “Battaglia di Legnano” as well as in “Norma”, “Rinaldo”, “Ernani”, “Nabucco”, “Aida”, “Trovatore”, “Attila” and “Duca d’Alba” for Italian Radio. “Ernani”, “Nabucco”, “Aida” and “Trovatore” have been available on Lp and CD for many years and are representative of the many reasons why she is still so admired. The “Ernani” and “Nabucco” recordings, in particular, reveal a dramatic talent that was always rare upon the stages of the World, and the vocalism, while not perfect, reveals a tremendously exciting timbre allied to dramatic instincts that have seldom been heard.
Time was standing still for Cerquetti and she desperately desired to make her own mark. The fact is, that Mancini’s career on the lyric stage would remain one of larger proportions, though Anita Cerquetti’s legend would assume a grandeur known to few in this Century.
Sadly, for Anita, the foundations of that incredible legacy would not be realized for several more years, and the light that glowed so brightly would last for only a very few more. Anita returned to Perugia for a recital of arias from “Trovatore”, “La Forza del Destino” and “Aida” on 6 January 1953 and two weeks later she sang an all Verdi program at Busseto. The selections included “Madre, madre pietosa Vergine”, the Recordare from the Manzoni Requiem with Amelia Lazzarini, “O cieli azzurri” and the trio from “I Lombardi” “Qui posa il fianco”. This concert reintroduced Anita to several prominent impressarios, who were impressed enough that they attempted to gain her commitment as her manager.
She, however, had other plans. She had decided to continue vocal training, and she enrolled at the school of the Teatro Comunale at Florence where she buried herself in exercises to improve her technique as well as being coached in stage deportment.
On 2 August Anita finally broke away from the ranks of the provinces when she debuted at the Verona Arena as Aida. Her reviews compared her not unfavorably to Maria Callas who had preceded her in the production and on the 13th she sang a performance of “Il Trovatore” before some twenty thousand. Again, the purity of her line, the strength of her voice and her imperious presence were highlighted in the next day’s reviews. It seemed that the time for stardom had finally arrived, and Anita keenly anticipated other offers. They were not to be found. She again had to content herself with concerts, one at Rimini on 20 August and another at Montecatini on 6 September. Her repertoire was constantly expanding and it now included music of Liviabella and Kodaly as well as “Ebben, ne andro lontano”. On 2 December, Anita traveled to Sardinia for a debut in “Il Trovatore” at Sassari’s Teatro Verdi, and so ended another extremely disappointing year.
Persuaded that her time would come, Anita continued studies at the Comunale, and in February 1954 she sang in Catalani’s “Loreley” and in “Il Trovatore” at Reggio Emilia. In March, the commercial center of Mestre on the ouskirts of Venice engaged her for “Trovatore” and in April she debuted at Pisa’s Teatro Verdi in “La Forza del Destino”.
Milan’s Radio Station engaged Anita for a concert in early May, where, for the first time she sang “La Mamma Morta” and in June she toured to Enghien Les Bains, Belgium for “La Forza del Destino” with her first stellar cast : Carlo Bergonzi, Piero Guelfi and Tancredi Pasero. On 28 June at Bologna’s Piazza Maggiore she sang in “Aida” with Mario Filippeschi and Anzelmo Colzani and on 24 July, Anita had an enormous success at Naples’ Arena Flegrea as Aida. Elena Nicolai, Gino Penno, Guelfi and Boris Christoff shared honors with the debutante and Cerquetti finally received coverage in newspapers throughout the country. There was enormous praise for the effulgence of her tone and for the repose of the most difficult passages in the opera. But, the major theaters continued to ignore Anita and she contented herself as best she was able with concerts at Perugia and Citta di Castello along with “Il Trovatore” at Vigevano.
The management of the Comunale knew that a treasure was theirs, and on 16 December, Anita debuted at her spiritual and actual home in “Nabucco” with Tito Gobbi and Boris Christoff. This time there would be no looking back. Tullio Serafin conducted the revival and he expressed extreme satisfaction at the extraordinary preparation that had obviously been made by Anita, though she had been very concerned at his lack of critical comment, either positive or negative, during rehearsals. One critic praised “her ability to rise to the cruelest demands of the role, while retaining the sweetest of tones”. Time after time, “tour du force” was recalled by the press.
In January 1955 Anita debuted at Modena’s important Teatro Comunale as the “Trovatore” Leonora and then embarked on a tour to Nice, Marseilles and Toulouse in “Trovatore” and, at Marseille, a performance of “Aida”.
On 26 June, history was made when Anita sang “Norma” for the first time at her adored and adoring Florence. The Boboli Gardens presented her in five performances with Fedora Barbieri, Franco Corelli and Giulio Neri. This time it was the “almost unbelievable security of Signora Cerquetti’s technique” that most impressed the critics. The Rome Opera offered Anita a contract for “Aida” at their summer home, Caracalla, and on 6 August she impressed Romans and thousands of tourists with a “rapturous performance of this most demanding role. From the drama of the first two acts through the lyricism of the last two, Anita Cerquetti knew no fear, and conquered an enormous audience of opera enthusiasts” (Il Messagero).
Anita repeated Aida at Messina in late August and then recorded the most demanding of all Verdi roles, Elena in “I Vespri Siciliani”. It is the opinion of the author, that, if he had to live contendedly with only one of her complete opera performances, this would be the one. It has everything, fioratura of an extraordinary accuracy and expressivity, legato that carries through the longest passages, breath control that can only be termed prodigious and plangent tone that reminds me of “molten lava” with a golden glow.
Carol Fox was as impressed by these recent conquests as had been the rest of the opera world, and she offered Anita a contract with the Chicago Lyric Opera for the 1955 Autumn season. In early November Anita left for the United States and one of the greatest triumphs in her career.On 29 November “Un Ballo in Maschera” was presented before a sold out auditorium with Anita, Jussi Bjorling, Tito Gobbi, Claramae Turner and Andrea Foldi. The second act duet created a storm of enthusiasm that last for several minutes and the usually undemonstrative Chicago audience rose to its collective feet at the opera’s conclusion. Claudia Cassidy - “The 1955 Ballo…introduced what should have been the next great dramatic soprano, Anita Cerquetti. She was a big girl with an avalanche of a voice pouring like lava. But, something happened, one of those inexplicable things that halts and destroys great promise. Just the same, to have heard that promise was to have known what can be”.
Though it was an enormous personal success for Anita, there were only two performances, but she returned to Italy with a raft of superb notices, ready to continue her journey.
The last three years had seen a litany of triumphs for Mancini, who succeeded against the extraordinary competition of Callas, Tebaldi and Antonietta Stella. In Italy in 1953, there was always room for one more, and Mancini wisely expanded her repertoire to include Elisabetta di Valois, which she performed at Rome with Nicolai, Gobbi, Corelli and Christoff, “La Forza del Destino”, which she sang at Genoa, Ancona, Dublin and throughout the French provinces, and “Cavalleria Rusticana”, which was seen at Rome’s Caracalla. Norma was performed with Franco Corelli at Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia and Ravenna. Palermo mounted Norma for her in 1954 and Dublin presented her in the role in 1955. Lisbon’s Sao Carlo offered “Mose”, Catania presented “Aida” with Barbieri and Corelli and Oviedo, Spain saw Mancini in “Il Trovatore”, “Aida” and her first performances of “Tosca”. “Un Ballo in Maschera” was seen at Dublin and Cagliari, “Aida” and “Nabucco” at Caracalla and a reprise of “Guglielmo Tell” at Turin. Hers was a career on fire.
On 7 January 1956 Anita sang in “La Gioconda” for the first time in a production mounted by the Comunale. Her partners were Ebe Stiganani, Lucia Danieli, Gianni Poggi and Ettore Bastianini. All four performances were sold out and again, Cerquetti was a headline name in Italy’s periodicals.
On the 26th, she appeared in concert for Milan’s Radio Station and sang “Ebben”, “La fatal pietra”, “Anch’io dischiuso” and “La Mamma Morta”. This concert has been preserved on both LP and CD and shows Cerquetti at her very best. The voice is in superb condition and the singing itself is of an order rarely heard. There is an inexhaustible supply of power coupled with her justly famous ease of emission and repose. The top register is thrillingly vibrant and the lower register appears as the natural extension of a completely integrated voice.
In February, Anita traveled to Avignon and Marseilles for “Il Trovatore” and on the 26th she sang in “Aida” at the Fenice of Venice with Adriana Lazzarini, Corelli and Aldo Protti. On 23 March, Anita debuted at Lisbon’s Sao Carlo in “Don Carlo” with Simionato, Bergonzi, Giuseppi Taddei and Christoff to enormous acclaim and in April she recorded “Guglielmo Tell” for the Milan Radio Studio. Dietrich Fischer Dieskau, Gianni Jaia and Giuseppe Modesti were her unfortunate partners, though her contribution is everything for which one might hope. On 16 June, she sang in Don Carlo at the Comunale with Barbieri, Angelo Lo Forese, Cesare Siepi and Bastianini. Hers is among the most beautiful expositions of the role ever heard. There is a sweep that is not to be found in the work of any other soprano. The final scene is of a grandeur that is breathtaking. Siepi and Bastianini are worthy partners, though Barbieri is well past her best days. It has been released in several versions on CD.
On 27 June, Rome Radio presented “Mose” with Rosanna Carteri and Nicola Rossi Lemeni and it was a triumph for all three. Anita returned to France in July for “Aida” at Nimes and “Trovatore” at Arles.Verona’s venerable Arena presented her in an epic revival of “Nabucco” on the 19th and Rome’s Caracalla saw her in “Aida” on the 31st. The summer season ended at Cagliari with “La Forza del Destino” and the autumn found Anita at Lausanne for “Nabucco”, at Macerata for “La Forza del Destino” and at Catania for “Norma”.
On 6 December, Anita Cerquetti debuted as the Druid priestess at Barcelona’s Liceo and it was, without question, the greatest triumph of her life. Her first solo curtain call brought three thousand people out of their seats and the ovation lasted for nearly an hour. The critics admitted that they simply could not find words to describe the performances on either side of the footlights, and Anita was compared to the likes of Malibran and Pasta by writers who could find no contemporary equivalents. Mirto Picchi, who sang Polione in the revival spoke of the event “There was delirium preceding the exit from the theater and police were summoned to act as a cordon when (Cerquetti) made her way to her hotel. Hers was the ultimate lyrica-drammatica Italian voice…”
Cerquetti closed out 1956 with a concert for RAI, which, for the first time allowed the world to hear her “O Re dei Ceili” from Agnese di Hohenstauffen. No singer has ever been so identified with one piece of music, and it remains for the author the single passage by which I would wish her to be remembered. There is simply nothing like it in the recorded annals of spinto vocalism. Or so we thought, until she made a commercial recording of the same aria a year later. What seemed impossible was very possible, in her hands. The later version is even more stunning.
Anita Cerquetti had reached the top of the highest mountain.
On 6 January 1957 she appeared in “Un Ballo in Maschera” at Florence with Stignani, Poggi and Bastianini. The performance, which at one time was owned by Cerquetti, was released about ten years ago, and, while it is not in good sound, it is a portrayal that should be heard and owned by anyone who loves Italian opera. It is not an exaggeration to say that Cerquetti, in the second act at least, is the most impressive that the author has ever heard, and it is obvious that the first night audience agreed. The ovation at the end of the aria is one of the longest and loudest ever heard in a live performance.
In late January, Anita returned to Rome for “Aida” with Simionato, Corelli and G. Guelfi and in April she returned to Palermo for “Don Carlo” with Corelli.
The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino mounted Cherubini’s “Gli Abenceragi” for Cerquetti and it was the talk of Italy. The music was dismissed as clearly inferior to that of his “Medea” but Cerquetti again walked away with superb reviews, several expressing awe at the flexibility of her voice.
The season at Florence continued with Ernani in a performance that is also preserved on CD and shows her in almost immaculate vocal form. The rest of the cast, Mario del Monaco, Bastianini and Christoff , are her equals and Dmitri Mitropoulos paces the performance with an authority and sensitivity that bring out the best in each of them.
Cerquetti’s top register is, to be fair, a little pressed, but the singing is of such enormous grace and style that it is of no matter.
The next month was to be among the most important in her life. Cerquetti made her first and only commercial recordings, “La Gioconda” featuring Simionato, Del Monaco, Bastianini and Siepi in a well balanced and extremely exciting performance, and her one solo recital for London/Decca , which includes the fabled “O Re dei Cieli”.
Far more important, though, was her marriage to Edo Ferretti just before she appeared at Verona’s Arena in “Norma” with Simionato and Corelli. It was to be a wonderful partnership and Anita was overjoyed to finally find some personal fulfillment. The rest of the summer was spent at Rome’s Caracalla in “Aida” and “La Forza del Destino”.
Cerquetti was scheduled for a debut at Mexico City in October, but before leaving Italy she appeared with RAI in "La Forza del Destino” and “Oberon”, both preserved on CD. They are superb examples of character drawn in extraordinarily vivid terms. “Oberon” is among her very grandest vocal displays and the author is not the only observer who feels that “Mare, superbo Mare” (Ozean) is the most satisfying recording of the aria ever made.
At Mexico City she triumphed in “Aida” and “Il Trovatore” and was begged to extend her commitment for additonal performances. It was impossible since she was contracted for two performances of “Norma” at Philadelphia, a concert version of “Paride ed Elana” at New York’s Town Hall and a return to Chicago for “Un Ballo in Maschera” and “Don Carlo”. The United States tour was the subject of unbridled praise, and though audiences were stunned at the sight of her physical dimensions, especially on the concert stage in New York, her singing and artistic instincts received unanimous critical acclaim.
In the happiest of circumstances Anita returned to Italy and a debut at Naples’ Teatro San Carlo that would result in the most important musical event of her life.
Caterina Mancini was beginning to show serious signs of vocal distress and this deterioration took a heavy toll on what had been a most impressive career. In 1956, she had engagements at Bilbao, Caltagirone, Reggio Emilia, Genoa and at Dublin. In addition, Caracalla presented her in “Mose” and “Cavalleria Rusticana” and she debuted at the Verona Arena as Gioconda, but all was not well. In 1957 she returned to Dublin for “Un Ballo in Maschera” and her only performances in “Andrea Chenier” and she debuted at Mexico City in a single unsuccessful performance of “Aida”. She would continue to appear for several more years, but there was no question that by the end of 1957 her glory days were behind her.
On 26 December 1957, Anita debuted at the San Carlo in the role of Norma, and she received her accustomed superlatives. The voice was described as of enormous dimensions, and the technique and expression worthy of comparison to the greatest. She repeated the role on the 28th and spent a quiet New Year with Edo at their hotel.
On the evening of 2 January Anita arrived at the San Carlo for her third recitation of the role and received long ovations at the end of acts one and two. While she was resting in her dressing room during the second interval, a frantic phone call was received from Guido Sampaoli of the Rome Opera. Maria Callas had just abandoned the stage of the Teatro del Opera at the end of act one, with the president of Italy in the audience. Anita would have to perform the role there on the evening of the fourth. The audience at the San Carlo had already heard about the events at Rome and there were overwhelming demonstrations after acts three and four, partially ignited by anger toward the Greek “interloper”.
It remains unclear to this day as to who fired whom, but the official story stands that Callas’ “insult” could not be tolerated and her services were no longer needed. It ended years later in litigation and Maria was ultimately exonerated.
In any case, Anita reluctantly agreed and on the evening of 4 January, she received an ovation only equaled at Barcelona a year earlier. The performance is known to all collectors of vocal art. It shows Cerquetti in superb form and the audience in a mood to turn the evening into an unforgettable historical event, which is exactly what it was.
On the 5th she repeated the role at Naples, to another demonstration tinged with political heroics, and completed the run at Rome on the 8th and the 11th.
The name, Anita Cerquetti, had appeared on the front page of newspapers throughout the World and would stay there at intervals until the story had played itself out in the courts.
On 21 February, Anita joined Simionato, Corelli and Modesti in a hugely praised revival of “Norma” at Palermo and then she took a long rest. La Scala had offered her a debut and Anita wanted to be properly rested and fully prepared for this final conquest. On 1 June before a house sold beyond its capacity, Cerquetti sang the role of Abigaille in “Nabucco”. Poggi, Bastianini, Nicola Zaccaria and Simionato were very well received, but it was Anita who stole the evening. Stomping, cheering ovations with showers of roses came from every corner of the theater. She repeated the role four times before retreating to her family villa for a long vacation.
Little did she know that it was to be her last important engagement in Italy, and one of the last anywhere.
In August, she sang in Aida at the small town of Fermo, and then she and Edo traveled to Mexico City for performances of “Aida” and “La Forza del Destino”. “Hail the conquering heroine” was one critic’s assessment. Philadelphia audiences were overwhelmed by her “Trovatore” Leonora in late October, and the audience at Barcelona tried to outdo its previous welcome when she returned to the Liceo for “Norma” in December.
Events from this point forward remain cloudy, but the author will state that he does not accept Cerquetti’s own description of her departure from the lyric stage. There were no performances in 1959, and it is true that the deaths of her father and one of her early mentors in quick succession devastated Anita. About that, there should be no doubt. However, the absence continued until June of 1960, when she timidly appeared at La Scala in a concert, Buchi’s “Laudes Evangeli”. There was a single performance. Three weeks later she returned to La Scala for two performances of Rossini’s “Stabat Mater” with Simionato, Gianni Raimondi and Nicolai Ghiaurov then again retreated into the mist of obscurity. On 13 September she attempted a return to the stage at Lucca with “Un Ballo in Maschera” and was lovingly received by an overflow audience.
At the end of October she traveled to Holland for “Nabucco” and upon the conclusion of that engagment, Anita Cerquetti, withdrew from the stages of the World. The Nabucco performance is known to many, including the author, and I find serious vocal problems in it, though certainly not enough to have cancelled a career. The voice is simply not as round and effulgent as it had been, and the top is very strained. The musicianship and general execution are still thrilling to hear but it is a souvenir that belies the contention that the voice remained unimpaired. Recent events have indicated that there were serious physical problems; a stroke has been mentioned. Cerquetti, in interviews, has stated that it was the birth of her daughter that finally convinced her to retire. Daniela was born in 1965, nearly five years after Anita had sung her last performance. I will leave it to the reader to determine his and her own truth, because we will never know with certainty.
Caterina Mancini continued to appear with some regularity until 1964. There were impressive recordings of “Mose” and “Cavalleria Rusticana” which have not had circulation in the CD era, as far as I am aware. Among her stage performances, there were tours to Spain in “Ballo” and “Ernani”, a tour to France in “Norma” and a return to Dublin for “Ballo”. Rome remained faithful and presented her regularly until the end, including Eboli in 1958, a role that served as her debut at Monte Carlo in 1962. In 1959 there were no performances and in 1960 there was a single revival of “Il Trovatore” at Rome. In 1961 she sang in “La Gioconda” at Barcelona and Sao Paolo, Brazil engaged her for "Tosca". ” Mancini traveled to the United States for “La Forza del Destino” and “Il Trovatore” at Philadelphia and ”L’Incoronazione di Poppea” and the contralto music of “Messiah” at Dallas in 1963. She closed out her career in 1964 after “Forza del Destino” at Naples, “Aida” and “La Gioconda” at Oviedo, and “Aida” at Trapani. With her departure from the stage, it may honestly be said that the last of the heroic dramatic Italian soprano voices had been heard, and we have been the poorer for some thirty five years.
Mancini and Cerquetti shared many common vocal qualities. Both voices were centered in the middle range, and each had extraordinary vibrancy at both the top and the bottom of their ranges. They each displayed enormous temperament in their expositions and each successfully executed a great range of styles in their choices of repertoire. I find Mancini’s sound to be more exciting, and Cerquetti’s to be infinitely more intrinsically beautiful. There is no question in my mind that Cerquetti was the finer musician, that she never failed to display her talents within the constraints of excellent taste and that her ability in soft music was a defining aspect of her art. Would that we were blessed with such choices today, or at any time.
With enormous gratitude for their contributions to our history!
© Bob Rideout