Elena Nicolai(1905-1993)
- Actress
- Music Department
Despite her Bulgarian birth and original name, Elena Nicolai, resident
in Italy from the late 1920s, was one of the most important opera stars
in Italy during the period of approximately 1932 through 1963. An
"Italian" mezzo-soprano of fiery temperament and with exciting top
notes, she excelled in the Verdi repertoire, but was also famous in
operas running from Monteverdi through Mascagni. She appeared at La
Scala from 1932 until at least 1952. Her many recordings include
complete operas made during the 1950s on the H.M.V., London, Colosseum
and Cetra labels, with such important singers as Mario Del Monaco, Tito
Gobbi and Boris Christoff. Nicolai's acting abilities on the opera
stage were such that when she retired from singing in 1963 she then
spent many years as a "legitimate" actress and, in the earliest of
those years, 1963 - 1968, she appeared in seven films, the first of
which was directed by the great Vittorio De Sica.
