Customer Reviews

Antonio Melandri

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Perhaps a few more words may be added to those of Madame Caniglia's distant cousin.

Maria Caniglia was the real thing, an honest-to-gosh, red-blooded, thrilling, Verdi-Puccini soprano who flourished in the 1930s and 40s. Her great contemporary was Zinka Milanov, who firmly reigned at the Met in New York while Madame Caniglia appears to have taken the famous line from Verdi's Attila to heart: "Take all the world but leave Italy to me."

She was the chosen partner with the tenor, Benjiamino Gigli, in magnificent complete recordings--Puccini's Tosca, Verdi's Requiem, Ballo in maschera, Aida and the non-Gigli Forza del destino, all available on CD--that easily hold their own against subsequent contenders. Though her partnership with Gigli was long and successful, both in the recording studio and on stage, there was one peculiarity in it, or so the story goes: Gigli would never speak a word to her. And Madame Caniglia never knew why.

La Caniglia was characterized by burning intensity as a singing actor in the let-it-all-hang-out school of the first half of the Twentieth Century. At her best, her voice had an exciting, full, lush sound, not to be found in our piping times. At her worst, her higher warblings were dramatic, if not overly beautiful or accurate. In the style of her time, she tended to be less caring about a composer's written notes than is common among the present generation of singers.

Unfortunately, I cannot carry a note. I'm sorry that my family never got to see her. You see, Maria and my grandmother were cousins. Maria could really hit the High C. Excellent, CD.