Luisa Tetrazzini: The Florentine Nightingale (Opera Biography Series ; No. 5) [Hardcover]

Charles Neilson Gattey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2003 | Series: Opera Biography Series ; No. 5

The first biography of the diva named by Adelina Patti as her successor and heralded as "the voice of the century." It includes a chronology and a comprehensive discography.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 379 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation; First Edition edition (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 093134087X
• ISBN-13: 978-0931340871
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,448,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-researched biography, a must for fans of Tet, February 16, 2002

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Ivy Lin (NY NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Luisa Tetrazzini: The Florentine Nightingale (Opera Biography Series ; No. 5) (Hardcover)

Luisa Tetrazzini is arguably the most famous Italian soprano of the "Golden Age" of opera. Listen to any of her records, and the voice and style are utterly unique and immediately recognizable. That being said, she had a somewhat erratic career, singing here and there for almost twenty years before making it 'big' one little-promoted night in Covent Garden in 1907. From then on she became a celebrity, as well known for her singing as for her eating habits (yes, she loved food), her flamboyant personality, her disputes with managers, her husbands/lovers, her jewelry, etc.
Like many opera singers "Tet" had many rather unglamorous, not altogether 'proper' years as a singer (seems she ran away from her husband to pursue a singing career) and thus she talked about food, jewelry, dresses, anything except her personal history. For this reason information about who she really was and where she came from has been scant. Gattey's biography is well-researched, although even he cannot fill in all the holes. He mentions almost nothing of her childhood. How she felt about the many tumultuous events (and lovers) in her life and career is unknown also. Maybe she was one of those people who only really came alive when she sang. Like so many divas (Patti, Melba, Callas) there is indeed something artificial about her whole life -- despite all the lovers, husbands, managers, friends, colorful interviews, Tet never comes alive as a personality in this book. The pictures are poorly produced and disappointingly few.
Still, despite the reservations, fans of Tet (among which I count myself) will want this book just to know more about her life. Gattey's writing style is drily witty and as I said, very well researched. There is a discography, analysis of her recordings, and chronology of all her appearances. But for my money if you want to know what Tet is all about, buy one of her recordings.