Amelita Galli-Curci: Bellini - La Sonnambula, ’Ah! non credea mirarti... Ah! non giunge’

Amelita Galli-Curci (18 November 1882 -- 26 November 1963) was an Italian operatic soprano. She was one of the best-known coloratura singers of the early 20th century with her gramophone records selling in large numbers. Galli-Curci made her operatic debut in 1906 at Trani, as Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, and she rapidly became acclaimed throughout Italy for the sweetness and agility of her voice and her captivating musical interpretations. She was seen by many critics as an antidote to the host of squally, verismo-orientated sopranos then populating Italian opera houses. The soprano had toured widely in Europe (including appearances in Russia in 1914) and South America. In 1915, she sang two performances of Lucia di Lammermoor with Enrico Caruso in Buenos Aires. These were to be her only appearances in opera with the great tenor, though they later appeared in concert and made a few recordings together. Galli-Curci and Caruso also acted as godparents for the son of the Sicilian tenor Giulio Crimi.