Everything about Vittoria Tesi totally explained
Vittoria Tesi ("La Fiorentina") (b
Florence, 13 Feb
1700; d
Vienna, 9 May
1775) was an Italian
opera singer and music teacher of the 18th century. Her
vocal range was that of a
contralto.
Her operatic career began with performances at
Parma and
Bologna in 1716. By 1718 she was
virtuosa di camera for the Prince of Parma at
Venice. The year later she was at
Dresden, singing for
Antonio Lotti alongside
Senesino and
Margherita Durastanti. By 1721 she was back in Italy for the Florentine Carnival, and for the next 26 years travelled Europe, with performances in
Madrid and possibly
Frankfurt. Italy, however, was the nation where she spent most of her time, dividing the years between the various cities. Her career peaked in the late 1730s and 1740s, when she sang alongside such singers as
Caffarelli; in 1744 she took the title role in
Gluck's
Ipermestra and did the same in 1748 in his
Semiramide riconosciuta, set to a
libretto by
Metastasio. This performance persuaded Metastasio of her merits, although previously he'd been unenthusiastic, calling her a "grandissima nullità".
After successful performances in
Niccolò Jommelli's
Achille in Sciro and
Didone abbandonata (1749), both set to Metastasian libretti, Tesi began to retire from the stage. In 1751 she became costume director at the Viennese court, where she remained for many years, teaching music as a particular favourite of Countess Maria Theresia Ahlefeldt. Among her students were Caterina Gabrielli and Elisabeth Teyber, and she's known to have met not only
Casanova but also
Mozart and his father. Ange and Sarah Goudar called her "perhaps the first actress who recited well while singing badly", while both
Charles Burney and Quantz also praised her acting ability.
Reference
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