Obituary, Daniela Dessì (1957-2016)

The Italian lyric-dramatic soprano Daniela Dessi has died aged just 59 after a short illness; she was in the prime of her career, and had been singing wonderfully as Maddalena in Andrea Chénier as recently as February of this year. Born in 1957 and educated in Parma and Siena, Dessi made her professional debut as Serpina in Pergolesi’s La serva padrona in 1980. Though she continued to sing baroque and Classical roles throughout her illustrious career (her dark-toned, flexible soprano and imposing stage-presence was particularly suited to the big Mozart roles like Fiordiligi and Vitellia, and she was scheduled to sing Cherubini’s Médée later this year), it was in Verdi, Puccini and verismo that she really made her name: vocally and visually glamorous, with a visceral, unaffected stage-presence often reminiscent of the heroines of Italian cinema, Dessi possessed a richly-coloured spinto voice capable of extraordinary line and lyricism even in heavier roles such as Minnie in La fanciulla del West, Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana) and the title-role in Turandot. Over the past decade in particular, she had established herself as a formidable bel canto singer, with roles including Norma, Paolina in Poliuto, Lucrezia Borgia and Matilde in Guglielmo Tell, and was also active as a stage-director, teacher and recitalist.

Dessi is survived by her partner of sixteen years, the Italian tenor Fabio Armiliato, with whom she appeared regularly on stage: the pair were particularly acclaimed as Andrea Chénier and Maddalena, Tosca and Cavaradossi, Aida and Radamès, and Butterfly and Pinkerton.

Daniela Dessì's available discography is listed here.