Rosa Ponselle
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| Meriden native, legendary diva and first American soprano to sing at the Metropolitan opera without European experience or formal training.
Rosa Melba Ponzillo, the third child of Italian immigrant parents, was born and raised in Meriden, where she sang in local churches by the age of 10 and played the piano and sang between reels at the local silent film theater by the age of 15. She and her sister Carmella were performing their vaudeville act, Those Ponzillo Sisters, when she was discovered by Enrico Caruso. Because of the difficulty during the War of bringing singers to the U.S. from Europe, Caruso invited Rosa to audition for the female lead in Giuseppi Verdi's La Forza del Destino. Though she fainted during the tryout, she went on to achieve one of the most triumphant debuts in the history of opera.
During her twenty years as the reigning Metropolitan Opera diva, Ponselle played twenty-two roles in 266 performances. She also performed in London and Florence, and countless Europeans traveled to New York just to hear her. Her final performances as Carmen were the first to be broadcast live on radio from the Met and were billed by the New York Times as the 'hottest tickets in town'. Ponselle retired at the age of 40 at the peak of her career having earned accolades as the twentieth century's greatest vocal artist and actress, the 'queen of legato', and a 'vocal force of nature', with a voice of 'pure gold'. Many of the opera world's most famous composers dedicated songs to her. Ponselle's retirement home, Villa Pace, in Stevenson, Maryland soon became a mecca for aspiring singers. Beverly Sills, Placido Domingo, Leotyne Price, Samuel Ramsey, and Eileen Farrell are among the many stars who visited her there. Despite her success and growing legend, Ponselle continued to suffer from depression and self-doubts throughout her life. An unhappy marriage ended in divorce in 1951. Following her death in 1981, two foundations were established to preserve her legacy. The Rosa Ponselle Foundation in Baltimore publishes books on Ponselle and provides scholarships for winners of operatic competitions. The Rosa Ponselle Fund and Museum in Meriden offers free recitals and concerts, and also offers scholarships to aspiring singers. In 1997, the centenary of her birth, the U.S. Postal Service dedicated a stamp in her honor as part of its legends in music series. | |||||||||||
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