Margherita Carosio confirms why she was a top coloratura

THE SONGBIRD: Margherita Carosio (1908 - 2005) was one of the leading bel canto sopranos of her day. She was born in Genoa, the daughter of a singing teacher and composer, Natale Carosio, who supervised her studies and launched her on a career in public concerts when she was 14. In 1924, still only 16, she made her operatic debut as Lucia in Novi Ligure. In 1928, she was recommended by soprano Margherita Sheridan to Covent Garden to sing the role of Feodor in "Boris Godunov" with Feodor Chaliapin. She also sang Musetta that season. Her La Scala debut came in 1929 as Oscar, and she sang regularly there until 1954 when she was the title character in the world premiere of Menotti's "Amelia Goes to the Ball." Beyond the standard Italian leggiero repertoire, she sang a wide variety of roles such as Konstanze, Amnita, Philine, Queen of Shemakha, Auber's Zerlina, and Stravinsky's Nightingale. She also appeared in Italian movie musicals, including the dubbed singing voice of Aloysia Weber in the 1940 Mozart biopic "Melodie Eterne." Another interesting point of notoriety: it was Carosio's indisposition in 1949 that led to Maria Callas learning the role of Elvira in Bellini's "Puritani" in five days,, while also performing Brünnhilde, in Venice. THE MUSIC: The Carnival of Venice vocal variations, also known as "La bruna gondoletta," by Jules Benedict are a fairly popular selection for coloratura sopranos to show off of their bag of vocal tricks. The basic folk tune is known in Germany as "Mein Hut Der Hat Drei Ecken" or in English as "My Hat It Has Three Corners." Many sopranos have recorded this chestnut, especially prior to the 1970s when these types of display pieces began to fall out of favor.