Eugenia Bronskaya - Rossini: BARBER OF SEVILLE, Una voce poco fa, 1910

THE SONGBIRD: Eugenia Bronskaya (1882 - 1953) was born in St. Petersburg and made her debut there in 1900. She sang in Tbilis, Odessa, Kyiv, and Moscow before returning to Italy, where she had studied. In 1909, Bronskaya was a member of the Boston Opera Company in its first season, and also sang in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York -- where she made about two dozen recordings. Returning to Russia in 1911, she was engaged at the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theaters and eventually began teaching at the Leningrad Conservatory in 1923. THE MUSIC: Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" is one of the most popular operas in the world and has been since soon after its premiere in Rome in 1816. It is based on the first of three plays by Pierre Beaumarchais about Figaro, the clever barber in the title. The music of the opera is believed to have been composed in about three weeks. This showy aria "Una voce poco fa" introduces the clever character of Rosina in Act One and has become a touchstone for florid sopranos and mezzos.