Music/Dance
PATTI
(Adelina, 1843-1919, Italian Soprano)
Autograph Note Signed 'Adelina Patti',
in kind remembrance of with the date on her beautifully monogrammed notepaper in gold, green and purple, 1 side 8vo., together with a charming early unsigned albumen carte de visite photo by W. & D. Downey showing her half length in profile, wearing a striped gown, 4¼ x 2½, no place, no date, the letter London, 8th May
Item Date: 1872
£175
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Background
W. & D. Downey were Victorian studio photographers operating in London from the 1860s to the 1910s. The Anglo-Italian performer was renowned for her performances of Lucia in Lucia de Lammamour and Amina in La Sonambula. According to the New York Evening Post (19th November 1886): 'Of all living singers, she alone can execute the most difficult forms of music with the unerring precision of an instrument, and a beauty of tone which no instrument can rival'. Others described the unique tonal quality of her voice and the 'vocal gymnastics' that she effortlessly performed. At the age of 62 she was persuaded out of retirement in Wales to make a number of gramophone recordings, one of the first opera singers to be recorded.
Stock No. 41294
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