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The Italian soprano, Genevra Vivante, studied first with Maestro Bonomi in Venice, then also with Giacomo Benvenuti.
Genevra Vivante began her career at the beginning of the 1930's, specialising in chamber and concert music. She performed works of old masters, as well as contemporary compositions. Thus she sang in 1933 in a much-esteemed concert in the Church Santa Trinità in Florence vocal music of masters of the late Middle Ages. In 1934 she participated in Florence in a concert performance of de Falla's El retablo de Maese Pedro. In 1934 she sang the soprano solo in Pizzetti's Rappresentazione di Santa Uliva in the premiere of this work at Milan's La Scala conducted by the composer. She became generally acknowledged by similar concert appearances in the Italian music centres. In 1939 she sang it in the first recording of Monteverdi's Orfeo under Calusio the roles of Euridice and Musica. As a Jewish appearances in Italy since 1939 were no more possible. Thus she moved her activity, as far as the war events permitted this, to Switzerland. In 1946 and 1947 she sang again at Milan's La Scala in Arthur Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher, in 1948 in Le Roi David by Darius Milhaud. In 1949 she appeared also at the Opera of Rome in Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher by A. Honegger, conducted by the composer. In 1950 she could be heard in Genoa in the oratorio San Giovanni Battista by Alessandro Stradella. She sang also in the oratorio Geremia by Leonard Bernstein, in Les Illuminations by Benjamin Britten, in works of Pizzetti, Gian-Francesco Malipiero, Alfano, Giorgio Federico Ghedini and created Tre Laudi by Luigi Dallapiccola. At the Festival of Basel she performed again works by A. Honegger.
Genevra Vivante had numerous broadcast appearances in Italy (RAI), England (BBC), in Switzerland (Radio Beromünster), in France, in Warsaw and Prague. In the Monteverdi year 1967 she gave numerous concerts with works of this Baroque master. Still in December 1978 she gave a radio concert with arias of Monteverdi and Venetian folk songs.
Recordings: HMV (Orfeo by Monteverdi, Jephte and Jonas by Carissimi), Cetra; numerous radio recordings. |
