Daniela Dessì


Daniela Dessì was an Italian operatic soprano, born in Genoa.

Life and career

Born in Genoa, Italy, Dessì completed her studies at the Conservatory of Parma and the Accademia Chigiana of Siena. She made her operatic debut on 7 December 1978 at Sanremo Casino's theatre as Serpina in La serva padrona by Pergolesi during the season of Savona's Teatro dell'Opera Giocosa. In 1980 she distinguished herself as a finalist at the Maria Callas International Competition organized by Italy's RAI TV. Her international career took her to a variety of opera theatres, singing under the direction of conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, and the Metropolitan Opera's James Levine.
Dessì's 2008–2009 season began with Tosca in Florence, where she performed an encore of "Vissi d'arte", the first encore at Teatro Comunale di Firenze since Renata Tebaldi's "Amami Alfredo" in 1956. She later performed at the Verdi Theatre in Trieste, and also performed Adriana Lecouvreur in Palermo, Puccini's La fanciulla del West in Seville, Manon Lescaut in Warsaw, Madama Butterfly in Hanover, and Aida in Verona and Cagliari. She closed the season in Barcelona with Turandot. In January 2009, she opened the season of recital at La Scala.
Dessì's partner was the Italian tenor Fabio Armiliato, with whom she frequently performed and recorded. She died of colon cancer at Poliambulanza Hospital in Brescia on 20 August 2016, at age 59.

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