Supervia, Conchita

Born in Barcelona in an ancient Andalusian family. Her father was from Aragon , and her mother was from Catalonia . At baptism, she received the name Maria de la Conception of Supervia Pascual.

Conchita Supervia received her primary education at a local convent (Colegio de las Damas Negras). At age 12, she entered the Higher Music Conservatory at the Lyceum of Barcelona.

The debut on stage took place on October 1, 1910 at the Colon Theater ( Buenos Aires , Argentina ). Then the singer, two months before her fifteenth birthday, performed in the opera Blanca de Beaulieu of the Argentine composer Cesar Styattesi . In the same year, she appeared in four performances of this opera, sang four times in Thomas Breton 's The Teruel Lovers and once appeared in the part of Lola in Rural Honor by Pietro Mascagni .

In 1911, the Teatro Constanzi in Rome staged Richard Strauss's " Cavalier of Roses, " and the sixteen-year-old Conchita Supervia played the part of Octavian. Interestingly, according to the libretto by Hugo von Hoffmannsthal, the young aristocrat Octavian is only a year older than the singer - he is seventeen years old. ^[four]

In his native Barcelona, ​​Conchita Supervia first appeared in the party of Delilah in 1912 ( Samson and Delilah by C. Saint-Saens ). In the same year, Carmen performed at the Liceu Theater . It is with Carmen that the name of the singer will be associated throughout her further career. ^[five]

In 1914, the singer crossed the Atlantic Ocean again and performed in Havana ( Cuba ), where she performed roles in the operas Carmen by Georges Bizet , Mignon Ambroise Tom and Favorite Gaetano Donizetti . Together with the party of Maddalena in Verdi 's Rigoletto , they took a permanent place in her repertoire.

Conchita Supervia had a relationship with Francesco Santamaria. In October 1918, their son Giorgio was born.

The American debut of the singer took place in 1915 in Chicago . ^[4] There she performed Charlotte in Werther Jules Massenet . Conchita Supervia also appeared in Carmen and Mignon during the winter season of 1915-1916. Her stage partners were Charles Dalmore and Lucien Murator. In fact, these performances in Chicago were the last outside Europe . The next ten years of her career passed in Italy and Spain .

In 1921, in the Komunale Theater ( Bologna ), Conchita Supervia first performed Angelina in Cinderella Rossini (conducted by Tullio Serafin ). She also performed in Rome , Genoa and Turin .

The Rossiniev parties brought the singer world recognition. In addition to Angelina, she sang Isabella in Italian in Algeria and Rozina in the Barber of Seville (based on the original score ).

For the first time in La Scala, Supervia performed in 1926 as Hansel in Engels Humperdinck 's Hansel and Gretel. Subsequently, she performed the part of Octavian in The Cavalier of Roses and Cherubino in The Wedding of Figaro .

The singer's London debut took place in 1930 on the stage of Queen`s Hall. In 1931, she married Ben Rubenstein, a London-based businessman of Jewish origin. The couple settled in London .

Conchita Supervia conducted an active concert activity: she performed in Albert Hall , along with accompanist Ivor Newton, gave a series of concerts of Spanish folk songs.

In Covent Garden, the singer first appeared in Rossini's Cinderella in 1934. Subsequently sang and Isabella ("Italian in Algeria").

In the same year, Conchita Supervia starred in the feature film “Evensong” (directed by Victor Savill). The premiere took place on November 16, 1934. This was her only movie job. ^[four]

Pregnancy forced the singer to cancel all performances planned for the fall of 1935. On March 29, she was placed in one of the London clinics, and the next day, during childbirth, Conchita Supervia died with her newborn daughter.