Rosa Ponselle

FLASHBACK

Vanity Fair, November 1926

Before ( alias, there was Ponselle. "Probably the greatest singer of us all," said Maria herself. Walter Legge likened the coloratura soprano's bel canto to "golden ball-bearings [running] smoothly through invisible oil." Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981) had a life as dramatic as a dozen nights at the opera. Caruso discovered her, aged nineteen, totally untrained, singing in vaudeville. Old Puccini heard her and died three months later writing an aria for her. Mussolini once called out the riot police, mistaking her clamoring fans for an uprising. Having rowed with the Met in 1937, Rosa retired, divorced, and declined into depression. She was one of the first women in America to receive electroshock treatment. It worked. She went on to run the Baltimore Civic Opera. And in 1954 RCA tried to record her at home in Baltimore, but her voice shattered its equipment. This year—her ninetieth—there are worldwide Ponselle celebrations: new CDs, contests, and performances like Norma in Houston April 23 through May 1. Brava!