This year, Virginia Zeani turned 95 years old.

Celebration in West Palm Beach (Florida)- where the wonderful artist has lived since 1980- now a widow- her husband, the famous bass Nicola Rossi Lemeni died in 1991- but with her son’s family, Alessandro Rossi Lemeni. And, of course, a celebration for millions of fans, who continue to appreciate her career and celebrate her life.

L’Assoluta Virgina Zeani

It was written about Virginia Zeani – starting, it seems, from the statements of La Divina Maria Callas, that she was “the only rival recognized” by her. And that she would have had on stage, both – the “fire” of the soprano Montserrat Caballe, the “simplicity” of Ileana Cotrubaș and the “finesse” of Victoria de Los Angeles, as well as the eyes and brilliance of the Hollywood star Elisabeth Taylor. But more importantly, it was said that she could sing any role in the soprano repertoire, being nicknamed L’Assoluta: her repertoire covering 3 and a half centuries of music and summing up roles of a really diverse typology. From the coloring roles from the operas I Puritani and La Sonnambula (Bellini), Lucia di Lammermoor and L Elisir d Amore (Donizetti) to the roles of Verdi (Aida), French opera (Manon, Werther, Hoffmann’s Tales – she sang all 4 female roles in the same evening!), verismo opera (Adriana Lecouvreur by Cilea), Russian opera (Evgheni Oneghin by P.I. Tchaikovsky) and even a Wagnerian role (Senta from The Flying Dutchman); and, from the preclassic opera heroine (Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare) to the modern opera heroine – Virginia Zeani being, in fact, the first performer of the role of Blanche in Poulenc’s Dialogue of the Carmelites and also of the role of Magda Sorel from the opera Consul by Menotti! What were, however, the roles that Zeani felt closest to her soul? Those from Puccini’s creation: Mimi, Manon Lescaut, Floria Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Suor Angelica. And the role that brought her the most applause and appreciation? Violetta Valery from Verdi’s La Traviata: sung 648 times in theatres across Europe, at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, and even in Cairo…

L’Assoluta Virginia Zeani, therefore, on the anniversary: 95 years of life – lived gloriously, 3 decades of career (1948-1978), 71 roles.

Splendid performer of Puccini’s roles and supporter of modern opera, but also the discoverer of forgotten scores such as: Alzira (Verdi), Maria di Rohan (Donizetti), Otello or Zelmira by Rossini: an artist for whose voice – is the opinion of the American musicologist Leonardo Ciampa – “a special category should have been invented”. Consideration to which, I would add, a special category of physical and mental beauty – because, smile and eyes like Virginia Zeani’s I have not seen at any other opera singer! – and in terms of the warmth and generosity of her being, I also find her without equal. But how long and difficult was the road to glory for the little girl born Virginia Zehan?….

Virginia Zeani – a life, a myth –

She started by singing on the green hills of Solovăstru, a village in Transylvania. “And my mother was terrified that I would destroy my lungs”, – she would tell me, in one of our dialogues. She discovered opera at the age of 9: when, settled with her parents in Bucharest, a cousin – a student at the Conservatory, took her to the Opera where she saw a performance of Madama Butterfly by Puccini; a performance which impressed her so much that, when she returned home, she said, “I’m going to be an opera singer,” and she asked her parents for music lessons. She started studying music immediately, but – unfortunately, with the study of… the violin – because she received a violin from her cousin. And, she didn’t like it – throwing the instrument out the window in a moment of despair and abandoning the lessons, fortunately, not the idea of ​​becoming an opera singer! So, at the age of 11, we find her in the Primary School Choir, where her voice is immediately noticed. A year later, the choir conductor introduced her to one of the most appreciated singing teachers in Bucharest, Lucia Anghel – who gave her hope and actually discovered her artistic qualities, and at the age of 16, she ended up being listened to by the great soprano Lidya Lipkovska – former partner of Caruso and Șaliapin – who, for 5 years, developed her voice and laid the technical foundations. Lydia Lipkovska had studied in Milan with Vittorio Vanzo (Titta Ruffo’s teacher) and Antonio Cotogni (Caruso’s teacher). She shared with young Virginia a vocal technique that she would use for the rest of her life and that she, in turn, would teach Indiana University students: how to breathe and support the diaphragm, how to tighten the abdomen and the correct posture on stage, how to keep their facial expression in singing and use the Legato on Passagio… In addition, Lipkovska was the one who extended the ambitus of her voice to 3 octaves (from serious Sol to ContraFA) and “arranged”- through the conductor Egizio Massini (over the years, founding member of the Romanian Opera in Bucharest) a scholarship in Italy. She arrived in Italy on March 10th, 1947. After a 3-week voyage, with a few letters of recommendation from Lidya Lipkovska in her pocket and aboard a ship called – with extremely sensitive connotations for the 21-year-old – “Transylvania”. Her destination was Milan, where the famous soprano Stella Roman lived, born in Romania as well, in Cluj. But she was in the United States – caught up by the war with commitments at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York! – and Virginia Zehan finds Antonio Narducci in Stella Roman’s apartment – an important person, because he was Toscanini’s co-host at the Teatro alla Scala, in fact! – who listened to her, encouraged her and sent her after a few lessons to the famous Aureliano Pertile, known as “Puccini’s tenor”. Pertile was 62 years old at the time. And with him, she would perfect the belcanto technique of singing – relaxed, in a mask, as well as the ability to easily switch from extreme shades, full of passion, depending on the word. And when he thought she was ready, Pertile also recommended her to play the role of Violetta in La Traviata in the spring of 1948, at the Duse Theater in Bologna. The incumbent had fallen ill, and in her place, she made a debut – great! – a young woman named: VIRGINIA ZEANI…

That’s how Virginia Zeani’s career began. And another life for Virginia Zehan: that of an opera artist, a star in Italy. When did her story become a myth? When the world realized that Zeani had managed to establish – in an era dominated by the rivalry between Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi – the hegemony of her excellence: the excellence of a discreet artist, but of an unprecedented repertoire and stylistic openness. Many titles and awards would reward Virginia Zeani’ Excellency: the title of Commander of the Italian Republic and the Diapason D’Or, or La Voce D’Oro awards being just a few of them. However, none of these altered her modesty and common sense. And when she came to teach the Art of Singing in the United States (1980), at the prestigious Indiana University in Bloomington – with her husband, the famous Italian bass of Russian origin, Nicola Rossi Lemeni – she was called, with great sympathy, La Diva discretta. Discretion and elegance defining – even today – Mrs. Zeani’s existence: certainly one of the most beloved opera artists of this world …