Isabella Colbranaus romantic + classic

Isabella Colbran (* 28 February 1784 in Madrid; † 7 October 1845 in Bologna) was a Spanish opera singer and composer.

Life

Isabella Colbran was the daughter of Teresa Ortola and Giovanni Colbran, a musician at the court of the King of Spain (according to Fétis). She received her first training from F. Pareja and G. Marinelli. A scholarship from Queen Maria Luisa of Spain allowed her to go to France to perfect her training with the famous soprano castrato Girolamo Crescentini. In 1801, the 16-year-old sang in a concert in Paris together with the famous violinist Pierre Rode. She later went to Sicily, where her father owned several estates.

In 1807, Colbran was in Bologna, where she was accepted into the Accademia Filarmonica because of her singing talents; she gave three public concerts in gratitude. At the time, her voice was described as ‘a true miracle of sweetness and strength’, ‘her technique and style were simply perfect’ (perfetto), she had a range of almost three octaves from the low g to the three-note e, her voice was perfectly balanced in all registers and she could make it sound ‘…with always the same softness and energy’.

Isabella Colbran experienced her real and final breakthrough at La Scala in Milan in the role of Volunnia in Nicolini’s Coriolano (premiere on 26 December 1808). This was followed by numerous appearances at Italy’s most important opera houses.
In 1815, while in Naples, Colbran met Rossini, where she quickly became his muse. He was contacted to write an opera by Domenico Barbaia about Queen Elizabeth of England, eventually writing the opera Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra, specifically writing the main voice part for Colbran. After many years of dating, they wed on 16 March 1822 at the church of Beata Vergine del Pilar in Castenaso, near Bologna. After their marriage, Rossini took control of all her jobs, money, inherited land, and everything she owned, calling her his property in letters. The couple then traveled to Vienna and London to tour Rossini’s operas. She was called his protectress by Rossini’s close friends. When Colbran’s father died in 1820, Rossini bought him a tomb for him on his family’s cemetery plot, officially making it the Colbran-Rossini plot. While they had very successful careers working with each other, their marriage was not a very happy one. Rossini cheated on Colbran with many different women while he would tour after she retired as a singer. Rossini left her sometime between 1829 and 1837, some sources saying they were divorced in 1837. He courted many women during this time, eventually dating Olympe Pélissier in 1830. Rossini continued to financially support Colbran until her death. When word got back to Rossini in August 1845 how ill she truly was, he visited her, dropping everything he was currently doing. What was said in the room is not known, but he left the room with tears streaming down his face. He instructed those in charge of the villa where she was staying to do everything possible to meet her needs and wishes. People close to her said there was no doubt she loved him until her death. Her last words were Rossini’s name. When she died, he paid for a marble statue-like headstone to be put up in her memory and buried her next to her father’s tomb in his family’s plot, with himself eventually being buried next to her. He quickly sold the villa she died in, too heartbroken to even enter the house after her death.

Colbran composed four collections of songs, each collection dedicated to an important influence to her: two of the Queens of Spain, the Empress of Russia, the Eugenie de Beauharnais, and one of her teachers, Crescentini. Using her theatrical background as a guide, her compositions often included dramatic elements that used Word painting and offered refinement and a deep sense of character. For musical and lyrical emphasis, she often added embellishments and fermatas to enhance repeated figures, usually prior to the return of the initial melodic statement. She would use harp and/or piano as accompaniment with all of her compositions.
Source Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Colbran