24 Facts About Rosa Raisa

Rosa Raisa was a Polish-born and Italian-trained Russian and Jewish operatic dramatic soprano who became a naturalized American.

Rosa Raisa possessed a voice of remarkable power and was the creator of the title role of Puccini's last opera, Turandot, at La Scala, Milan.

Rosa Raisa added several roles to her stage repertoire with the Chicago-Philadelphia company: Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Klytemnestra in Vittorio Gnecchi's Cassandra, and Elsa in Lohengrin in English.

Rosa Raisa made her La Scala debut as Francesca upon her return from South America.

Rosa Raisa performed many Francescas and Aidas as well as Lida in Verdi's rare early opera La battaglia di Legnano at the Scala.

Rosa Raisa did not go to Monte Carlo as she was in the United States and was fearful of the submarine warfare at that stage of the Great War.

Essentially Rosa Raisa was the company's dramatic soprano, Garden the French-repertory soprano, Galli-Curci the light coloratura, Mason a lyric, and Muzio a spinto soprano.

Rosa Raisa was the company's only Maliella in Wolf-Ferrari's I gioielli della Madonna, Gioconda, Amelia in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, Rachel in Meyerbeer's La Juive, and Bellini's Norma.

Rosa Raisa sang two long seasons in Mexico returned to South America for three more seasons.

Rosa Raisa sang Norma in Buenos Aires, singing it 22 times there in three seasons.

Rosa Raisa famously added to her repertoire the role of Asteria in Boito's posthumous opera, Nerone, and the title role in Puccini's Turandot at Toscanini's La Scala, both world premieres in the most lavish Scala productions of that storied era.

Rosa Raisa said that there were rumblings backstage that something like this might happen, but the artists were never told this officially; therefore, they were somewhat, but not totally, surprised.

On 4 November 1929, Rosa Raisa was awarded the honor of opening the new Chicago Civic Opera House in a performance of Aida with a stellar cast personally selected by Civic Opera president Samuel Insull, the Chicago industrialist who later ran foul of the law.

Rosa Raisa recorded four verismo arias for La voce del padrone in Milan, and sang five performances of Gli Ugonotti at the Arena in Verona with Giacomo Lauri-Volpi and a stellar cast.

Rosa Raisa can be seen, but not heard, in an edited version of the act 4 love duet with Lauri-Volpi as Raoul.

Rosa Raisa married the Italian baritone Giacomo Rimini in 1920; the couple had first met five years earlier and were inseparable lovers.

Rosa Raisa's concerts were almost always with Rimini, she singing two-thirds of the concert, he one-third.

Rosa Raisa had the popular music composer Joseph Bonomie arrange the song for her voice.

Rosa Raisa's 1918 recording is remarkable for it shows the cello-like coloring of the lower voice, the liquid middle register, as well as the ease of her upper.

Rosa Raisa suffered from cancer, having undergone a double mastectomy in the 1940s.

Rosa Raisa died in Los Angeles, California, on 28 September 1963, and her granddaughter, Suzanne Homme, told Raisa's biographer Charles Mintzer that her death certificate listed "bone cancer" as the immediate cause of death.

Rosa Raisa was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City.

Rosa Raisa had to be placed in the middle of the orchestra to achieve some reasonable balance.

Lauri-Volpi in his seminal book on singers of his experience and knowledge, Voci Parallele, states that by 1933 Rosa Raisa's voice was but an x-ray of how he remembered her earlier in her career.