Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981)

Pace, pace mio dio
La Forza del Destino by Giuseppe Verdi

Born Rosa Ponzillo in Connecticut in 1897, Ponselle’s early career was in vaudeville with her sister, Carmella, singing as the Ponzillo Sisters on the Keith Circuit, even appearing at the Palace in New York. Rosa and Carmella also made several recordings on the Columbia label. An audition for William Thorner, a prominent vocal coach, brought her into contact with Enrico Caruso and conductor Romano Romani. Caruso wanted to take on the role of Don Alvaro in Forza, but with the war on in Europe, no Italian dramatic sopranos could be imported. After hearing Ponselle, Caruso recommended her to Gatti-Casazza as the perfect voice for Leonora. Although Gatti was pleased that such a singer had been found, he was not entirely happy with the idea of a vaudevillian performing at the Met. However, he agreed to hear Ponselle, then invited her back for a second audition ten days later. During the second audition, Ponselle fainted while singing “Casta diva”. Fortunately, Gatti had heard enough, and he offered her a contract in spite of the incident. On November 15, 1918, at the age of 21, Rosa Ponselle made her debut at the Met as Leonora opposite Caruso's Don Alvaro in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino.

Though the critics were generally favorable at the debut, Ponselle (understandably) needed to grow and mature as an artist. In her second season at the Met, after performing Rachel to Caruso’s Éléazar in La Juive, Aldrich of the Times commented, “Ponselle is also given some opportunity to sing well, some of which she accepts.” In the following seasons, Ponselle added the great dramatic roles to her repertoire; she reached the peak of her career in 1927 with Norma, the role that distinguishes the truly great sopranos from the merely good ones. Her final role was Carmen, and she retired at the height of her power in 1937.

After her retirement, Ponselle took on several students and was the artistic director of the Baltimore Lyric Opera.

Early in her career, Ponselle recorded on the Columbia label (this selection was recorded in 1922), using the acoustic method of recording. Ponselle commented on the technique: “Everything had to be rushed to fit the four-minute side. They would push you to the horn when you sang pianissimo and pull you back for the fortes... Many beautiful passages were lost because you could not express yourself as you would before the public.” By 1925, when the electrical recording process and the Orthophonic Victrola were introduced, Ponselle was in the Victor camp.

For more information, see the Met Archive .
You might also want to visit the Rosa Ponselle Foundation Home Page.