Bianca Scacciati

Bianca Scacciati (3 July 1894 in Florence – 15 October 1948 in Brescia) was an Italian operatic soprano, noted for her prominence in verismo.

Born into a family of opera-loving railwaymen, she showed her talents at singing from a very early age. Her abilities as a soprano was first recognised by the singing teacher Ernesta Bruschini, sister of the more famous Matilde Bruschini.

On 1 November 1917, only just turned 24, she made her debut at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence in the role of Margherita in Faust by Charles Gounod in the (sung in Italian), going on with the same role at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, with such names as Alessandro Bonci (Faust), Vincenzo Bettoni (Mefistofele) and Luigi Piazza (Valentino).

On the 27th of July 1920, she sang at the Arena di Verona, in one of the very first seasons of the theatre, in Boito's Mephistopheles, alongside Nazzareno De Angelis, Aureliano Pertile, Linda Barla Ricci, Dir Piero Fabbroni.

In 1922 she played three important roles in the season of the Teatro Regio in Parma: Desdemona in Otello by Verdi, La Wally by Catalani and Margherita in Mefistofele. In the same year she played Margherita again in Mefistofele at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, with De Angelis and Pertile, conducted by Gino Marinuzzi.

In 1922 she made the first of her six tours in South America where, in order to replace an indisposed colleague, she had to perform Aida; in spite of the initial complexity, she obtained a resounding success with the critics and the audience.