The Contralto Voice: Eugenia Mantelli

Italian mezzo-soprano Eugenia Mantelli (1860-1926) made her debut in 1883 as Urbain in Les Huguenots at the Teatro Sao Carlos in Lisbon. She made long guest appearance tours in Germany, Italy, and South America with the famous Spanish tenor Julien Gayarre. She appeared at the Metropolitan Opera for six seasons (1894-1900) and sang again at the Met for the 1902-1903 season. She retired to Lisbon. Her repertoire was extraordinarily diverse, singing coloratura-contralto parts to that of Brunnhilde. She recorded for the American Zonophone label and her recordings are among the most sought after in the world.