Herva Nelli

Herva Nelli (January 9, 1909 – May 31, 1994) was an Italian and American operatic soprano.

Named after the French socialist Gustave Hervé, she was born in Florence, where she attended a convent school. At the age of ten, however, she and her family left Italy for the United States, settling in Pittsburgh, where she later studied at the Pittsburgh Music Institute.

In 1937, the soprano made her operatic debut with Brooklyn's Salmaggi Opera, as Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. In ensuing seasons, she gained experience with that ensemble, presenting roles that would form the core of her repertoire, including Leonora in Verdi's La forza del destino (with Sydney Rayner as Don Alvaro, 1943) and another Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore. She also sang the title roles of Bellini's Norma, Verdi's Aida (with Bernardo de Muro at the end of his career, 1944), and Ponchielli's La Gioconda. In 1947, she made her New York City Opera debut, as Santuzza, conducted by Julius Rudel.

Also in 1947, Nelli successfully auditioned for the conductor Arturo Toscanini (following the recommendation of Licia Albanese), and sang the part of Desdemona in the NBC Symphony Orchestra's concert version of Verdi's Otello, opposite Ramón Vinay. This led to the famous series of broadcasts of other Verdi works, which were later issued on records by RCA Victor: Aida (1949, which was televised as well), Alice Ford in Falstaff (with Giuseppe Valdengo, 1950), the Requiem (with Fedora Barbieri, Giuseppe Di Stefano, and Cesare Siepi, 1951), and Amelia in Un ballo in maschera (with Jan Peerce and Robert Merrill, 1954), which was Toscanini's final operatic performance. When Toscanini died early in 1957, he left his protégée his baton in his will.

In 1948, Nelli sang in Genoa (La Gioconda, conducted by Tullio Serafin) and at the Teatro alla Scala. At the latter theatre, she participated in the "Serata Commemorativa di Arrigo Boito" (excerpts from Mefistofele and Nerone, conducted by Toscanini) and starred in performances of Aida (with Mirto Picchi and Elena Nicolai, conducted by Antonino Votto).

From 1949 Nelli performed with the New Orleans Opera Association: Aida (with Norman Treigle as the King of Egypt), Otello (1954), Aida again (1955), and Il trovatore (with Leonard Warren, directed by Armando Agnini, 1958). She was also often heard in Philadelphia (from 1946 to 1959), in Aïda, La Gioconda (with Ebe Stignani), Cavalleria rusticana, Norma, Il trovatore (with Enzo Mascherini), Otello, La forza del destino, Puccini's Tosca (conducted by Eugene Ormandy), and Un ballo in maschera. In 1951, Nelli reappeared with the New York City Opera, in Cavalleria rusticana again, as well as Aida; the next year, she portrayed Maddalena de Coigny in Giordano's Andrea Chénier (in Theodore Komisarjevsky's production). With the San Francisco Opera, in 1951 and 1952, the soprano sang in Otello, La forza del destino (with Robert Weede), Aida (with Mario Del Monaco), Cavalleria rusticana, Il trovatore, and La bohème (this last on tour to Los Angeles); in 1957, she returned for Un ballo in maschera (conducted by William Steinberg). With the Baltimore Civic Opera in 1952, she debuted in Aida; in the 1954-55 season, she sang there in Il trovatore.

Nelli made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1953, where she appeared until 1961. She was seen in Aida (conducted by Renato Cellini), La forza del destino, Il trovatore, Cavalleria rusticana, Andrea Chénier, Un ballo in maschera (with Marian Anderson, conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos) and Mozart's Don Giovanni (as Donna Anna, her only Mozart role). With the Met, she toured to Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, Dallas, Toronto and Minneapolis.

The soprano appeared in Cuba (Tosca, 1950) and in Mexico City at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, in 1953, starring in Il trovatore and Norma.