Giuletta Simionato was born in Forli, Italy, in 1910. She studied in Rovigo and Padova before making her début in Montagnana in 1928, as Lola in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana.
In 1936 she made her La Scala début and thereafter sang there regularly until 1966. She was stunningly successful in the name part in Rossini's Cenerentola, and as Isabella in his L'Italiana in Algeri.
At the Edinburgh festival in 1947 she sang Cherubino, in Mozart's Figaro. At Covent Garden in 1953 she sang Adalgiso in Bellini's Norma, and then the gypsy Azucena in Il Trovatore and Amneris in Aida, both by Verdi.
Between 1957 and 1963 she had great success at Salzburg, as Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlo, Mistress Quickly in his Falstaff , and again as Azucena, a r├┤le which she made particularly her own. In 1966 she made her farewell in La Scala's smaller auditorium, the Piccola Scala, in Mozart's La Clemza di Tito.
Simionato was the most versatile mezzo soprano of her generation. Her well-schooled voice had great facility in coloraturo. She also had the strength for the more dramatic parts in the operatic repertoire.
