Carmen Melis

Carmen Melis (15 August 1885 – 19 December 1967) was an Italian operatic soprano who had a major international career during the first four decades of the 20th century.

She made her professional opera debut in 1905 in the title role of Jules Massenet's Thaïs at the Teatro Coccia in Novara at the age of 20.

Puccini went on to personally teach Melis the role of Minnie in his La Fanciulla del West, which she performed for the first time in 1911 with the Boston Opera Company.

[1] From 1913 to 1915 Melis made several appearances in San Francisco, including portraying Cio-Cio-San, Tosca, and Fleana in the United States premiere of Ruggero Leoncavallo's Zingari (1913).

She notably portrayed the title roles in the United States premieres of two operas with the company: Camille Saint-Saëns' Déjanire (1915) and Leoncavallo's Zazà (1916).

Caruso also served as her partner for her debut at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo as Minnie in 1912 and at Covent Garden in London as Nedda in Pagliacci in 1913.

She returned to the Royal Opera House in London only one other time in her career, in 1929 as Tosca and Maliella in Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's I gioielli della Madonna.

In 1929 she made a complete recording of the role of Tosca with Apollo Granforte as Scarpia, La Scala's orchestra, and conductor Carlo Sabajno.

[8] She was also highly active with the Teatro Costanzi in Rome during the 1920s and made numerous appearances as a guest artist in major Italian theatres up until her retirement from the stage in 1935.