Giuseppina Pasqua

Giuseppina Pasqua (24 October 1851 – 24 February 1930) was an Italian opera singer who performed throughout Italy and Europe from the late 1860s through the early 1900s.

She sang in several world premieres, but is most remembered today for having created the role of Mistress Quickly in Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff.

She studied at the music conservatory in Perugia under Ulisse Corticelli and made her professional opera debut at the city's Teatro Morlacchi in 1868 singing the coloratura soprano role of Oscar in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera.

After further study with Marietta Piccolomini, she made her house debut at the Teatro Bellini [it] in Palermo as Marguerite de Valois in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots.

In 1876 she sang Preziosilla in the first performance of Verdi's La forza del destino at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.