Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis

[1] As a singer, she made her debut in Naples at the Teatro dei Fiorentini in 1814 in Giovanni Cordella's L'Avaro, followed by important engagements in Bologna in 1816, also appearing in Genoa, Florence; in 1817 as Giulia La Vestale, and in Bergamo.

The two leading ladies took the heated match between the two crowned heads a step further, and when Ronzi overemphasized her response to Elisabetta with the famous “Vil bastarda” insult, a raging fight ensued.

In a sonnet dedicated to "La Ronza", the highly acclaimed Roman poet Giuseppe Gioachino Belli, who had been mesmerized by her Norma, confirms her voluptuousness and its seductive effects on the public and concluded that the whole theatre seemed to waver: "Blessed be this witch who enchants us".

[7] In January 1819, Giuseppina and her husband moved to Paris where they sang for the re-opening of the Théâtre Italien in the Parisian premiere of Ferdinando Paër's drama semi-serio I Fuoriusciti di Firenze on 20 March.

In 1822, she went to London, where she obtained brilliant successes at the King's Theatre, notably in Pietro l'Eremita (an oratorio version of Mose in Egitto) on 30 January 1822, Rossini's La donna del lago and the title role in his Matilde di Shabran.

Ronzi's biggest triumph in Naples was her performances as the title character in Rossini's Semiramide; in Rome, in 1834, she earned equally remarkable success in her first Norma at the Teatro Apollo.

She had repeated curtain calls and a critic wrote that her "demeanour was noble, natural and dignified without exaggeration and affectation, her accent was beautiful, crisp and expressive; her singing all Italian and of the best school.

"[2] 1834 was possibly her most memorable year because she also had great success in Rome in her first Anna Bolena, and in Florence, she charmed the public with her Romeo in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi as well as Desdemona in Rossini's Otello – a role she had already sung in Naples.