Lucia Valentini Terrani

Born Lucia Valentini, she studied first at the Padua Music Conservatory, and later at the Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello in Venice.

However, she did not restrict herself to the belcanto and expanded her repertoire to include roles such as Eboli, Quickly, Mignon, Carmen, Charlotte, Dulcinée, Marina and Jocasta.

She was diagnosed with leukemia in 1996, and went to the famous Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle for treatment, where her colleague and friend José Carreras had been treated for the same affliction.

One of the leading contemporary Italian coloratura mezzos, she had a rich, creamy and agile voice used with fine musicianship, and had a good stage presence.

A small square close to the Teatro Verdi in Padua, the city of her birth, has been named Piazzetta Lucia Valentini Terrani in her honour.