Maria Labia

She made her professional opera début in Stockholm in 1905 portraying the role of Mimì in Puccini's La bohème.

Resuming her career after the war, she sang Giorgetta in the first European performance of Il tabarro (1919, Rome), repeating the role in that year in Buenos Aires.

She also portrayed Felice in La Scala's first production of Wolf-Ferrari’s I quattro rusteghi (1922), a role that became her favourite and in which she continued to appear until 1936.

Her elder sister Fausta (1870–1935) had a relatively short career (1892–1912), which included performances as Sieglinde under Toscanini at La Scala.

She retired shortly after her marriage to the tenor Emilio Perea [Wikidata].