Romilda Pantaleoni

[1] Universally admired for her acting skills as well as her singing abilities, Pantaleoni was compared by several critics to the great Italian stage actress Eleonora Duse.

She studied singing in Milan under R. Rossi, B. Prati, and Francesco Lamperti before making her professional opera début at the Teatro Carcano in Jacopo Foroni's Margherita in 1868.

Her repertoire included such roles as Mathilde in Rossini's Guillaume Tell, Paolina in Donizetti's Poliuto, Sélika in Meyerbeer's L'Africaine, Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, and Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin.

She also was known for her portrayals of Verdi heroines including: Leonora in both Il trovatore and La forza del destino, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlos and the title role in Aida.

Her performance was greatly admired and is considered by music historians to be one of the reasons that Boito's opera enjoyed a renewed popularity after its less than enthusiastic reception in 1868.