Luigia Bendazzi
also Luigia Bendazzi-Secchi
Birthplace: Ravenna, Papal States
Luigia Bendazzi was an Italian soprano who created Amelia in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra at La Fenice in 1857. She studied in Milan and Bologna and made her debut in Venice in 1850 as Elvira in Ernani. Verdi was the centre of her repertory: Hélène in Les vêpres siciliennes, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Gilda and Violetta, with the power for Lady Macbeth too. She first sang at La Scala in 1857-58 and appeared at the Liceu in Barcelona in 1869-70. In 1859 she married the Piedmontese composer Benedetto Secchi, whose La fanciulla delle Asturie she had sung several times.
Creations
- Maria Boccanegra — Simon Boccanegra (Venice, 1857)
Written from
- 'Bendazzi, Luigia' (1992) in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 1, pp. 401-402.
- Wikipedia (2026) Luigia Bendazzi. (Accessed: 30 September 2026). The Italian article.
- 'Bendazzi, Luigia' (1966) in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, vol. 8. (Accessed: 30 September 2026).
- Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Bendazzi, Luigia', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 1, cols. 212-213.