Fanny Salvini-Donatelli

Fanny Salvini-Donatelli was an Italian soprano who created Violetta in Verdi's La traviata at La Fenice in 1853. Born Francesca Lucchi, she began as an actress and became the second wife of the actor Giuseppe Salvini, stepmother to the young Tommaso Salvini, and made her operatic debut at Venice in 1839 as Rosina. In Vienna in 1842-43 she sang Abigaille in Nabucco under Verdi's direction. Her singing at the Traviata premiere was applauded, yet its failure has often been laid, rather unfairly, on her stout figure. She sang in London in 1858, and Berlioz admired her voice.