Emma Zilli

Emma Zilli was an Italian soprano who created Alice Ford in Verdi's Falstaff at La Scala in 1893, and sang the role again at Covent Garden in the opera's first British performance in 1894. She made her debut at Ferrara in 1887 as Paolina in Poliuto, and first sang at La Scala in 1889 as Camille in Hérold's Zampa. A powerful singing actress, she was drawn to Puccini's Manon Lescaut and to Fidelia in Edgar. She contracted yellow fever on a tour of South America and died in Havana at the height of her career.