Graziella Sciutti

Listen to any performance by Graziella Sciutti—or, better still, watch one—and the first thing to strike you is the soprano’s vivacity, her vitality. It fizzes under the surface even in sombre moments, but bubbles over irresistibly in lighter roles. Her Despina (Così fan tutte) is coquettishly charming, her Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro) or Norina (Don Pasquale) may run the show, but get their way with bags of charm and sweetness. Born in Italy in 1927, Sciutti made up for a smaller voice with her skills as an actress, projecting both sound and character with equal precision. A regular at New York’s Met, the Vienna State Opera and Covent Garden, and in demand at the Glyndebourne and Aix-en-Provence and Salzburg festivals, her career also produced a small but impressive collection of recordings, mostly of Mozart operas but also Verdi, Rossini and Handel. In her sixties she turned her focus to directing operas and teaching, working across both North America and Europe. She died in 2001 in Geneva.