Gina Cigna (1900-2001) was a dramatic soprano who was prominent during the interwar years. She was born in Angers, France to parents of Italian ancestry. She initially trained as a pianist studying with the renowned pianist Alfred Cortot. In 1921 she married French tenor Maurice Sens who convinced her to turn to singing.
In 1927, she debuted at La Scala as Freia in Das Rheingold. Over the next two years, she sang minor roles with the company. In 1929 she appeared as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and scored a big success. Thereafter, she appeared at many of the world’s major opera houses singing the core Italian dramatic soprano parts.
She gave her first performance at the Met as Aida in 1937. She got good reviews for her Aida performance and was rapturously received by the Met’s audience. During the same month of her appearance at the Met she sang the leads in Il Trovatore, Norma, and La Gioconda. Audience interest remained high, but the critics were harsh. She returned to the New York company the following season adding Don Giovanni, again as Donna Elvira, and Cavalleria Rusticana to her Met list – but that was it. She never again sang at the Met. By the time World War II was over so was most of her voice.
She continued to appear at La Scala until 1945. In 1948, she suffered a severe automobile accident, which ended her career. He is also said to have suffered a heart attack in the same year, but given her survival to age 101 I doubt the diagnosis. She spent her post-operatic career as a voice teacher.
She participated in the first complete recordings of Norma and Turandot – both for Cetra Records.
Cigna’s singing was known for its power and intensity. Her noticeable vibrato may bother some listeners. I have no trouble with it. The fine details of vocal expression were not part of her armamentarium. These deficiencies likely explain the divergence between the critics and the audience. Her best years were the thirties. Her voice lost effect when she was still relatively young due to the punishment her vocal style inflicted on it.
Below are eight examples of her singing made in the studio and in performance. Her best singing seems to correspond with her performances in the early thirties.
‘In questa regia’ from Turandot is from the studio recording of the opera. The tenor heard at the end is Francesco Merli.
‘Casta Diva’ is from the complete recording of Norma.
The two arias from Aida are from a Met performance. Note the audience’s reaction. ‘Ritorna vincitor’
‘O patria mia’
‘D’amor sull’ali rosee’ from Il Trovatore does not meet the stylistic requirements of this great aria which are beyond Cigna’s ability to realize its great demands.
She does better with the three verismo aria that conclude this piece. ‘La mamma morte’ is from Act 3 of Girodano’s Andrea Chenier. The aria plays to the soprano’s strengths – effective declamation and powerful high notes.
One of opera’s guiltiest pleasures is Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur. I confess to sucumbing to Adriana’s vocal delights. ‘Io son l’umile ancella’ is from Act 1.
‘Poveri fiori’ is from Act 4. The flowers she sings about were poisoned by her rival in love. She kisses the flowers and dies, but not before singing a few very good tunes.
Cigna represents the style of singing of Italian opera that was dominant about a century ago. One can understand her popularity during her prime even if she was not at the top of a very strong list of Italian style singers like Claudia Muzio and Rosa Ponselle.
