Grandi, Margherita, (née Margaret Garde)
Grandi, Margherita, (née Margaret Garde)
Grandi, Margherita, (née Margaret Garde), Australian soprano; b. Hobart, Oct. 4, 1894;d. Milan, 1972. She studied at the Royal Coll. of Music in London, with Calvé in Paris, and with Russ in Milan. In 1919 she made her operatic debut under the stage name of Djema Vécla (an anagram of Calve) at the Paris Opéra-Comique in Werther. In 1922 she created the title role in Massenet’s Amadis in Monte Carlo. After marrying the scenic designer Giovanni Grandi, she sang under her married name. In 1932 she appeared as Aida at Milan’s Teatro Carcano, and returned to that city to sing Elena in Mefistofele at La Scala in 1934. She sang at the Glyndebourne Festivals in 1939, 1947, and 1949. In 1946 she appeared at the Verona Arena. In 1947 she sang Tosca and Donna Anna at London’s Cambridge Theatre. In 1949 she returned to London to create the role of Diana in Bliss’s The Olympians at Covent Garden. She also made guest appearances in South America. In 1951 she retired from the operatic stage. Grandi’s most acclaimed roles were Lady Macbeth and Tosca, which she projected in the grand manner.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire