Nicolina Giordani (c.1740 – after 1775), also known by the stage name La Signora Spiletta or La Spiletta, was an Italian opera singer.
A member of the Giordanis family from Naples, she was the daughter of Antonia and Giuseppe Giordani, librettist and composer, and the sister of Francesco and Marina, both singers, and Tommaso, a composer and instrumentalist. She performed in opera productions with her family's company in Northern Italy, Germany, Holland and France, before settling in London, where she was active between 1753 and 1774. She became known by her stage name after a popular performance as the character from Gli Amanti Gelosi. She was described by Thomas Gray as a singer "with the utmost justness of ear, the strongest expression of countenance, the most speaking eyes, the greatest vivacy & variety of gesture". She also received praise by Horace Walpole, who wrote that she "beats all the actors and actresses I ever saw for vivacity and variety".
References
- ^ Walsh, T. J. (1973). Opera in Dublin, 1705-1797: the social scene. A. Figgis. ISBN 978-0-900372-74-2.
- ^ Highfill, Philip H.; Burnim, Kalman A.; Langhans, Edward A. (1978). A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800: Garrick to Gyngell. SIU Press. p. 218. ISBN 9780809308330.
- "Giordani, Nicolina (fl. 1753–1774)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004-09-23. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/69632. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Sonneck, Oscar George Theodore (1922). The Musical Quarterly. G. Schirmer. pp. 408.
- Stone, George Winchester (1981-01-01). The Stage and the Page: London's "whole Show" in the Eighteenth-century Theatre. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520042018.
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