Fanny Anitua (Mezzo-Soprano) (Durango, Mexico 1887 – Mexico City 1969)

Anitua initially studied singing in her native city, moving afterward to Mexico City, and later to Rome. She debuted at Teatro Nazionale in Rome in 1910, singing the role of Orfeo from the eponymous Christoph Willibald Gluck opera. She often sang at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, especially in Sigfried (1910-11 season), Etra in the first edition of Ildebrando Pizzetti's Fedra (1914-15 season), Konciakovna in Borodin's Prince Igor (1915-16 season), and besides Gluck's Orfeo, Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore and Un Ballo in Maschera (1923-26 seasons). She sang in other important Italian theaters, including Teatro Rossini in Pesaro and Teatro Regio in Parma, performing Il barbiere di Siviglia (1916) and La Cenerentola (1920), and very often in South American theaters such as Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, especially as Olga in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (1911) and as Amneris Verdi's Aida (1939). She has been considered one of the last true contraltos in the history of modern singing with low notes, wide and deep, with a sonorous and extended voice and with a solid technique that allowed her to perform Rossini despite the limited knowledge of coloratura at that time. One of her many students was the tenor Josռ Sosa Esquivel. Anitքa did not release many recordings, but there is a full edition of Carmen and a few opera pieces edited by Columbia.

Chronology of some appearances

1912 Palermo  Teatro Massimo Gioconda (Cieca)

1915 Milano  Teatro Dal Verme Ballo in Maschera (Ulrica)

1915 Milano  Teatro alla Scala Gioconda (Cieca)

1916 Pesaro  Salone Pedrotti Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1916 Roma  Teatro Argentina Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1916 Napoli  Teatro San Carlo Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1916 Parma  Teatro Regio Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1916 Palermo  Teatro Massimo Favorita (Leonora)

1916 Pisa  Teatro Verdi Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1916 La Spezia  Politeama Duca di Genova Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1916 Milano  Teatro Carcano Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1916 Bergamo  Teatro Donizetti Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1916 Brescia Teatro Sociale Gioconda (Cieca)

1917 Madrid  Teatro Reale Ballo in Maschera (Ulrica)

1917 Buenos Ayres  Teatro Colon Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1917 Montevideo  Teatro Solis Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1917 Montevideo  Teatro Solis Carmen (Carmen)

1917 San Paolo  Teatro Municipal Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1917 San Paolo  Teatro Municipal Carmen (Carmen)

1918 Bilbao  Coliseo Albia Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1918 Rio de Janeiro  Teatro Municipal Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1918 Lisbona  Coliseo Recrejos Carmen (Carmen)

1918 Valencia  Teatro Principal Carmen (Carmen)

1918 Cordoba  Politeama Gioconda (Cieca)

1921 Città del Messico  Teatro Esperanza Iris Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1921 Rio de Janeiro  Teatro Municipal Carmen (Carmen)

1922 Città del Messico  Teatro Esperanza Iris Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina)

1925 Milano  Teatro La Scala Ballo in Maschera (Ulrica)

1933  Modena  Teatro Municipale Ballo in Maschera (Ulrica)

RECORDINGS FOR SALE

Columbia, Milano 1911?
Trovatore (Verdi): Stride la vampa  C2276 M11119

Columbia, Milano 1912?
Aida (Verdi): Gia i sacerdoti adunansi…Misero appien mi festi with Egidio Cunego D5572

Columbia, Milano 1914?
Complete Carmen (Bizet) with Luigi Bolis, Cesare Formichi and Ines Maria Ferraris