Editing Giuditta Pasta (section)

==Career==
===Early career===
Pasta was born Giuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Negri in [[Saronno]], near Milan, on 26 October 1797.<ref name=Stern>Stern (n.d.)</ref> She was born of the Negri family, who came from [[Lomazzo]], where the family practiced medical art. Her father, Carlo Antonio Negri or Schwarz, was [[Jews|Jewish]] and a soldier in the [[Napoleonic Army]].<ref>Conway (2012), pg. 224.</ref> She studied in Milan with Giuseppe Scappa and Davide Banderali, and later with [[Girolamo Crescentini]] and [[Ferdinando Paer]] among others. In 1816, she married fellow singer Giuseppe Pasta and took his surname as her own.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.madamegilflurt.com/2013/10/notable-births-giuditta-pasta.html|title=Giuditta Pasta, Opera Diva|website=www.madamegilflurt.com}}</ref> She made her professional opera début in the world première of Scappa's ''Le tre Eleonore'' in Milan that same year. Later that year she performed at the [[Théâtre Italien]] in Paris as Donna Elvira in ''[[Don Giovanni]]'', Giulietta in [[Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli]]'s ''[[Giulietta e Romeo]]'', and in two operas by Paer.<ref name=Stern/>

Pasta's first appearance in [[London]] in 1817 was a failure. Further studies with Scappa were followed by a successful debut in [[Venice]] in 1819. She caused a sensation in [[Paris]] in 1821–22, in the role of Desdemona in [[Gioachino Rossini]]'s opera ''[[Otello (Rossini)|Otello]]''.<ref name=Stern/>
[[File:Karl Brullov 54.jpg|thumb|upright|As Anna Bolena ([[Anne Boleyn]]), 1830, by [[Karl Bryullov]]]]

===Roles written specifically for Pasta===
[[File:Giuditta Pasta-Amina-La sonnambula.jpg|thumb|upright|Giuditta Pasta as Amina, May 1831 premiere]]
She sang regularly in London, Paris, Milan and Naples between 1824 and 1837. In Milan she created three roles which were written for her voice. They were the title role of [[Gaetano Donizetti|Donizetti]]'s ''[[Anna Bolena]]'' given at the Teatro Carcano in 1830 (which was that composer's greatest success at that time), the Amina in [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]]'s ''[[La sonnambula]]'' and the protagonist's part of his ''[[Norma (opera)|Norma]]'' (both in 1831), which became three of her major successes. [[Stendhal]] had argued persuasively in 1824 for the necessity of a score composed expressly for Pasta.<ref>Rutherford 2007, p. 123</ref>

===Later career===
Pasta retired from the stage in 1835 and performed only infrequently after that date (including performances in London in 1837 and in Germany and Russia in 1840–1841.)<ref name=Stern />

Pasta later taught singing in Italy.<ref>Elson 1912, p. ??</ref> Among her notable pupils were contralto [[Emma Albertazzi]] and soprano [[Marianna Barbieri-Nini]] and the English soprano [[Adelaide Kemble]]. Another pupil was [[Carolina Ferni]], herself a noted Norma, who in her turn taught the soprano [[Eugenia Burzio]] whose recordings are known for their passionate expression.

Pasta died in [[Blevio]], a town in the province of [[Como]] on 1 April 1865, at the age of 67.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giuditta-negri_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/ |title=Negri, Giuditta |first=Francesco |last=Lora |encyclopedia=Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani |language=it |volume=78 |year=2013}}</ref>