The Italian prima donna Magda Olivero, who has died aged 104, had one of the most remarkable careers of the 20th century, above all as a leading exponent of the often-derided art of the verismo soprano. The post-Romantic realism of the verismo movemement in Italian opera, notably in works by Giacomo Puccini, Francesco Cilea, Franco Alfano, Umberto Giordano and Pietro Mascagni, provided an ideal vehicle for her compelling presence, and brought her a great following.
She had sung the role of Adriana Lecouvreur in Cilea's opera opposite Beniamino Gigli before the second world war, but during the war she married and all but retired. It was Cilea who encouraged her to return to the stage, first as Mimì in La Bohème, then as Adriana at Brescia, (1951). Cilea died shortly before her performance, but he had coached Olivero in what was to become her most famous role.
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