Medea Mei-Figner by Mariinsky Theatre

Medea Mei-Figner, born Amedea Mei Zovaide (1859-1952); Italian soprano/contralto.
She was born in Florence and studied with Bianchi, Carozzi-Zucchi and Panofka. In 1874 she made her debut at Sinaluga as Azucena in Verdi's "Il Trovatore". During the following nine years she appeared in various Italian theatres. She made guest appearances in Madrid, Barcelona, London, Bukarest, Russia and South America. At that time her repertory included Amneris, Ulrica, Leonora (in La Favorita) and Carmen. Step by step she began to shift into the soprano repertory. She sang Valentine in Les Huguenots, Charlotte in Werther and Margherita in Mefistofele. During her appearances in Milan she met her future husband, the Russian tenor Nicolai Figner (1857-1918). She married him in 1889. They both joined the Imperial Opera in St. Petersburg, where they had very succesfull careers. The singer couple had a large influence on Russian musical life of their epoch. The with them befriended composer Tchaikovsky completed on their country estate in the vicinity of Tula his opera "Pique Dame/Queen of Spades", which he dedicated to the two artists. In the premiere in St. Petersburg (1890) Nikolai Figner sang the the role of Hermann and Medea Mei-Figner the role of Liza. They also created leading roles in the première of Tchaikovsky’s "Iolanta" (1892); Nicolai as Count Vaudémont and Medea as Iolanta. They sang at the première of 2 operas by the Czech composer and Mariinsky conductor Edouard Nápravnik: "Dubrovsky" in 1895 and "Francesca da Rimini" in 1902. She spent her life in Russia but remained an Italian trained singer. She appeared mostly in Italian and French operas. The couple was much loved by the Tsar’s family and they were guests at all the elegant drawing-rooms of Imperial Russia. In 1903 the singer couple divorced. In 1904 she made a last operatic tour in South America and continued her career at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg until her farewell performance as Carmen in 1912. She finally left Russia in 1930 and settled in Paris where she died in 1952.