We The Italians | Explorers, Emigrants, Citizens #11

Explorers, Emigrants, Citizens #11

Explorers, Emigrants, Citizens #11

  • WTI Magazine #11 Jan 03, 2014
  • 1972

WTI Magazine #11    2014 Jan, 3
Author : Paolo Battaglia      Translation by:

 

December 21, 1937 - Disney's "Snow White" premieres in Los Angeles, California
Adriana Caselotti was the voice of Snow White in the 1937 Disney movie. The clear purity of her singing virtually defined one of the most famous characters in cinema history. Adriana Caselotti's father. Guido, was an immigrant from Italy and a teacher of music and a vocal coach. Her mother, Maria Orefice (from Naples), was a singer in the Royal Opera.

December 24, 1910 - The soprano Luisa Tetrazzini perform in the streets of San Francisco
When legal disputes kept Luisa Tetrazzini, born in Florence, from singing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, she announced: "I will sing in San Francisco if I have to sing there in the streets, for I know the streets of San Francisco are free." On Christmas Eve in 1910, at the corner of Market and Kearney, Tetrazzini climbed a stage platform in a sparkling white gown, surrounded by a throng of an estimated two to three-hundred thousand San Franciscans, and serenaded the city she loved.

December 25, 1937 - Arturo Toscanini makes his debut as the director of the NBC Symphony Orchestra (in the photo, at Radio City Music Hall). The orchestra gave weekly radio broadcasts. Arturo Toscanini (who traveled back and forth to Italy and kept his Italian citizenship) was recognized throughout the United States, the best known orchestra conductor of his era. He made the cover of Time magazine three times, in 1926, 1934, and 1948, a reliable measure of fame in America.