January 22 - Rosa Ponselle (The Musical Birthday Series)

Rosa Ponselle (22 January 1897 – 25 May 1981) was one of the greatest operatic sopranos of the last century.

Variations on a Theme

Facetious

The first time Ponselle

Sang opera on stage 

   Was in Forza. Her tenor? Caruso

It went very well,

But at her tender age

    It surely was risky to do so.

Not so Facetious

The very first time that Ponselle

Appeared in an opera on stage

Her nerves made her feel unwell,

But she sang and was soon all the rage.

After such an auspicious debut --

She was (hard to believe) twenty-one --

There were probably many who knew

An illustrious career had begun.


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