Antonia Merighi

Antonia Margherita Merighi (born Bologna – died by 1764) was an Italian contralto active between 1711 and 1744 and particularly known today for her performances in operas by George Frideric Handel.

Biography

Antonia Merighi's initial career was in Italy, where for several years she was a virtuosa singer at the court of Violante Beatrice, Grand Princess of Tuscany and sang in theatres in Tuscany as well as in Venice, Parma, Turin, Mantua, Naples and her native Bologna, often in travesti roles. In Naples, she created the role of Iarba in the premiere of Domenico Sarro's Didone abbandonata (Teatro San Bartolomeo, 1 February 1724) and appeared in at least 18 other operas there.

She moved to London in 1729, where for two seasons, she sang in many of Handel's operas, sometimes in roles created for her by the composer (Matilda in Lotario, Rosmira in Partenope and Erissena in Poro), and sometimes in soprano parts from earlier operas adapted for her voice. She returned again to London in 1736 and in 1738 where she sang in the premieres of three more operas by Handel as well as in operas by other composers. She also sang in Handel's benefit concert at the King's Theatre in 1738. According to Winton Dean, her last opera performances appear to have been in Munich during the 1740 Carnival season. After her retirement from the stage, she lived in Bologna. Merighi was married to the tenor Carlo Carlani (1716–1776).