Nicoletta Panni
Nicoletta Panni (August 27, 1933 – September 12, 2017) was an Italian lyric soprano. Born in Rome, Panni was the niece of Giuseppe De Luca, and was trained as a singer at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia under Giannina Arangi Lombardi. Her debut came in Trieste in 1957, when she sang Blanche in "Dialogues of the Carmelites" by Francis Poulenc. She bowed at La Scala in 1962, singing Euridice in "Orfeo ed Euridice" by Christoph Willibald Gluck. During her career she sang throughout Italy, appearing at the , the Teatro la Fenice, the Teatro San Carlo, and the Teatro Regio  di Torino. She appeared abroad as well, singing at the Liceu and Teatro Nacional de São Carlos. 1962 saw her American debut, as Marguerite in "Faust" by Charles Gounod at the Philadelphia Opera. The following year saw her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Mimi in "La Bohème". She later sang Marguerite at the Met. She appeared with Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1964 as Zerlina in "Don Giovanni" and Micaela in "Carmen", and in 1965 performed Leonora in "Il trovatore" for Baltimore. Her career continued at various European houses until ending during the 1970s. Panni died in Rome. Nicoletta