Born in Trieste in 1920, Barbieri debuted in Florence, in 1940, toured Germany, Belgium and Holland in 1943, retired because of marriage but reemerged in 1945. She studied at Trieste and Florence, at La Scala from 1946 and from 1950 at the Met (début as Eboli). She later sang at Covent Garden. Her powerful voice and strong stage presence, admired in a repertory of over 100 roles, were particularly suited to Verdi. She is perhaps best remembered for Azucena but in the 1960s turned increasingly to character parts, notably, Quickly.

During a total career of 55 years she appeared in Milan, Verona, Rome, Salzburg, Buenos Aires, London, Paris, Vienna, San Francisco and New York in a repertory of 110 roles, including Cenerentola, Don Carlo, Carmen, Orfeo and Giulio Cesare. She made a great number of recordings, among them Ballo, Favorita, Gioconda, Suor Angelica, Aïda, Forza, Trovatore, Don Sebastiano, Medea, Eracle (Handel) and Linda di Chamounix.

As is evident in this film, Barbieri's face is as expressive as her singing is gutsy. - Stefan Zucker

Barbieri's film (click for link)

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