DESCRIPTION:
"La Signora delle camelie" is an Italian melodrama by Gustavo Serena starring Francesca BERTINI with... Gustavo Serena. I made for this "belcantopera" version a new soundtrack including 78rpm recordings from Verdi's "La Traviata":


0:11 New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Arturo TOSCANINI plays Prelude to Act 1 from La Traviata. Recorded for Victor on March 18th, 1929.

3:54 Liszt's Liebestraum no. 3, played by Vladimir de PACHMANN in 1916. A perfect reflection of the state of mind evoked by the title... gentle and slightly subdued, yet poetic and flowing. The marvelous singing tone... Musicians of this generation still had authentic belcanto in their blood, and you can really hear it.

7:51 Ah, fors'è lui... Act 1 finale, sung by Lucrezia BORI in 1910 for Edison Records (Diamond Disc 82539). Bori's fragile tone and sensitive, swoony expression lend credibility to Violetta's tragic fate.

14:36 Lunge da lei... De' miei bollenti spiriti, sung by Giuseppe ANSELMI in 1910 for Fonotipia

18:11 Pura siccome un angelo - sung by Rosina STORCHIO & Riccardo STRACCIARI in 1906 for Fonotipia

21:49 Follie!.. Sempre libera, sung by Lucrezia BORI in 1910 for Edison Records

24:33 Invitato a qui seguirmi, sung by Fernando De LUCIA & Angela De ANGELIS in 1917 for Phonotype 1815 M

29:05 Addio, del passato, sung by Lucrezia BORI for Victor on December 2nd, 1914.

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Francesca BERTINI (1892 – 1985) was one of the most successful silent film stars in the first quarter of the twentieth-century.
Born in Florence, she was daughter of a comic theater actress. Bertini began performing on stages as a child, particularly in Naples, where her family was settled. In 1904, at the age of 16, she moved to Rome, where she improved her acting skills, especially on theater stages, and attempted to perform in the just-born Italian movie production.
Gradually she developed her beauty and elegance, plus a strong, intense, and charming personality, which would be the key of her success as a silent movie actress. With ASSUNTA SPINA in 1915 she took care of the scripts as well as performing the role of the main character. Bertini was popular internationally, reputedly, in 1915 she earned $175,000—a record for the time; Mary Pickford wouldn't catch up until the following year. She developed the current acting techniques of movie actresses by making it more sober, banning broad gestures or the mincing ways of the Diva. She is one of the first film actresses to focus on reality, rather than on a dramatic stereotype, an anticipation of Neorealistic canons. The expression of authentic feelings was the key of her success through many films. She could perform with success the languid decadent heroine as well as the popular common woman. Other important roles were Tosca and the Lady of the Camellias.
She died in Rome at the age of 93.

FRANCESCA BERTINI - ASSUNTA SPINA - 1915: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZqNIsZuoYk

FRANCESCA BERTINI - TOSCA - L'ULTIMA DIVA - 1918: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVU88ccO_9E

https://11east14thstreet.com/2011/10/12/francesca-bertini-diva-eterna/

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Francesca BERTINI (1892 - 1985) - Nel 1915 il produttore della Cesar, Giuseppe Barattolo, conia espressamente per lei la definizione di "DIVA". Elena Vitiello, in arte Francesca Bertini, ha sempre tenuto fede al suo soprannome. E sebbene novantenne riceveva i suoi ospiti nella hall del Grand Hotel, e teneva rigorosamente segreto il l'indirizzo del suo modesto appartamentino ai Parioli. Era la diva del cinema muto. In dieci anni aveva girato più di 120 film. La Bertini, l'attrice che i critici chiamavano "creatura sovrana", voleva avere l'ultima parola sulla sceneggiatura, le luci ed i costumi ... E così accetta il ruolo di Assunta Spinta a Napoli, dal vero. Indicato ancor oggi come il primo significativo risultato raggiunto dal cinema italiano sulla strada del verismo. Nel '21 la Bertini - la donna irraggiungibile che disse di no a Guglielmo Marconi - sposa il conte Cartier e rinuncia per amore ad un contratto di un milione di dollari da Hollywood. Da quel momento le sue apparizioni saranno saltuarie. Nel '75 Bertolucci la volle per un ruolo marginale in Novecento. Seppur l'attrice s'era ritirata da anni, la diva non s'arrese mai bella fino all'ultimo in pelliccia e gioielli. Veri o finti, che fossero:

"FRANCESCA BERTINI in TRAVIATA
100.000 LIRE IN PELLICCIE
Toilettes della Casa Paquin, di Parigi"

Francesca Bertini - La Diva del cinema muto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d90PnIUlCHA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDIsnsF5__U

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