ROSA RAISA: A Biography of a Diva with Selections from Her Memoirs

Mintzer's account of the dramatic but largely forgotten soprano Rosa Raisa (1893–1963) is the first biography of the star, and an attempt to return her to her rightful place among 20th-century opera's shining lights. Raisa was born Raitza Burchstein in the Bialystok ghetto near the Russian border; at 13, in the wake of the 1906 pogroms, she fled to Italy. A wealthy Neapolitan couple arranged for her to audition for the Conservatory of Naples, and, at 14, her singing career began. She made her successful debut at Parma's Teatro Regio in 1913, and in the same year moved to the U.S. to work with the conductor Cleofonte Campanini, under whose urging she changed her name. But with the outbreak of WWI, Raisa went back to Italy and spent the next two years singing to acclaim there and in South America. She returned to Campanini's Chicago Opera in 1916, where she remained a star until her retirement in 1937. Drawing on information from her unpublished memoir and correspondence and conversations with her daughter, granddaughter, sister and friends, Mintzer, a freelance writer in New York City, presents a detailed account of the diva's life and career. Quoting extensively from reviews of her performances, he highlights her famous roles, such as her performance in Turandot, conducted by Toscanini, at La Scala's premiere of Puccini's last opera. Mintzer also documents her personal history: her marriage to baritone Giacomo Rimini, her struggle to have a child and feelings about being a Jew trained in Italy and living in America. His treatment is thorough and straightforward, but it is the many colorful excerpts from her own memoir that really bring Raisa to life. Illus. not seen by PW. (Dec. 3)