the first Italian performances of Richard Strauss's Die schweigsame Frau, and Egloge in the 1935 world-premiere of Mascagni's Nerone (in which she stole all the reviews), both at La Scala, where she continued to appear until 1955. Returning to London in 1946 London, as a leading star of the visiting San Carlo company of Naples, she sang a peculiarly affecting Violetta in La traviata. She had previously been much admired by the troops who had seen her in this role in Naples. Elegant, pretty, petite and with a gift of charm mixed with pathos, the madonna-faced Carosio portrayed the demi-mondaine as to the manner born. Later still, she appeared with a scratch Italian company in one of her most piquant roles, that of the flighty Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, which she had also sung at La Scala and recorded for EMI. Carosio is most often remembered today as the singer whose indisposition in January 1949 led to Maria Callas learning and singing the role of Elvira in Bellini's I puritani in five days, while she was performing Brünnhilde in Wagner's Die Walküre at Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Latterly, she was noted in the more lyrical roles of Mimi and Violetta; her purity of tone and ability to convey vulnerability were very appropriate to these parts. As late as 1954, she returned to La Scala to appear in the house premiere of Menotti's Amelia Goes to the Ball, which she also recorded. She had a brief career in Italian films, and even received an offer from MGM in Hollywood, which she turned down because of her many commitments. But she evinced her popular appeal in recordings of songs of the day. Retirement and death Carosio retired from the operatic stage in 1959 and for the next 40 years pursued a second career as a journalist and music critic in her hometown, where she died in 2005, aged 96. References Bibliography The Last Prima Donnas, by Lanfranco Rasponi, Alfred A Knopf, 1982; " Margherita Carosio. La diva che amava i gioielli", by Andrea Lanzola, in "Étude" n° 31, July–August–September 2005 (Association internationale de chant Lyrique TITTA RUFFO. Site: titta-ruffo-international.jimdo.com). 1908 births 2005 deaths Artists from Genoa Italian operatic sopranos Fonotipia Records artists 20th-century Italian women opera singers Italian women journalists Italian music critics