Giulia Grisi (22 May 1811 – 29 November 1869) was an Italian opera singer. She performed widely in Europe, the United States and South America and was among the leading sopranos of the 19th century. Her second husband was Giovanni Matteo Mario de Candia (also known as "Mario the Tenor"), scion of a noble family of the Kingdom of Sardinia. She is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Her grave is marked "Juliette de Candia", styled in her married last name; usually better known by the courtesy title the Marquesse of Candia. Early life Born in Milan, Giulia Grisi was the daughter of Gaetano Grisi, one of Napoleon's Italian officers, and Giovanna née Grassini. She came from a musically gifted family, her maternal aunt Giuseppina Grassini (1773–1850) being a favourite opera singer both on the continent and in London. Her older sister, Giuditta and her cousin Carlotta were both performing artists, the former as a singer and the latter as a ballet dancer. Giuditta was the creator of the breeches role of Romeo in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Grisi was trained for a musical career, making her stage debut as Emma in Rossini's Zelmira in Bologna in 1828. Operatic career Rossini and Bellini both took an interest in her, she was the first to play the part of Adalgisa in Bellini's Norma in Milan, in which the dramatic soprano Giuditta Pasta took the title role. Grisi appeared in Paris in 1832 in the title role of Semiramide in Rossini's opera and was a great success; in 1834 she made her debut in London as Ninetta in La gazza ladra; and, again in Paris, in 1835 she created the role of Elvira in the premiere of Bellini's final opera, I puritani at the Théâtre-Italien. In 1842, Donizetti wrote the parts of Norina and Ernesto in Don Pasquale for Grisi and Giovanni Matteo de Candia, usually known by his stage-name of Mario, who was to become the love of her life. Her voice was described as a dramatic soprano which, during her prime, was praised by music critics for its exceptional beauty, evenness and smoothness. Her career spanned 30 years in total. She was a noted actress, appearing regularly in London with such eminent singers as Luigi Lablache, Giovanni Battista Rubini and Antonio Tamburini, not to mention her husband, Mario. Indeed, the prickly press commentator Henry Chorley praised both