Antoinette Miggiani, soprano, teacher dies aged 88
Tributes poured in late on Monday, with former students recalling their dedicated teacher
Antoinette Miggiani, operatic soprano and singing teacher, has died aged 88.
Tributes poured in late on Monday when news of her passing spread on social media, with several of her former students recalling their dedicated teacher.
Born in Sliema, Miggiani had won a British Council scholarship to study at London's Royal Academy of Music in 1958.
She subsequently secured a contract with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, after winning an international competition.
In the 1960s, her career took her across Europe - she sang in the UK, France, Germany, and Italy among others, while returning to Malta to perform from time to time.
Among others, in 1967, she gave a Royal Gala Performance for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
She also went on a tour in the US in the late 1960s.
In 1991, Miggiani was awarded the Medal for Service to the Republic of Malta.
'She opened her mouth, and heaven poured out of it'
On Monday, several of her former students paid tribute to her work.
Among them, tenor Aldo Busuttil thanked her for all she did with him throughout the years.
In her farewell to "a friend", Maria Grech Ganado said Miggiani remained the centre of one of her most amazing memories.
"I first heard her sing in a classroom in Valletta. There was to be a concert by the pupils of St Joseph Convent and the Sliema girls were rehearsing there as well.
"I was in the choir, I thought (I was younger) but it was a chorus and we were singing 'La Vergine degli Angeli' from Verdi's La Forza del Destino. Among us was this 'giant' also in our white uniform. And suddenly she opened her mouth, and Heaven poured out of it.
"I was stunned by the beauty of it in such a relatively small space, stopped my own singing and simply listened in awe with my mouth open and silent. I could never listen to the aria after that without thinking of that magic experience. And still cannot," Grech Ganado said.
Connie Francesca Zerafa meanwhile recalled how Miggiani had discovered her at the age of 18 and was patient enough to take her under her wing.
"She did not just teach me singing but was also a great example of how I should conduct myself as a classical singer. She was larger than life and a mother figure to many of her students," she added.