Soprano

Malta’s undisputed leading dramatic soprano from the 1930s into the 1950s, Ciappara was born in Birkirkara and showed a musical talent from an early age.

She started training as a mezzo soprano under Madame Crocco. In 1935 she was noticed by Refice, the composer of Cecilia, who encouraged her to further her studies. She studied as a soprano at the Royal Academy of Music in London for three-and-a-half years. She became a very impressive singing actress with a wide-ranging, beautiful voice which she used with great intelligence and technique.

Returning to Malta in 1938 and after a few concert appearances, Ciappara made her debut at the Royal Opera House as Luigia in Usiglio’s Le educande di Sorrento to critical acclaim. In 1940 she learnt the role of Nedda in I Pagliacci in just three days, substituting for two performances the soprano who had sang in the premiere and thus scored an even bigger success. She sang leading roles in the 1946 revival of Diacono’s L’Alpino and the all-Maltese production of Cirillo’s Il Figlio del sole at the Radio City Opera House, Ħamrun, in 1950. Her successful roles included Violetta in La Traviata, the title role in Madame Butterfly, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, and, best of all, Fedora. Her singing partnerships with tenors Joe Zammit Harrison and John Lopez, as well as baritone Paul Scerri, were also notable. One of her last full-length opera appearances was in 1947 in La Boheme with Oreste Kirkop at the Radio City Opera House. She subsequently sang in recitals and concerts, retiring in the mid-1950s. She also devoted herself to teaching.

She was married to Victor Conti.

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.