Adelaide Borghi-Mamo
also Adelaide Borghi
Birthplace: Bologna, Papal States
Adelaide Borghi-Mamo was an Italian mezzo-soprano with a full-toned, vibrant voice and a passionate temperament. She studied in Milan and made her debut at Urbino in the carnival of 1845–46, in Mercadante's Il giuramento, before singing across Italy and in Vienna. In Paris she was Azucena in the first French performance of Il trovatore, at the Théâtre-Italien in 1854, and from 1856 sang at the Opéra, where she created Mélusine in Halévy's La magicienne and Azucéna in Le trouvère. She first sang in London in 1860. She married the tenor Michele Mamo, and their daughter Erminia became a soprano.
Creations
- Azucéna — Il trovatore (Paris, 1857)
Written from
- Forbes, E. (1992) 'Borghi-Mamo [née Borghi], Adelaide', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 1, p. 551.
- Wikipedia (2026) Adelaide Borghi-Mamo. (Accessed: 29 September 2026).
- Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Borghi-Mamo, Adelaide', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 1, cols. 322-323.
- Rescigno, E. (2001) 'Borghi Mamo, Adelaide', in Dizionario verdiano. Milan: Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli, p. 97.
- Teatri, arti e letteratura (1845) 'Spettacoli del carnevale 1845 al 46', vol. 44, p. 120. (Accessed: 18 October 2026).
- Il Pirata (1845) p. 261. (Accessed: 18 October 2026).