Maria Caniglia

Italian dramatic soprano, a leader in her profession in the 1930s and 1940s.

She made her professional debut in Turin as Chrysothemis in Elektra in 1930. The same year she sang Magda in Respighi's La campana sommersa in Genoa and Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin in Rome and made her debut at La Scala in Milan as Maria in Pizzetti's Lo straniero. She sang regularly at La Scala until 1951 in the leading dramatic soprano roles in opera, such as Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Aida, Andrea Chénier, Tosca and Adriana Lecouvreur. She was particularly successful in roles from the latter verismo school.

On the international scene, Caniglia appeared in venues such as the Paris Opéra, Covent Garden, and the Teatro Colón. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York on 21 November 1938 as Desdemona in Otello.

Caniglia was married in 1939 to Italian composer Pino Donati (1907–1975), who was also music director of the Verona Arena, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and the Chicago Lyric Opera. She died in Rome on 16 April 1979, aged 73.