Opera Singer. A lyrico spinto soprano who was possibly the last artist that could legitimately be called 'Prima Donna Assoluta', she shall beyond all doubt be remembered as the definitive exponent of the tragic Cio-Cio-San in Giacomo Puccini's "Madame Butterfly". Born Felicia Albanese, she was raised in Southern Italy and made her 1934 professional bow at either Bari as Mimi in Puccini's "La Boheme" or at Milan's Teatro Licico as the understudy for an indisposed Butterfly. Though she had early success in such roles as Micaela from Georges Bizet's "Carmen", Desdemona of Verdi's "Otello", Susanna in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro", Marguerite from Charles Gounod's "Faust", and the title leads of Massenet's "Manon" and Puccini's "Tosca" and "Manon Lescaut", she was intelligent enough to know her strengths and thus was to build her career around only a few choice parts, the doomed Geisha in "Madame Butterfly" as well as Liu of Puccini's "Turandot" and two young girls dying of tuberculosis, Mimi, and Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata". An immediate success, Licia cut several recordings and received rave reviews at La Scala Milano, London's Covent Garden, and other major venues prior to her February 9, 1940 Metropolitan Opera Debut as Cio-Cio-San. New York audiences were smitten and Licia soon reigned supreme, despite the fact that she was a nice lady in a profession not known for them, and though her fans probably did not realize how hard she worked on the small details, for example, practicing taking off her shoes as would a proper Japanese before entering a house and visiting tuberculosis wards to observe the patients, no small risk in the pre-Streptomycin era. Becoming an American citizen in 1945, she sang with Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony in complete broadcasts of "La Traviata" and "La Boheme", in 1948 joined Ramon Vinay, Leonard Warren, and Martha Lipton in a performance of "Otello" that was the first operatic national telecast, and from 1941 to 1961 was a regular at the San Francisco Opera, appearing 120 times in the City by the Bay. In 1966 Licia gave the last of her 427 Metropolitan performances but was denied an official 'farewell' as she had quit in a contract dispute with General Manager Rudolf Bing. In 1974, she joined with her husband, investment banker and Republican political figure Joseph Gimma, to found the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation which at her death continued to hold competitions and assist young singers. A respected teacher and Master Class presenter at Juilliard, the Manhattan School of Music, and Marymount Manhattan College, she also kept her voice until well along in years, in 1985 taking the role of Heidi Schiller in New York Philharmonic performances of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" then continuing to sing the piece as late as 1987, and in 1995 astonishing a Gala audience with a strong and note-perfect presentation of the National Anthem. The recipient of a Grammy Hall-of-Fame Award, she was presented with the National Medal of the Arts by President Bill Clinton in 1995 and in 2000 was bestowed the Handel Medallion by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Licia remained active and mentally sharp, lived out her days in Manhattan, and died of the effects of advanced age. At her demise much of her recorded legacy remained available on CD including some archived Metropolitan broadcasts, a 1930s "La Boheme" with the legendary Beniamino Gigli, whom she always addressed as 'Commendatore', as Rodolfo, the Toscanini performances, and a complete "Carmen" with Rise Stevens in the lead. Sadly, she never recorded a complete "Madame Butterfly", though 'live' preservations exist. Interestingly, though Violetta was not her signature, she continued to hold the Metropolitan Opera record for appearances as Verdi's courtesan with 87. Licia's true age has long been rather nebulous, and since her best known character was a 15 year old girl, many suspect that she shaved some years. If that be true, she was neither the first nor the last lady of the theatre to do so. While her obituary in the "New York Times" cited the date listed above, the best that can be said with certainty is that she was born sometime between 1908 and 1913.