#108 Heavenly song: Celestina Boninsegna

Posted on by e~collage

The diva

Celestina Boninsegna was a born on 26 February 1877 in Reggio Emilia, Italy. She studied with composer Guglielmo Mattioli (1857-1924) for the opera and made her professional debut at 15 years of age.

Italy's r flag colours are red & green.
Reggio Emilia in red on the Italian map.

She is best known for her soulful interpretations of Verdi’s heroines, but she did have a wide repertoire including singing Rosaura in the world premiere of Pietro Mascagni’s Le Maschere (The Masks) — the librettist was Luigi Illica — on 17 January 1901 at La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy.

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This was a rather circular homage for the diva — Mascagni’s Le Maschere was itself a respectful nod to Rossini under whom Mattioli, her voice maestro, studied

Diva Boninsegna made many recordings between 1904 and 1918, of which we highlight just one, that is beautiful in its clarity and resonant in depth, how well they captured her magnificent voice.

the astrological study

an early picture from OperaNostalgia.

Dr. Marc Edmund Jones correctly notes her Reggio Emilia birth of February 26th but without either a time or year. That is not surprising as opera singers likes Hollywood stars often obscured their age lest their fans think they were “too old.” Astro.com cites that its time 6:30 AM as questionable for Reggio nell-Emilia, Italy – the same town just its legal name so no change is warranted there. We have rectified the 6:30 AM to 6:33 AM giving her a Pisces 01 Ascendant — it works well in her chart particularly for the La Scala debut (see below).

The diva’s natal chart. She has one major opposition between Uranus in the sixth highlighting her individual career of voice and Mercury in the public sector of life. She has a fixed Grand Trine — though Neptune is wide of course — making her a Locomotive Temperament Type with Neptune driving her ambition.
The La Scala opening nite was a tremendous success for her. Look to the seventh house where the opera’s part of fortuna is conjunct her own. Click here to hear a piece, recorded years later, from it.
This last chart is sheer speculation, put up for astrological enjoyment. We do not know where she died, we imagine it was in Italy, so we picked Milan. Neither do we know what time or cause though we suspect it was of a heart attack (transiting Saturn opposite Mercury conjunct travelling Mars conjunct transiting Sun).
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