Carte de visite Paul Frecker Carlotta Patti (1835-1889) - Italian sprano
Carlotta Patti was one of six children born to a Sicilian father and Italian mother. Her parents were involved in opera and the family moved about Europe although they were reported to be poor. Carlotta's younger sister Adelina Patti became the leading soprano of 19th century, and she is known to have been born in Madrid. Also in the talented family was sister, Amalia who sang opera and her brother Carlo who became an opera conductor in New Orleans, St. Louis and New York.
Carlotta was older than her two soprano sisters and was considered less attractive in comparison to her sisters. She was born in Italy in 1835 and likely gained her training through the family's connections to opera. The Patti family moved to New York in 1847. Carlotta had a fantastic voice and abilities to reach to High G. She made her debut in 1861 in New York. Carlotta married Maurice Strakosch a Czech impresario who guided her career. Her concert tours took her across Europe and a large part of America. Richard D'Oyly Carte launched a concert agency in Charing Cross, England and negotiated engagements and concert tours for Carlotta and her younger sister, Adelina during the 1870's. Carlotta Patti died on 27 June 1889.
(Kindly contributed by T. Max Hochstetler, June 2007)
