SINICO [MARINI], Clarice (b Ascoli Piceno, Italy, 4 May 1838; d Lambeth, London, 23 June 1909)

This chapter presents a biography of mid- to late-19th-century Victorian vocalist Clarice Sinico. For the delicious little actress with the perfect soprano voice, perfectly trained and managed, who could have the audience in stitches with her feathered duet in Il flauto magico, was much, much more than a simple operatic soubrette. She made her debut at London's Italian Opera as Violetta in La traviata. She played Leonora in Il trovatore, Gertrude in Hamlet and Ortrud in Lohengrin at Her Majesty's Theatre. She sang the title-role in Lucia di Lammermoor. The lady known as 'Mdlle Sinico' and, at various times, 'Madame Sinico' had only de facto rights to that well-known musical surname. The singer and her singing, on the contrary, were accepted immediately by the public and the management. Clarice was handed the roles vacated by Vitali of Anne Page and Lady Henrietta in Martha.