A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Persiana, Fanny
PERSIANA, FANNY.
Mdlle. Tacchinardi (the maiden name of this celebrated singer) was born at Rome, on the 4th. of October, 1812; her father was the well-known tenor of the above name, and her first public appearance as a singer was accidental, she having good-naturedly volunteered to take the place of a singer at Leghorn, who was incapacitated by illness from performing. So ably did she sustain her part, that her father, who had hesitated about devoting her to the musical profession, at once decided on doing so; and shortly after she accepted an engagement at Padua, from which place she went to Venice, where Pasta was then singing, and became not only the rival of that celebrated cantatrice, but the favourite of the Venetian public. In 1833, she sung at Milan, and in 1834 at Borne, where two operas were written expressly for her. Her fame spread over all Italy, and wherever she went—at Florence, Naples, Genoa, Pisar—she was hailed with enthusiastic applause. In the winter of 1837 she was at Paris, and there may be said to have set the seal to her reputation as one of the most brilliant and versatile singers who had ever delighted an audience. Madame Persiana has several times visited London. Of her domestic life but little appears to be known.