Diamond ring

Claw-set with a cut-cornered rectangular step-cut diamond weighing 9.19 carats, between tapered baguette diamond shoulders, mounted in platinum, size 57½.

Stamped Pt 900 for platinum and 10% Irid Plat. Please refer to the GIA report and worksheet for further information on the diamond. Some scratches to the metal, commensurate with age and wear. In good condition.
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"My very own transistor radio was the present I received from my parents for going up into the first year of middle school. It made me very happy and I kept it in my bedroom.  One evening I turned it on and I felt totally ecstatic after listening to a live broadcast from the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, where Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" with Maria Caniglia and Beniamino Gigli was being performed. It was like 'love at first sight 'and, from that moment on, I understood that it would become my passion."

These are the early and highly prophetic recollections of Antonietta Stella who was to become one of the most internationally feted operatic singers and divas of her times. Born on March 15th, 1929 in Perugia, Italy, her musical talents were noticed at a young age and she was soon accepted as a pupil by the Maestro Aldo Zeetti, a retired conductor who taught at the Morlacchi Conservatory in Perugia. The vital break for her career came in August 1950 in Spoleto; here she made her debut singing the role of Leonora in Verdi's "Il Trovatore". Her exquisite pure and warm voice with its rich Verdian timbre made her an immediate success and assured her a place in the hearts of her adoring public.  'Il Messaggero' of the 12th August reported "Antonietta Stella's success has made a new star of opera .....Antonietta Stella, the dazzling up-and-coming star, excelled in a truly difficult role, overcoming every obstacle with great confidence.  She has, as we predicted, great talent.  She performed the dramatic accents wonderfully; her singing expressed unrivalled talent. No one could have ever imagined, if they did not already know, that is was this beautiful young girl's first time on stage. In his operas Verdi forces a 'double genre' on the soprano requiring both dramatic leaps and explosions and virtuosos soprano passages but Antonietta Stella tackled all this confident of her ability. She performed gentle, lyrical and virtuoso passages with the same perfection as the most dramatic ones. She is therefore not only a great performer but also a great singer." 

 In January 1951she took on the role of Leonora in "La Forza del Destino" at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome. This performance had been chosen to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of the great Maestro. She sang opposite Mario del Monaco, with whom in April she would also sing 'Il Trovatore'. Guido Pannain wrote for "Il Tempo" on 28 January 1951: "The Teatro dell'Opera could not have paid Verdi a better tribute than with this young, spiritually rich artist's performance. Antonietta Stella is a priceless performer coming in the name of Verdi ..........  The beauty of her youthful musical style has blown away the cobwebs and brought us joy and solace with her playful, rich, fluid, and unspoilt voice."

Antonietta Stella went on to captivate the world with her remarkable voice, appearing on all the world's greatest opera stages; her debut at La Scala in Milan having taken place in 1954 with "Otello", alongside Mario del Monaco and Tito Gobbi. By the mid 1950's Antonietta was a top singer: she was able to flourish in the world of opera at a time when it was dominated by the likes of two great divas: Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi and. 1958 saw her exceptional performance as Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's 'Madame Butterfly' at New York's Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulus and a new production by Rudolph Bing Both public and critics received Antonietta Stella's performance enthusiastically. Bold headlines ran "Miss Stella in the new "Madame Butterfly" is much more than just a singer and an actress, she is Cio-Cio-San"......"Her great melodious voice is richly expressive and, in the role of Butterfly, she has given us everything..........This 'Butterfly' with go down in the history of the Metropolitan Opera as the most beautiful ever."

 Throughout her career Antonietta Stella recorded for all the great recording labels and many of her performances were broadcast live. Her opera career was truly exceptional and her life remarkable. When she retired from the opera stage Antonietta Stella decided to devote herself entirely to teaching young singers her art – an art which she still very much loves and thrives on today.

Bibliography

For further biography of Antonietta Stella and portraits see:-

Stefano Papi "Stage Jewels" Electa, 2004, pages 137 - 167