Chicagoans knew them last week as Franca Somigli, Giuseppe Bentonelli and Anna Turkel. All three were young U.S. singers making their débuts with the Chicago Grand Opera.
Franca Somigli was Marian Bruce Clarke of Manhattan, whose Park Avenue aunt staked her to study in Italy. As Franca Somigli she sang three years at the Scala in Milan. In Chicago she had big dramatic roles in Andrea Chenier and Il Trovatore, both ill-suited to her delicate lyric voice. After the Trovatore criticisms, she was so cross that friends had to stop her from packing her...
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