Maria Cebotari Movies
- 1939
Italian filmmaker Carmine Gallone was still in his "operetta" mode when he helmed 1938's Il Sogno di Butterfly (Dream of the Butterfly) Maria Cebotari plays opera diva Rosa Belloni, currently starring in a production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. The plot thickens when Rosa's backstage life begins to mirror the travails of the character she is portraying. The climax comes when Harry Peters (Fosco Giachetti), the American father of Rosa's illegitimate child, returns after four years with his new wife in tow, leading inexorably to a doleful ending both on- and offstage. Critics complained about the substandard photography in Il Sogno di Butterfly, but this might have been due to poor laboratory work. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Cebotari, Fosco Giachetti, (more)
- 1938
This Italian-German co-production was released in English-speaking countries as Mother Song. Italian opera favorites Beniamino Gigli and Maria Cebotari star in this tale about the romance between two temperamental singing stars. Highlights include a lengthy selection from Faust, with Gigli making a most impressive Mephistopheles. The plot takes a melodramatic turn towards the climax, with the lives of the characters mirrored in their on-stage behavior. Director Carmine Gallone was something of an expert in the field of filmed opera, as witness his Tosca, Rigoletto and Il Trovatore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beniamino Gigli, Maria Cebotari, (more)
- 1938
Giuseppe Verdi was also released as The Life of Verdi for the benefit of filmgoers who had trouble grasping the obvious. Fosco Giachetti stars as the title character, aging nearly 30 years in the course of the film. The story begins when the teenaged Verdi leaves his hometown behind to study music in Milan, only to face rejection from the school's hide-bound board of directors. He is forced to endure several subsequent setbacks until he is helped along the road to success by sympathetic opera diva Giuseppina (Gaby Morlay), whom he eventually marries. An amusing later moment finds Verdi and a pompous tenor (Beniamino Gigli) rehearsing the La Donna e Mobile aria from Rigoletto, all the while attempting to keep this composition secret from potential music thieves. The film ends with the triumphant premiere of Aida in Egypt, in commemoration of the opening of the Suez Canal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fosco Giachetti, Germana Paolieri, (more)
- 1936
Girls in White is the English-language title of this German semi-musical. The title characters are students in an exclusive St. Petersburg girl's academy. The principal character is Daniella, the daughter of a now-deceased opera diva. Since Daniella is played by famed soprano Maria Cebotari, be assured that the character has inherited her mother's musical talents. Alas, Daniella's aristocratic fiance (Ivan Petrovich) refuses to allow her to pursue an operatic career, leading to a harmless but compromising situation involving opera fan Grand Duke Sergei (Georg Alexander). There's more to the story than this, but people went to see Maedchen in Weiss to see the girls, not concentrate on the plot convolutions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Cebotari, Ivan Petrovich, (more)
