Teresa De Matienzo

Italian American soprano (b. 1875 Naples, Italy - d. February 18, 1931 Brooklyn, Kings, NY, USA) De Matienzo performed at a young age in the caffè-concertos of Naples, but temporarily retired from the stage when she married composer and illustrator Alfredo Melina in 1895. In 1907, she, her husband, and their eleven-year-old daughter left Naples to immigrate to the United States. Settling in Brooklyn, New York, De Matienzo resumed her singing career and became the queen of Neapolitan song in the United States. In 1917, her Compagnia Italiana was hired as the opening act for the new Italian-language Liberty Theatre in San Francisco, and she recorded more than 80 songs with Columbia, OKeh, and Victor between 1910 and 1924.