The glamorous life of opera singer Adelina Patti

Adelina Patti photographed in the mid-1890s in London.

Dizzying heights of fame and fortune

Patti was born to a family of musicians in Spain. She began singing professionally during her childhood in New York.

But in 1861, Patti shot to fame when she sailed to London and performed in La Sonnambula in Covent Garden – aged just 18. With a naturally pure and agile voice, she could easily hit the fast, high notes demanded of a coloratura soprano. Like a Victorian-era Mariah Carey.

Patti became one of the most successful – and wealthy – opera singers of all time. Her musical career spanned almost 60 years, 42 operas and soaring fame across Europe and America.

A black-and-white photograph of a young girl with long braids sitting on a chair, holding a book. She is dressed in period clothing and seated next to a table with a patterned tablecloth.

A young Adelina Patti, around 1860–1870.

“Young, graceful, and with a fresh voice of pure quality”
Examiner, 1861

Patti’s big London break

Patti’s London debut put her name on the map. “Young, graceful, and with a fresh voice of pure quality, Madlle Patti deserves to take a high position as a prima donna,” wrote the Examiner in the weeks after. “The ease and fluency with which she executes florid passages in the highest register of a high voice, merit the warmest admiration.”

It kickstarted a 23-year-long relationship with the Covent Garden theatre – then called the Royal Italian Opera, and now the Royal Opera House. Patti appeared there in every season until 1884.

Her success in London funded a house in Clapham. She then embarked on a European tour in the 1860s, travelling to cities like Vienna, Berlin and her birthplace Madrid.

A man in a costume with a feathered hat gestures while a seated woman in a dress looks up from a spinning wheel, captured in an outdoor setting with an old-fashioned aesthetic.

Patti performing as Marguerite and Giuseppe Mario as Faust in Faust, Covent Garden, 1864.

One of the most famous singers of her time

The next few decades were really ‘the age of Patti’. Her admirers included royalty like Queen Victoria and she was endorsed by leading composers of the day. Guiseppi Verdi was a particularly big fan, describing her in 1877 as perhaps the finest singer who’d ever lived.

Over the years, Patti’s voice also changed from the “birdlike purity” of her youth. It became fuller, more versatile. She excelled in dramatic roles in operas such as Aida, Les Huguenots and La traviata.

The gushing reviews kept coming. The opera critic at The Times declared: “Madame Adelina Patti throws herself heart and soul into the character of Aida… [there is] nothing more impassioned than her acting, declamation and singing in the three great duets.”

Painting of Adelina Patti by the artist James Sant.
Patti wore this tiara in Act II of Aida, which she first performed at Covent Garden in June 1876.
Patti wore this white satin costume at Covent Garden.
This dagger prop is covered with paste diamonds and coloured stones.

You can browse the colourful jewellery she wore in operas at Covent Garden in our collection. They show off the splendour and high-drama of her performances.

And one of the wealthiest

At a time when women were expected to stay at home and run families, Patti used her success to have control over her finances and her career. She was supposedly being paid $5,000 in gold before every performance in her heyday. If you took into account the increase of prices over 150 years, she’s still one of the highest paid singers ever.

Patti used her fortune to fund a rather luxurious lifestyle. From the late 1870s, she bought and then lived in the spectacular Craig-y-Nos Castle in Wales. In 1891 she even added her own opera theatre to the site. She also invested her money in glamorous clothes and jewellery.

Black and white photo of a small, ornate theater with an arch-framed stage, decorative walls, an elaborate chandelier, and rows of empty chairs facing the stage.

Patti built her own theatre in her home at Craig-y-Nos Castle.

The final bow

As she grew older, Patti performed more infrequently. She stuck to less vocally demanding and often sentimental songs – which fans across Europe loved.

Her last performance was at the Royal Albert Hall on 24 October 1914, as part of a Red Cross concert to aid victims of the First World War. “Patti sang, wonderfully still” wrote King George V that night.

She died of natural causes in 1919.