The date of birth of Rita Gabussi is not clear, it is agreed that she was born in 1816 in Bologna due to the Gabussi family being listed in various records around this time. In her teenage years, Gabussi moved to Milan where she studied performance under Teresa Bertinotti, a celebrated Italian soprano of the time. During this period, Gabussi met Achille De Bassino, an Italian baritone performer who originated a number of roles in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi. The couple would later go on to marry.

Gabussi gained acknowledgement when she originated the main role Nina pazza per amore by Pietro Antonio Coppola which was performed at the Teatro del Re in Milan. She would often perform opposite her husband and achieved success in the major opera houses of Italy such as La Scala in Milan, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Teatro La Pergola in Florence, and the Teatro Valle in Rome. Following a deterioration of her voice, Gabussi took early retirement in 1851 following criticism from the public and critics.

With De Bassino, Gabussi had a son, Alberto De Bassini (born 1847) who would also go on to be an opera performer initially beginning as a tenor and then becoming a baritone later in his career.

Sources/Images
Image of a lithograph of Rita Gabussi, 1840. Image in the Public Domain, part of the University of Milan archives.

Warrack, John and West, Ewan, The Oxford Dictionary of Opera (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992).

Contributor
Mark Scott