Marietta Alboni, an Italian contralto singer, born at Cesena, March 10, 1826, or, according to some authorities, at Forli in 1824. Her musical education was completed under Rossini, in Bologna, and she made her debut at the Scala theatre in Milan. After singing at Vienna, St. Petersburg, and in various parts of Italy and Germany, she reached London and Paris in the year 1847. Her voice was a true contralto of the sweetest and most sonorous quality, extending from F in the bass to C in alt of the soprano - a compass of 2 1/2 octaves. Her favorite parts were in Rossini's Gazza Ladra, La Donna del Lago, Semiramide, and Cenerentola, the florid music of which she executed with marvellous ease. In June, 1852, she arrived in New York on a professional tour, and for upward of a year sang in operas, concerts, and oratorios, in the principal cities of this country. In 1869 she sang in Paris in Rossini's posthumous mass, at a salary of 3,000 francs for each performance; and in March, 1872, she reappeared there in opera.