Rosa Raisa, Chicago opera's prima donna

Famous soprano Rosa Raisa and Chicago were an item for almost four decades, as she appeared in hundreds of performances in Chicago and on tour. Raisa, and her opera singing husband, Giacomo Rimini, had celebrity status in the city and were photographed often. Upon Raisa’s retirement from the Chicago’s opera company in the late 1930s, she and her husband operated a school for opera singers in the Congress Hotel, where they lived.

Operatic contralto Cyrena van Gordon, from left, soprano Rosa Riasa and tenor Antonio Cortis, circa 1932.

Opera star Rosa Raisa waves from a train platform in Chicago in the 1920s. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

Opera star Rosa Raisa in an early, undated photo in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

Italian baritone Cesare Formichi holds famous soprano Rosa Raisa in 1932. Formichi sang as first baritone at the Chicago Opera from 1922 until 1932.

A director works with opera soprano Rosa Raisa, on left, and tenor Giuseppe Bentonelli and cast in a scene from the Italian “La Fiamma” on Dec. 1, 1935, at the Chicago Civic Opera. It was the first American performance of the opera in Chicago.

Husband and wife opera duo Giacomo Rimini and Rosa Raisa in an undated photo in Chicago.

Opera star Rosa Raisa in costume, putting on makeup, circa 1932. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

Opera star Rosa Raisa, soprano, called the Chicago Opera home for 16 seasons. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

Soprano Rosa Raisa, left, and contralto Cyrena van Gordon, right, circa 1932.

Married opera stars Giacomo Rimini, left, and Rosa Raisa with their new daughter, Giulietta “Jolly” Rimini, circa 1931.

Opera star Rosa Raisa and her daughter, Giulietta “Jolly” Rimini, circa 1931. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

Opera star Rosa Raisa poses with an old lute used in a performance of “Orfeo” in Milan in 1621. (Chicago American)

Opera star Rosa Raisa has a morning glass of milk at the La Salle Street Station on Dec. 16, 1933. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

Opera star Rosa Raisa with two dogs in an undated photo in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

Opera stars Rosa Raisa, in the car, and her husband, Giacomo Rimini, in Chicago, circa 1931.

Opera star Rosa Raisa with two dogs in an undated photo in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

Italian opera star Madame Rosa Raisa and her daughter, Giulietta Rimini, are glad to be back in the United States at the Congress Hotel in Chicago where they lived in 1938. (Ralph Frost/Chicago Herald and Examiner)

Opera stars Giacomo Rimini, left, and his wife, Rosa Raisa, and their daughter, Giulietta “Jolly” Rimini, 11, in their room at the Congress Hotel on July 9, 1942.

Rosa Raisa, Chicago opera's prima donna

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