Opera star. A femme fatale passing from one rich and famous husband to another. The owner of a rare financial instinct in business. First fashion model. She is still a legend.
The book with recipes for preserving and increasing beauty from Cavalieri to the First World War sold like hot cakes. Still would! The Italian singer was almost officially considered the most beautiful woman in the world - and she was definitely mentioned that way all the time. Many call her the creator of the profession of a fashion model: the most beautiful woman in the world was constantly filmed for postcards and advertisements, and these postcards, of course, also scattered like pies, and advertisements with Cavalieri were cut out of magazines and newspapers. And, of course, when the movie came out, Lina became a movie star.
How one girl got tired of being tired
The parents did not think much about the name of the girl who managed to be born on Christmas Day. So they called it: Natalina, that is, Christmas. Short for Lina. She was born in 1874, a rather calm year for Italy. But, alas, in not the richest family. Moreover, the father of the family also wanted to conquer Rome - and all the Cavalieri moved to a much more expensive capital from their outback.
To keep the family afloat, everyone worked from an early age. Lina packed newspapers in the printing house (this was often just a child's job), then she grew up and was able to help the dressmaker, then she began to blossom and began to sell flowers on the streets to gentlemen for their beautiful ladies. The flower girls constantly tried to accommodate girls and girls prettier, then gentlemen to buy flowers for their lady were drawn with terrible force. Lina was not just pretty - she was beautiful.
It was on the street, above the flowers, that 13-year-old Natalina Cavalieri began to sing. Many Italians knew how to speak well, and she was no exception. There was nothing special in her voice, but she sang with such artistry and was so pretty that she was able to first increase her income, and then start performing in a cafe.
Childlike simplicity
In Italy, a singer with a weak voice, even as beautiful as Cavalieri, could not make a serious career - neither musical nor courtesan. Alas, the second was often combined with the first - even if a singer or dancer could support herself at the expense of the number of fans, it was in her interests to have a patron so that those who wanted to patronize and rejected would not trample her. A courtesan with a constant lover who defiantly spent on her was considered as inviolable as a married lady.
At twenty-two years old, after a short work on the Italian stages, Cavalieri went to conquer Paris. Beauty was valued there, but they did not understand music - well, from the point of view of an Italian. In Paris, Lina performed with a female musical ensemble, delighting the audience with a piquant accent in French songs and an unusual dance style.
But Paris was only an intermediate point on the map of Lina's ambition. The main money revolved in Russia, and Cavalieri was looking for opportunities to sign a contract with Russian entrepreneurs. Already at twenty-three she succeeded. Cavalieri said goodbye to the French public - promising to return, because she loves her very much - and drove off to perform in St. Petersburg. Perhaps she hoped that they were even less versed in music, so that she would easily outperform competitors for the attention of a man who could save her from damn fatigue for a long time.
Paris - St. Petersburg
Such a man was found. The officer of the dragoon regiment, Prince Baryatinsky, was able to appreciate the vitality of the Italian beauty, along with her appearance and the ability to follow this appearance. He was as ambitious as Cavalieri - and invested in her professional vocal lessons. She didn’t even think that singing had to be learned! In Italy, everyone sang without lessons! Or so she thought.
For six consecutive years, Cavalieri has lived between Paris and St. Petersburg, two of Europe's most glamorous capitals. The lessons gave her the opportunity to make her debut on the opera stage. The debut took place in St. Petersburg, Cavalieri instantly became one of the opera stars - although not the brightest in the sky, and Baryatinsky considered that he could already marry her. Alas, the emperor forbade him.
A cafeteria singer quite recently, but with an illegitimate child (not from another?) - Nicholas II did not want to see such a wife near one of the Baryatinskys. Instead of marrying Cavalieri, the prince soon arranged a marriage with the illegitimate aunt of Nicholas II, however, recognized and received the title of the Most Serene Princess - Ekaterina Alexandrovna Yuryevskaya. Cavalieri's heart was broken. But not her will. It is not necessary to rely on a man where you can rely on glory.
From a lady in diamonds to a lady with advertising contracts
Before parting, Baryatinsky literally strewn his beloved with jewels. At Cavalieri's benefit performance, he presented her with emerald jewelry for 150,000 rubles and ruby jewelry for 60,000. After a performance in Kharkov, a local newspaper wrote that Lina was entwined on stage with diamonds for three million - and these were her personal diamonds. Of course, decorating yourself like that was a bit…
By 1906, she traveled all over Europe with operas and turned her gaze to the New World. In France, she happened to sing with Caruso, at the theater of Sarah Bernhardt. When Caruso went to madden New York with his brilliant voice, Cavalieri willingly joined him. There, Cavalieri sang for two years at the Metropolitan Opera, and at the same time kept an eye on America. And it looked like the world had almost begun to rule … advertising.
Until the twentieth century, advertising has never been so abundant, omnipresent, seductive. She did not pressure the consumer with quotes from doctors (most often far-fetched), did not conquer him with “rational” arguments, and even more so did not try to tie products to images instead of functions. In the twentieth century, the happy face of the consumer-or the celebrity who recommended the product to the consumer-became a common feature of advertising. Largely thanks to Lina Cavalieri.
Lina started filming for various advertising companies. This was not in use. Previously, advertising used drawn images, as a rule, averaged-idealized, and not made from nature. Now the gaze of the reader in the magazine clung to a photograph of a living opera star. Photographs Cavalieri not only attracted buyers. Magazines began to simply decorate their pages with pictures of her, in post offices you could buy and send a postcard with a photo of Cavalieri, and soon postcards with her face appeared in other countries.
Money flowed like a river, and the glory of Natalina - now the most recognizable beauty and the most beautiful woman in the world, as magazines and newspapers used to commemorate her - reached such heights when her past became unimportant. Now it was certainly an honor to receive her, and no emperors in the democratic USA could definitely forbid marrying her.
At thirty-four, Cavalieri finally got married.
He was, of course, rich. Still young (two years older). Talented (artist and designer). Belonged to a prominent American business family. And… she left him eight days after the wedding.
Robert Winthrop Chanler was good-looking and not known for his sadistic tendencies, so the breakup of the couple caused great bewilderment. It could have been different. That with the marriage contract, Cavalieri chopped off a fat piece of we alth from Chanler, and he became uninteresting to her. That the woman's favorite had syphilis or something no less vile, although not so dangerous, and this was revealed after the wedding. Both were silent. It can be said that they parted beautifully.
Fadeless beauty
Cavalieri married twice more in her life. For a colleague, operatic tenor Lucien Muratore. From him, Lina had a daughter, Elena, because of which, as it is believed, Cavalieri left the stage at the age of forty, finally deciding to try herself as just a mother. She divorced Lucien at the age of fifty to marry the famous racing driver Giovanni Campari. Either Lucien lost his charm during the marriage, or annoyingly often squandered it on others, or Cavalieri was covered with ardent love …
As a result, only seven tapes with her participation were released. In the end, she left the movie after five years, because she was afraid that it was too ruthless to changes in her appearance. In soft natural light, with the ability to amaze with charm, she still gave the impression of an unfading beauty. Under the spotlights, under the sight of an indifferent camera - no more.
In the thirty-sixth, she released a book of memoirs. During the Second World War, she became a volunteer nurse - she looked after wounded soldiers in the hospital. She died at the age of forty-four. The usual death then - a bomb fell on her house. Italy was liberated from fascism by the forces of the Garibaldian partisans and the anti-Hitler coalition. They assure that she did not have time to lose her beauty until her death.
Tips from Cavalieri
Some beauty recipes from Lina Cavalieri are still relevant. Some laugh and get angry. Some are surprising - since the realities of everyday life have changed a lot, as well as medical ideas about harmful and useful. But they do not stop being quoted on the Internet and will probably not be forgotten soon.
The most important thing for a woman, Cavalieri believed, is to preserve, firstly, youth (hold on to her with both hands!), Secondly, the line of the chin (sharp as a knife!), Thirdly, the grace of the foot (so shoes should not be treated casually - you can quickly find the legs mutilated). And one of the main means of preserving literally everything was rest. Sleeping at least ten hours a day, after thirty years a little during the day is a must. If you don’t like something in the mirror, take a break immediately! Don't bother even reading…
To keep your hair beautiful, wash it at least once a week. So that the skin does not sag when losing weight, smear it with a special cream. Take a bath every day, alternating tonic with soothing. Walk every day too. The nose and nasolabial folds must be massaged to maintain the perfect shape of the mouth and nose. No need to be afraid of every crease, the rings of Venus (wrinkles around the neck) - this is about beauty! Do not hunch. Keep your chin up and not hang with your nose. Watch the skin on your hands.
Many recipes surprise modern readers. There is not a single recommendation for weight loss, the masseur is recommended not for cellulite, but for the softness of the body, not a word about hair removal, but it is told how to whiten the skin … Yes, beauty recipes cannot be called ever-relevant. Because its canons strive to change, and what used to excite, now causes disgust, and what is attractive now, would have caused disgust before. But rest - rest is still, perhaps, we need more.