The daughter of Ferrucio Nelli and the former Maria Malloggi, she was named after the French socialist
Gustave Hervé, and was born in
Florence, where she attended a convent school. At the age of ten, however, she and her family left Italy for the United States, arriving at
Ellis Island on September 17, 1919, and settling in
Pittsburgh, where she later studied at the Pittsburgh Music Institute. The soprano became a naturalized citizen of the USA on January 27, 1944, at the age of thirty-five. In 1937, the soprano made her operatic debut with
Brooklyn's Salmaggi Opera, as Santuzza in
Mascagni's
Cavalleria rusticana. In ensuing seasons, she gained experience with that ensemble, presenting roles that would form the core of her repertoire, including Leonora in
Verdi's
La forza del destino (with
Sydney Rayner as Don Alvaro, 1943) and another Leonora in Verdi's
Il trovatore. She also sang the title roles of
Bellini's
Norma, Verdi's
Aida (with
Bernardo de Muro at the end of his career, 1944), and
Ponchielli's
La Gioconda. In 1947, she made her
New York City Opera debut, as Santuzza, conducted by
Julius Rudel. Also in 1947, Nelli successfully auditioned for the conductor
Arturo Toscanini (following the recommendation of
Licia Albanese), and sang the part of Desdemona in the NBC Symphony Orchestra's concert version of Verdi's
Otello, opposite
Ramón Vinay. This led to the famous series of broadcasts of other Verdi works, which were later issued on records by
RCA Victor:
Aida (1949, which was televised as well), Alice Ford in
Falstaff (with
Giuseppe Valdengo, 1950), the
Requiem (with
Fedora Barbieri,
Giuseppe Di Stefano, and
Cesare Siepi, 1951), and Amelia in
Un ballo in maschera (with
Jan Peerce and
Robert Merrill, 1954), which was Toscanini's final operatic performance. When Toscanini died early in 1957, he left his protégée his baton in his will. In 1948, Nelli sang in
Genoa (
La Gioconda, conducted by
Tullio Serafin) and at the
Teatro alla Scala. At the latter theatre, she participated in the "Serata Commemorativa di
Arrigo Boito" (excerpts from
Mefistofele and
Nerone, conducted by Toscanini) and starred in performances of
Aida (with
Mirto Picchi and
Elena Nicolai, conducted by
Antonino Votto). From 1949 Nelli performed with the
New Orleans Opera Association:
Aida (with
Norman Treigle as the King of Egypt),
Otello (1954),
Aida again (1955), and
Il trovatore (with
Leonard Warren, directed by
Armando Agnini, 1958). She was also often heard in
Philadelphia (from 1946 to 1959), in
Aïda,
La Gioconda (with
Ebe Stignani),
Cavalleria rusticana,
Norma,
Il trovatore (with
Enzo Mascherini),
Otello,
La forza del destino,
Puccini's
Tosca (conducted by
Eugene Ormandy), and
Un ballo in maschera. In 1951, Nelli reappeared with the
New York City Opera, in
Cavalleria rusticana again, as well as
Aida; the next year, she portrayed Maddalena de Coigny in
Giordano's
Andrea Chénier (in
Theodore Komisarjevsky's production). With the
San Francisco Opera, in 1951 and 1952, the soprano sang in
Otello,
La forza del destino (with
Robert Weede),
Aida (with
Mario Del Monaco),
Cavalleria rusticana,
Il trovatore, and
La bohème (this last on tour to Los Angeles); in 1957, she returned for
Un ballo in maschera (conducted by
William Steinberg). With the Baltimore Civic Opera in 1952, she debuted in
Aida; in the 1954-55 season, she sang there in
Il trovatore. Nelli made her debut at the
Metropolitan Opera in 1953, where she appeared until 1961. She was seen in
Aida (conducted by
Renato Cellini),
La forza del destino,
Il trovatore,
Cavalleria rusticana,
Andrea Chénier,
Un ballo in maschera (with
Marian Anderson, conducted by
Dimitri Mitropoulos) and
Mozart's
Don Giovanni (as Donna Anna, her only Mozart role). With the Met, she toured to Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, Dallas, Toronto and Minneapolis. The soprano appeared in Cuba (
Tosca, 1950) and in Mexico City at the
Palacio de Bellas Artes, in 1953, starring in
Il trovatore and
Norma. Herva Nelli was also heard at the
Cincinnati Opera many times between 1953 and 1956:
Aida,
La traviata (as Violetta Valéry, opposite
John Alexander, and conducted by
Anton Coppola),
Andrea Chénier,
Un ballo in maschera and Puccini's
Madama Butterfly (as Cio-Cio-San, conducted by
Nicola Rescigno). The soprano was also seen with the Pittsburgh Opera (
Un ballo in maschera, 1955), San Francisco's Cosmopolitan Opera (
Il trovatore, 1956),
Lyric Opera of Chicago (
Il trovatore, with
Jussi Björling and
Ettore Bastianini, 1956),
Tulsa Opera (
Aida, 1956) and Opera Guild of Miami (
Un ballo in maschera, with
Richard Tucker, 1959). Upon her 1951 return to the City Opera,
Howard Taubman wrote of her in
The New York Times: "Mme Nelli's voice is of grand size and range, and when she has it under control it has quality and character. Her pianissimo singing can be lovely, indeed. But she has a tendency to force and drive her tone until it loses its natural beauty." On September 22, 1956, La Nelli created the role of
Bethsheba in the American premiere of
Darius Milhaud's
David, co-starring
Harve Presnell,
Mack Harrell, and
Giorgio Tozzi, conducted by
Izler Solomon, and staged by
Harry Horner. It was performed at the
Hollywood Bowl, as presented by the Festival of Faith and Freedom Committee of the American Association for Jewish Education. At the
Teatro Colón, in 1958, she was the soprano soloist for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, conducted by
Juan José Castro. In 1960, the soprano sang
Aida with the New York Opera Festival touring to Washington, DC. Among the orchestras with which she sang the Verdi Requiem were the
New York Philharmonic (conducted by
Guido Cantelli, 1955) and the New Orleans Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra (1955). The prima donna toured to
Colombia,
Puerto Rico, and
Madeira. Nelli gave her farewell in April 1962, with the Brooklyn Opera Company, at the Academy of Music, in
Norma, conducted by
Carlo Moresco. In retirement, she acquired a particular reputation as a chef. In 1985, she appeared in an interview in the documentary
Toscanini: The Maestro, which was telecast over
PBS in 1988. On May 31, 1994, the soprano died of
heart failure, with
subdural hematoma and
dementia contributing to her death, at the age of eighty-five, at the Sharon Country Manor, in Connecticut. She was buried in the South Dover Rural Cemetery, in
Wingdale, New York. In 2005, reviewing the DVD release of the Concert Version of
Aida, Ira Siff, in
Opera News, noted that "there is a sense of occasion here, as the eighty-two-year-old Toscanini … unleashes a performance of immense power. Herva Nelli may not possess a voice of distinctive beauty, but she is committed to the drama and lives every moment through the music. Both of Aida's big arias are handled with care and conviction, the 'O patria mia' particularly nuanced and convincing. Yes, one could wish for a longer, more
dolce high C, but her reading of the aria is mesmerizing…." ==References==