Gina Cigna, Operatic Soprano, Dies at 101

Gina Cigna, a dramatic soprano whose career flourished in the 1930's and 40's, and who was the first to record the title role of Puccini's ''Turandot,'' died on June 26 in Milan. She was 101.

Ms. Cigna, whose given name was Geneviève, was born in Paris in 1900, the daughter of a French general of Italian descent. She began her musical studies as a pianist at the Paris Conservatory. She studied with Alfred Cortot and began what has been described as a promising career as a recitalist. But soon after her marriage in 1923 to Maurice Sens, a tenor at the Comic Opera, she decided to cultivate her voice, with her husband's encouragement.

Her teachers included Lucette Korsoff and Emma Calvé in Paris, and Hariclea Darclée, Rosina Storchio and Giannina Russ in Italy. When she auditioned for Toscanini at La Scala in 1926, he recognized in her both the interpretive fire and the rich timbre necessary for the big Verdi roles, which he advised her to learn. Yet when she made her La Scala debut in 1927 under the name Genoveffa Sens, it was as Freia in Wagner's ''Rheingold.''

That first performance made little impression, and she spent the next two years performing mostly Italian roles in Trieste, Capri, Nice, Verona, Florence and Pavia. When she returned to La Scala in 1929, under the name Gina Cigna, she had a great success as Donna Elvira in Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'' and a few weeks later as Elisabeth in Wagner's ''Tannhäuser.'' She then became a mainstay of the La Scala roster for a decade.

She made her debut in 1933 at Covent Garden as Marguerite in the first British stage production of Berlioz's ''Damnation of Faust,'' and in 1937 she made her American debut at the Metropolitan Opera in the title role of Verdi's ''Aida.'' Olin Downes, reviewing the performance in The New York Times, wrote that ''she interpreted the Aida part with a complete grasp of its dramatic and lyrical elements, prevailingly with beauty and color of tone, with ample sonority and with the style of a musician.''

Ms. Cigna's other roles at the Met included Donna Elvira, Leonora in Verdi's ''Trovatore,'' the title roles in Bellini's ''Norma'' and Ponchielli's ''Gioconda'' and Santuzza in Mascagni's ''Cavalleria Rusticana.''

Her repertory ranged widely and included Baroque works, most notably Monteverdi's ''Incoronazione di Poppea,'' as well as modern scores like Janacek's ''Jenufa.'' But she was at her best in the 19th- and early-20th-century Italian repertory, and made a specialty of the title role of ''Turandot,'' which she recorded in the 1930's and sang, by her own count, 439 times.

Ms. Cigna was also known for her performances in the title role of ''Tosca,'' which turned out to be the last part she performed onstage. On the way to a performance of the work in 1947, she was injured in an automobile accident. She sang anyway, but had a heart attack after the performance. Afterward, she devoted herself to teaching.