“ She came of a family of musical gifts, her maternal aunt Josephina Grassini (1773–1850) being a favourite opera-singer both on the continent and in London; her mother had also been a singer, and her elder sister Giudetta and her cousin Carlotta were both exceedingly talented. Giulia was trained to a musical career, and made her stage début in 1828. Rossini and Bellini both took an interest in her, and at Milan she was the first Adalgisa in Bellini’s Norma, in which Pasta took the title-part. Grisi appeared in Paris in 1832, as Semiramide in Rossini’s opera, and had a great success ”