Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Balbina Steffenone


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.  

The result was Nomination withdrawn, consensus to keep. Fram 13:11, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Balbina Steffenone

 * – (View AfD) (View log)

Not notable. After checking Grove and other internet sources, we believe there was someone called Balbina Steffenone or Steffenoni singing in the Americas in the middle of the 19th century, but there is not enough information on her to write even the shortest of articles. Thanks to Dhartung for digging up enough information on Steffenone (or whatever her name was!) to establish notability. I am withdrawing the Afd (Is this the way to do it?) Kleinzach 05:01, 27 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Keep. Not enough information online is a typical trap for historical topics. According to Italian-American History (1947), she was considered "one of the greatest sopranos during the first half of the 19th century", so doubtless there exist more sources for her -- but probably offline. Google Books returns results primarily in Italian and Spanish, but 16 citations is pretty good for that search. --Dhartung | Talk 05:27, 27 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Comment We have an open mind on this and would be grateful if you can put whatever you find on the article Talk page. However we are familiar with the major singers of the 19th century, all of whom have biographies offline in the New Grove Dictionary of Opera and other main print sources. The claim she was "one of the greatest sopranos during the first half of the 19th century" is hardly credible. -- Kleinzach 06:01, 27 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Reply Well, it was said, credible or not. JSTOR has an obituary online sub only that calls her "an operatic star greatly admired in her time" (that's visible in the Google results for bina.steffenone). And the Opera Quarterly has an article where she is described as "on this tour (Verdi) the brightest of the star sopranos" (in counterpoint to a critic's "extravagant praise"). In a bio of Walt Whitman he is described as hearing "sixteen of the major singers who made their debut in the next eight years" including Steffanone (note that the "a" spelling returns about the same number of results wherever). There is a mini-bio in a footnote in The Diaries of Giacomo Meyerbeer, noting her "great success" (touring the whole of the Americas) and her "big expressive voice". (Also search under just "Bina".) Maybe not universally regarded as one of the greatest but certainly notable. --Dhartung | Talk 07:50, 27 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Response Fair enough. Evidently the name variants Balbina/Bina Steffenone/i were half the problem. I wasn't able to follow through any of the links you have provided, but if there are sources I'm happy to withdraw the Afd. I'd appreciate it if you could you write up what you've found in the WP article as I am not able to. Thanks. -- Kleinzach 09:19, 27 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Keep I'm another person who had thought she might not be notable, but Dhartung has come up with references in notable sources such as the New York Times and various academic opera journals. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Peter cohen (talk • contribs) 09:25, August 27, 2007 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.