When you think of Claude Debussy’s operatic output, his lone opera “Pelléas et Mélisande” immediately springs to mind. But did you know that the composer, born on August 22, 1862, actually had a few more operas in the pipeline? Here is a rundown of those other works that never came to fruition. Rodrigue et Chimène This would have been Debussy’s {…}
Michael Sylvester was one of the most sought after tenors in the 1990s singing at all the major opera houses in the world. While he never achieved the fame other tenors of his generation had, Sylvester was still beloved throughout the opera world. In the course of his 25-year career on the opera stage, he appeared in leading tenor roles {…}
Arturo Chacón Cruz is one of the major Mexican tenors setting the opera world on fire. On August 20, 1977, he turns 40, giving OperaWire a chance to look at 40 fun facts about the tenor, who is now entering his prime. He was born in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora. Chacón Cruz graduated from the Houston Grand Opera Studio… …and Boston {…}
One of the great tragedies of 2016 was losing tenor Johan Botha in the midst of his vocal prime. At just 51 years of age, he still had, at the very least, a few solid years of singing to impart on us. Those who heard Botha will rarely forget his beautiful tenor, a delicate instrument by nature capable of ripping {…}
Poor Antonio Salieri. Born on August 18, 1750, the prolific composer’s fate in posterity has not been a kind one. Despite composing a plethora of operas that were quite popular at the time of his death, his legacy has unfortunately been linked to a legend that is far from true. You know the story: the composer was the rival of {…}
Fabio Armiliato is one of the most respected Italian tenors of his generation. Together with his late wife Daniela Dessi, he performed all over the world in many of the most popular works. He also made a career out of championing less known operas. While he is currently in demand in Europe, his U.S. engagements continue to be limited with {…}
Sharon Sweet and Krassimira Stoyanova. Two sopranos born on August 16 with rather different careers. The former was a well-known American dramatic soprano who took on a wide range of Italian and German repertoire, most prominently singing operas by Wagner and Verdi. The latter, a Bulgarian with a far lighter voice, has slowly dug into that very same dramatic repertoire, {…}
Walter Scott, born on August 15, 1771, is among the most important English-language writers, his works essential parts of the literary canon. In fact, he created some true masterpieces that would go on to inspire some of the greatest opera composers as well. Here is a look at the important operas based on the works of Scott. Ivanhoe Scott’s most {…}
Ailyn Pérez is one of today’s rising stars in the opera world. She has slowly built her career with a varied repertoire that has shown her versatility and acting chops. In celebration of her birthday on August 15, 1979, OperaWire takes a look at some of the soprano’s milestones thus far. Operalia and Competitions While Pérez did not win the {…}
Kathleen Battle is one of the greatest opera stars of all time. Everyone knows that her career was one of many ups and downs, the latter ultimately cost her years of her prime, but while she was at the summit of the opera world, there were few anywhere near her. Battle, born August 13, 1948, had simply too many milestones {…}
Hungarian conductor Ferenc Friscsay, born on August 9, 1914, will always be remembered for having his recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony appear on Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange.” But the maestro did so much more throughout his career, particularly in the realm of opera. Throughout his career, he had some major milestone moments with some of the world’s greatest European {…}