Lamberto Gardelli, born on Nov. 8, 1915, in Venice, Italy, is one of the great Italian conductors in all of history. He dominated the repertoire of his native country, taking on the major repertory staples, and also placing a spotlight on the lesser-known operas. Among the composers that he championed in this respect was Giuseppe Verdi and it is thanks {…}
Joan Sutherland is considered one of the greatest sopranos of all time. Known as “La Stupenda,” Sutherland commanded the stage with her powerful voice, accurate intonation, thrilling high notes, and her impeccable coloratura. Throughout her career, she brought numerous roles to the forefront from a varied repertoire including the Bel canto, verismo, French, and baroque. The following are four roles {…}
Polish baritone Mariusz Kwiecien has delivered some of the finest performances of the past decade, cementing himself as one of the greatest singing actors of his generation. Born on Nov. 4, the baritone has explored a wide-range of repertoire, always showcasing nuance in both his singing and his acting. He started his career back in native Poland before becoming a {…}
Vincenzo Bellini isn’t the most revolutionary of opera composers. In fact, his work is rather simple and his operas, most of them featuring questionable libretti, are not necessarily the most complex dramatic works (with the exception of “Norma”). And yet, the composer, born on Nov. 3, 1801, is among the most beloved in the opera world and even earned the {…}
Victoria De Los Ángeles was one of the great sopranos of the 20th century, taking on a wide range of roles from “Madama Butterfly” to “La Bohème,” to “Manon.” Born on Nov. 1, 1923, the Spanish soprano would go on to a tremendous career, her recording of Puccini’s “La Bohème” under Sir Thomas Beecham widely considered the greatest of the {…}
Jon Vickers, born on Oct. 29, 1926, built up a career as one of the finest dramatic tenors of his time. He conquered a wide range of repertoire across a wide range of houses, became associated with quite a few roles, and then went on to make acclaimed recordings with other major superstars. Vickers’ career got kickstarted in 1957 when {…}
You know “Carmen.” And you’ve probably gotten to know “Les Pêcheurs de perles” quite well also. But what of George Bizet’s other operas? How many are there? What subjects do they narrate and explore? Here is a run down of those other operas from the famed composer, born on Oct. 25, 1838, under the name Alexandre César Léopold Bizet. Le {…}
Tito Gobbi is arguably one of the greatest, if not the greatest baritone of the 20th century. Born on Oct. 24, 1913, his career really took off after the second World War with the singer performing all around the world in a wide range of great Italian repertoire. He not only sang with a gorgeous baritone sound that featured tremendous {…}
Cheryl Studer, one of the most unique sopranos in recent history. Born on Oct. 24, 1955, she put together an enviable career that ranged from singing a tremendous amount of opera roles as dramatic and lyric soprano and then mezzo, to winning a plethora of major awards, to eventually becoming a teacher. She recorded countless albums and her legacy is {…}
Franz Liszt and the world of opera are not necessarily the most identifiable match. While the composer, born on Oct. 22, 1811, created his fair share of vocal pieces (he wrote, among other things, a lot of songs and choral works), his encounters with opera are extremely rare. In fact, until very recently there was only one work that was {…}
Conductor Georg Solti contributed a tremendous amount to the world of opera, leading some of the greatest singers at the greatest houses in the great works ever written. Born on Oct. 21, 1912, in Budapest, he built up a sturdy career in the opera world, working prominently at such companies as the Salzburg Festival and Hungarian State Opera in his {…}