Beverly Sills was one of the greatest sopranos of her time and she became an American icon, not only for her singing but also for her outreach and her work promoting young upcoming singers. While she died 10 years ago, her voice still lives on and in celebration of her birth on May 25, OperaWire takes a look at why {…}
It’s National Wine Day and opera definitely has moments where drinking is essential to the story! To celebrate this fine liquor let’s take a look at some of the most interesting drinking songs in opera. Macbeth As Macbeth receives his guests for the evening, he calls upon his wife to make a toast. And this starts a dance-like melody filled {…}
This week the Teatro Massimo di Palermo opens its production of Massenet’s “Werther” with two tenors. The first is Francesco Meli, a well-known performer who has scaled the heights of some of the world’s opera houses. However, the second tenor, Shalva Mukeria, will make his role debut and that is a reason for celebration. The tenor has been hailed by critics {…}
Olga Peretyatko, born on May 21, 1980, is one of in-demand coloratura sopranos of her time. She is currently dominating the role of Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata” and Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.” However, before Olga Peretyatko was a huge star in the opera world the soprano was a household name at the Rossini Opera Festival {…}
Eric Owens has been appointed the Artistic Advisor for the Glimmerglass Festival. The famed bass-baritone will be consulting closely with the festival’s Artistic and General Director Francesca Zambello and Music Director Joseph Colaneri regarding the repertoire and casting. He will also be performing roles on the mainstage in the 2018 and 2019 season. “I believe passionately in artists continuing their {…}
After looking at the top female and male singers as well as the finest maestros of the 2016-17 season, we now turn the spotlight on the 10 best-assembled casts of the season. This was a truly difficult piece to put together as this Met season had great casts for almost every single opera. But the casts listed below were simply {…}
Yesterday we took a look at two titanic sopranos that shared a birthday. Today, May 18, we turn our attention to two important basses that were also born on the same day. Ezio Pinza’s birth came on this day in 1892 while Boris Christoff’s came in 1914. Both artists led rather different careers with the former finishing out his career {…}
Zinka Milanov was born on May 17, 1906. Exactly 12 years later, on May 17, 1918, Birgit Nilsson was born. The two women would go on to markedly different careers, though they both performed at the greatest houses in the world and would perform with many of the same artists, albeit in different operas. Both women were dramatic sopranos, and {…}
This article is a joint collaboration between David & Francisco Salazar. Yesterday we gave you the finest female performers of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-17 season. Now we turn toward the men that truly brought down the house. Remember that these picks are mere favorites based purely on personal preference. Since there were so many incredible performers this season, here is {…}
