It is Hispanic Heritage month! The Latin American community has, particularly in recent years, been a major boon to the opera world, providing it with great singers and composers, and a number of great operas. As the third part of this weekly series, we will look at some of the most popular male Hispanic singers currently dominating the operatic world. Rolando {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment features Martin Scorcese’s “Raging {…}
There is perhaps no tenor more lauded for his interpretation in the German repertoire than Fritz Wunderlich. The German tenor worked mostly in his home country until his untimely death in 1966. American audiences were robbed of his Metropolitan Opera debut, and there is surely a hole missing where his growth as an artist would have been fostered. In honor of {…}
The start of the Met seasons is always an exciting time. A new production of a major classic to kick off the year, followed, usually, by a slew of other classic productions. Usually, we also get a new star making a prominent debut, as is the case with mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught, who is coming to the Met as Nicklausse in {…}
This week we continue to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month! The Latin American community has, particularly in recent years, been a major boon to the opera world, providing it with great singers and composers, and a number of great operas. As the first part of this weekly series, we look at some of the most popular Hispanic divas. We are NOT {…}
Ettore Bastianini, Pablo Elvira, and Cornell MacNeil share a birthday – September 24. Two of these men, MacNeil and Bastianini were born on the same exact day. All three were baritones, overlapping a ton of repertoire. Of the three, Elvira’s career is perhaps not quite up to the legendary status of the other two men, with Bastianini often crowned as {…}
Andrea Bocelli, born on Sept. 22, 1958, is one of the most famous tenors in the world, his fan base rivaling and quite possibly surpassing that of some of opera’s greatest artists. To put it succinctly, he has known how to balance the fine line between classical and popular music. Because of Bocelli’s blindness, a challenge that he has had {…}
Alessandro Corbelli is one of the great baritones of the modern era, his refined bass style ideal for many of the comic roles that he has been so well-known for. Born on Sept. 21, 1952, the bass has become one of the great “Don Pasquale,” Dulcamara, and “Gianni Schicchi” interpreters of recent times. But what makes his an incredible artist {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment features Francis Ford Coppola’s {…}
