Enrico Tamberlick was one of the great tenors of the 19th century. Born on March 16, 1820 in Rome, he was reportedly of Romanian descent and his name might have been Nikita Torna. He did study in Italy, first in Naples, the Bologna, and finally in Milan. He made his debut in 1837 in a concert performance before appearing in {…}
Mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza is one of Spain’s great treasures. Born on March 16, 1935, Berganza studied piano and voice at the Madrid Conservatory. She was awarded the first prize for singing in 1954 and subsequently debuted a year later. In 1957, Berganza made her opera debut at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in “Così Fan Tutte.” Also in 1957, the mezzo made {…}
Among Massenet’s most enduring works is “Thaïs,” an exploration of two souls moving in completely opposite spiritual states. The opera had its world premiere on March 16, 1984, with American soprano Sibyl Sanderson in the title role. The work was later revised and premiered on April 13, 1898. The opera has endured for a number of reasons. First off, many {…}
Antonietta Stella was one of the most underrated singers of her era. Born on March 15, 1929 in Perugia, Italy, the soprano studied at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and made her professional debut in Spoleto in “Il Trovatore” in 1950;. A year later she appeared in Rome in “La Forza del Destino” and immediately kicked off a major {…}
Rosalind Elias is one of America’s great mezzo-sopranos. She was born in Massachusetts as the 13th and youngest child in her family. She studied at the New England Conservatory and first appeared with the New England Opera between 1948-52. On Feb. 23, 1954, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut, a life-changing date for Elias. She would go on to sing {…}
Cherubini’s claim to fame in the opera world is “Médée,” which had its world premiere on March 13, 1797. The work didn’t really receive a good reception, but it did return to the repertory in the 20th century, usually in an Italian version that featured recitatives replacing the French spoken dialogue. There are also German versions of the work, though {…}
“Simon Boccanegra” is one of Verdi’s most divisive operas. Many consider it among his greatest works, while others find it a major bore. The opera had its world premiere on March 12, 1857, in a version that was received very poorly. The original reaction was so negative that the opera was quickly forgotten. But Verdi endured and before working with {…}
For many operagoers, “Don Carlo” is Verdi’s most Shakepearean work, pitting a wide-range of powerful characters against one another in an equally complex backdrop of European affairs. The opera had its world premiere on March 11, 1867 in Paris. However, it was an extremely long opera and was never performed in its entirety during that initial run. Verdi would then {…}
Lorenzo da Ponte, born on March 10, 1749, would go on to become one of the great librettists in the history of opera. He was born Emanuele Conegliano, but when his father converted from Judaism to Catholicism to marry a Catholic woman, he took the name of Lorenza da Ponte. He studied at the Ceneda seminary and eventually moved to {…}
“The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny” is a famed work by composer Kurt Weill with a libretto by Bertolt Brecht. The opera had its world premiere on March 9, 1930, in Leipzig and played in Berlin the following year. It would eventually be banned by the Nazis and virtually became forgotten until the 1960s. It has since {…}
Samuel Barber was one of the great American composers of the 1900s. Born on March 9, 1910, he grew up in Pennsylvania and expressed great interest in music from an early age. He composed his first work “Sadness” at age seven and at age 10 attempted his first opera “The Rose Tree.” He became even more serious about composition throughout {…}