Ramón Vinay is one of the greatest dramatic tenors to ever live. Born on August 31, 1911 in Chile, the tenor would actually kickstart his career as a baritone in Mexico in 1938. His tenor debut came in 1943 and he would go on to perform all around the world at such houses as the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, {…}
Amilcare Ponchielli, born on August 31, 1834, was a compositional child prodigy. He was born in Paderno Fasolaro and was admitted to the Milan Conservatory at age nine on a scholarship he earned. By the age of 10 he already written his first symphony and a few years after leaving the conservatory, he wrote his first opera. His second work, {…}
Regina Resnik is one of those rare singers that had a successful career in two vocal FACHs. Born on August 30, 1922, the New York native was so brilliant at a young age that she skipped several school grades, had graduated from high school at age 16 and was already a college graduate at age 20. In 1942, she made {…}
Not many American artists ever quite get a potent associate with Wagner like bass-baritone Thomas Stewart did. Born in Texas on August 29, 1928, Stewart went from being a Baylor graduate a Juilliard student under the tutelage of Mack Harrell. In 1954, at the age of 36, he made his professional debut in the American premiere of “Capriccio” before singing {…}
Paul Plishka is one of the Met’s historic performers, performing over 1600 times throughout his career. Born on August 28, 1941, the bass studied at Montclair State College and made his opera debut with the Paterson Lyric Opera in 1961. His Met debut would come six years later at the age of 26 when he appeared in “La Gioconda.” He {…}
Richard Tucker is one of America’s great operatic gems. The tenor, born on August 28, 1913, in Brooklyn was actually born Rivn Ticker, though his parents adopted “Tucker” as their official last name by the time their son was of school age. He was a musical natural from an early age and throughout his teenage years, he was singing in {…}
There aren’t all that many famous Dutch opera singers around the world. But Cristina Deutekom was undeniably one of the finest to come from the Netherlands. Born on August 28, 1931, in Amsterdam, she would get her first shot at an opera career in the role of the Queen of the Night at the Netherlands Opera in 1963. But it {…}
Born on August 28 1867 in Foggia, Umberto Giordano would go on to become one of the most renowned Italian composers of the verismo era. He wrote his first opera “Marina” for a competition that would mark the beginning of the Verismo era. For years the composer experimented with differing works, including “Mala Vita” and “Regina Diaz,” though he found {…}
New York native Ruth Ann Swenson, born on August 25, 1959, made quite a career for herself. The soprano, raised in Commack, NY, studied at the Hartt College of Music and Academy of Vocal Arts, before heading to the Merola Program at the San Francisco Opera. She would receive an honorary doctorate from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in {…}
***As of the writing of this piece, Leonard Bernstein is 100-years-old. Born on August 25, 1918, Bernstein (who was actually born with the name Louis, which he changed to Leonard legally at age 15), he would go on to become one of the great icons of American music. He studied at Harvard and then Curtis, and it wasn’t long before {…}
José van Dam is one of the most talented bass-baritones of the 20th century. Born on August 25, 1940, in Belgium, his greatness was apparent from a very early age. He was admitted into the Brussels Royal Conservatory at 17, from which he graduated just a year later. At 21, he continued his prodigious ways, making his opera debut as {…}