Thulani Davis is best known as the librettist for two of the most acclaimed operas of the late-twentieth century—“X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X,” and “Amistad.” Both projects were in collaboration with her composer, the composer Anthony Davis. Davis was born July 19, 1949 to parents from Virginia, but moved to New York City to attend Barnard College, {…}
(Credit: Josh Huskin) Tobias Picker is known as one of the most famous American composers still working. His operas, such as “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Dolores Claiborne,” have become popular at opera houses across the country and the world. Picker was born July 18th, 1954 in New York City and showed an early penchant for composing. His first work was {…}
(Credit: Carol Friedman) July 14 is Bastille Day, a celebration to commemorate the French Revolution. In 1989, France invited one of the world’s greatest sopranos, Jessye Norman, to sing the national anthem in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille in 1789. Norman, who began her career in Europe, maintained a close association with France. That {…}
(Image Source: Official website) “Patience and Sarah” is a landmark work for the LGBTQIA+ community. The opera, which had its world premiere on July 8, 1998 at the Lincoln Center Festival, is widely considered the first lesbian opera and the first mainstream gay-themed opera. The work, which was created by composer Paula M. Kimper and librettist Wende Persons, was based {…}
(Credit: Dario Acosta) One of the leading American bass-baritones, Eric Owens, is famous for his wide array of operatic interpretations—ranging from Saariaho to Mozart to Dvorak to Adams. Owens was born July 11th, 1970 in Philadelphia. From a young age, Owens was inspired by music and began playing the piano at age six. By the time he reached high school, {…}
On July 8, 2014, American tenor George Shirley was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the National Association of Teachers of Singing. It was just one of the many accolades received by the trailblazing musician, who is best remembered as the first Black musician to sing a leading tenor role at the Metropolitan Opera. Shirley was born on {…}
(Credit: Dominic Mercier/Opera Philadelphia) Few American operas have garnered the same level of popularity over the past few years as “Charlie Parker’s Yardbird.” The opera, written by composer Daniel Schnyder and librettist Bridgette A. Wimberly had its world premiere at Opera Philadelphia on June 5, 2015 in a production directed by Ron Daniels. Eventually, the opera would garner performances throughout {…}
(Credit: Steven Pisano) “Written on Skin” is considered by some to be British composer George Benjamin’s masterpiece and one of the most important works of the 21st Century. The opera, which was written by Martin Crimp, first premiered July 7th, 2012 at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Led by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the piece was an instant success, lauded for its {…}
(Credit: Carl Van Vechten) Next to “Troubled Island,” “A Bayou Legend” is William Grant Still’s most famed opera. The opera had its world premiere on March 31, 1974, at Opera South in Mississippi. It would then have a historic performance in 1981 when the Mississippi Educational Television Authority presented the opera on TV, marking the first time an opera by {…}
Scott Joplin’s “Treemonisha” first premiered as a concert read-through in Harlem in 1910, and was not fully staged until 1972, over fifty years after the composer’s death The work, described as “an entirely new form of operatic art,” combines Wagnerian conventions of opera with traditional African-American folk tales and music. Joplin, writer of the score and libretto, may have created {…}
(Credit: Lorenzo Gaudenzi) “Powder Her Face” by Thomas Adès premiered at the Cheltenham Music Festival on July 1st, 1995. While the opera was well-received by music critics, “Powder Her Face” became notorious for its sexually explicit content. With a libretto by Philip Hensher, the opera tells the story of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll, a famous British socialite of the twentieth {…}