Composer Otto Nicolai, born on June 9, 1810, is not one of the famed composers of the opera world, but he did leave behind one noted masterwork and a unique story. Nicolai was a child prodigy but suffered from a nasty divorce between his parents. He ran away from his parents at the age of 16, taking refuge with a {…}
Tenor Roberto Alagna, born on June 7, 1963, is one of the world’s most famous tenors, renowned not only for his passionate singing but also his incredible dramatic ability on stage. Few tenors can immerse themselves in a character quite like the French-born tenor can. Alagna was born in France to Sicilian immigrants and spent his youth singing pop in {…}
Benjamin Britten wrote a number of well-regarded operas, but his undeniable masterpiece is “Peter Grimes.” The work, which premiered on June 7, 1945, remains one of the most influential operas of all time for its musical brilliance but also dramatic weight. It features one of the most complex characters in the canon. The work was a massive success from its first {…}
Giacomo Aragall (or Jaume, as he was originally named) enjoyed a legendary career, even if his name is not always among the most recognized in the opera world. Born on June 6, 1939, he was singing from the age of nine onward. He made his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in 1961-62 season and then went over to La {…}
Robert Merrill, born on June 4, 1917, is one of the world’s most renowned baritones, making a lengthy career at the Metropolitan Opera throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He was born Moishe Miller and then, later on, was known as Morris Miller. His mother claimed to have had an opera and concert career in Poland and supposedly pushed her son {…}
Cecilia Bartoli, born on June 4, 1966, is one of the most famous opera singers on the planet. The mezzo-soprano, who has also shown an ability to sing a number of soprano roles, was born to professional singers and sang her first public performance at the age of nine in “Tosca” as the shepherd boy. She then went on to {…}
There were a plethora of great Italian mezzo-sopranos dominating the repertoire of Giuseppe Verdi in the mid-1900s. Fedora Barbieri was among those. Born on June 4, 1920 in Trieste, she quickly made her debut in Florence at age 20. She debuted at La Scala at age 22 but marriage derailed her career for two years. She re-emerged in 1945, becoming {…}
Neil Shicoff led a “textbook” opera career that slowly turned into something completely unexpected. The American Jewish tenor was born on June 2, 1949 in Brooklyn. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music with his father and others, including renowned tenor Franco Corelli. Then he started performing all around the city in smaller theaters before performing at Santa Fe {…}
Everyone knows her as “Flicka.” It’s a fun nickname that embodies exactly what makes Frederica Von Stade such a well-liked figure in the opera world. A consummate professional with a smashing personality, Von Stade, who was born on June 1, 1945, grew up in New Jersey and attended the Mannes College of Music. In 1970, she made her Metropolitan Opera {…}
Many mezzo-sopranos make the attempt to transition into the repertoire of the soprano. Few succeed the way Shirley Verrett did. Verrett, born on May 31, 1931, was raised in Los Angeles. While she showed early musical abilities. Her aspirations as a singer were looked down upon by her family, but she would find her way to Juilliard. She would make {…}
German soprano Diana Damrau has managed a career of musical diversity. The soprano, born on May 31, 1971 in Bavaria, Germany, kicked off her operatic studies with Carmen Hanganu at the Hochschule Musik Würzburg. Despite dealing with an edema on a vocal fold, the soprano would kick off her career in Würzburg, Mannheim, and Oper Frankfurt. She has since gone {…}