On the 29th of August 1775, Joseph Haydn’s seventh opera, “L’Incontro Improvviso” (The Unexpected Encounter – Hob 28:6) was premiered at “Eszterháza,” the Hungarian palace of Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, principle patron of Haydn and a strong advocate of Haydn’s symphonic repertoire. The work had accompanied a four-day visit by Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria-Este and his consort Maria Beatrice d’Este. {…}
Considered one of his best works with a total of 70 arias in just three acts, Giovanni Legrenzi’s 16th opera “Il Giustino,” premiered on February 7th in 1683 at the Teatro San Salvador in Venice, was once one of the best pieces of operatic literature in the 17th century. Having made its revival in 2007, the opera is now shelved, with {…}
On August 12th, 1626, the 17th century Venetian composer Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690) was born. Regarded as one of the most important Venetian composers of the late-Baroque era and widely acclaimed for his operas and instrumental works, especially his sonatas and sacred music, Legrenzi has become one of the many unsung heroes of music history, and his music was even used {…}
Louise Angelique Bertin was born in Les Roches, France in 1805 and embarked on a career as an opera composer in nineteenth-century Paris. Her work was closely tied to composer Hector Berlioz and author Victor Hugo. She is best remembered as the composer of “La Esmeralda,” an opera based on Hugo’s famous novel “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.” Though Hugo, one {…}
Francesca Caccini, also nicknamed “La Cecchina,” was a Florentine composer and music teacher who distinguished herself as an important figure of the early Baroque era in Italy. Though Caccini is credited with many compositions throughout her career, only one opera—a comedy called “La liberazione di Ruggerio,” or “The Liberation of Ruggiero from the island of Alcina”—survived to the present day. {…}
American conductor and composer Victoria Bond is one of the most popular artists of opera and classical music today. Over a long career that has included conducting stints around the world and dozens of original compositions, Bond is also notable for her distinction as the first woman to receive a doctorate in orchestral conducting from the Juilliard School. Bond was {…}
(Credit: Bryan Sheffield) Scottish-American composer Thea Musgrave has distinguished herself over the course of a long and prolific career. Many of her works have emerged as some of the most important operas of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Musgrave was born outside of Edinburgh in 1928 and later studied at the University of Edinburgh. As a burgeoning music {…}
Though more famous for works such as “Doctor Atomic” and “Nixon in China,” John Adams also composed the memorable Christmas-themed opera, “El Niño” or “The Baby,” which tells the story of the birth of Jesus Christmas. The opera-oratorio premiered on December 15, 2000 in Paris and has been performed many times since as holiday entertainment. The first performance featured soloists {…}
(Photo: Karen Almond/Houston Grand Opera) Jake Heggie’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” serves as an operatic successor to the beloved 1946 Frank Capra film of the same name. The libretto, written by Gene Scheer, tells the familiar holiday story of George Bailey’s life crisis and redemption as based on the original text, a short story called “The Greatest Gift” by Philip {…}
While Zumaya’s “Partenope” is recognized by music historians as the first opera created by a New World-born composer, Tomas de Torrejon y Velasco’s “La purpura de la rosa” (in English, “The Blood of the Rose”) was the first opera both composed and performed in the western hemisphere. Velasco’s work premiered in Lima, Peru on December 1701. It is the composer’s {…}
One of the first composers born in the western hemisphere, Manuel de Zumaya (1678-1744) combined Baroque music with the sounds of colonial Spain. His lost opera, “Partenope,” was the first written in Italian to premiere in the New World. The work was first shown to audiences in Mexico City at the viceroy palace on May 1, 1711, making it the {…}