Puccini’s “Turandot” is an operatic fixture and one would expect that the work, so popular at the Metropolitan Opera thanks to Franco Zeffirelli’s famed production, would have been around the house for as long as one can remember. And yet the opera experienced a long hiatus of 30 years before regaining its foothold at the Met. Along the way, some {…}
Carl Maria von Weber wrote a number of operas, but only a select few have made it into the books of posterity. Shining brightest above these is “Der Freischütz,” the opera that had such a massive effect on the young Richard Wagner. The opera had its premiere on June 18, 1821, and has had a mixed life in the repertoire. {…}
Zinka Milanov was born on May 17, 1906. Exactly 12 years later, on May 17, 1918, Birgit Nilsson was born. The two women would go on to markedly different careers, though they both performed at the greatest houses in the world and would perform with many of the same artists, albeit in different operas. Both women were dramatic sopranos, and {…}
Rudolf Bing’s name towers in the world of opera. The Austrian-born impresario, born on January 9, 1902, has an enduring legacy, in many ways tainted by the scandals and feuds Bing was known to have with the opera’s greatest figures and lesser-known figures during many of the company’s most tumultuous years. But to see the general manager who wielded his {…}
Thursday December 22 is the 158th birthday of one of the greatest opera composers of all time – Giacomo Puccini. The Italian composer is best known for his brilliant melodic invention and his operatic output, while relatively small when compared with the likes of Italian predecessors such as Verdi, Rossini or Donizetti, is among the most popular in the entire {…}
Ludwig Van Beethoven turned 246 on Friday, Dec. 16. Upon his death in 1827, the composer left behind veritable masterpieces of classical music. His most famous works are his nine symphonies, his piano sonatas and concertos and his string quartets. There was also one opera, “Fidelio.” The composer is said to have struggled to create this singular work, creating three {…}