(Credits: Maria José Siri official website / Chris Gloag / Zoe Cura / Georg List) Italian television channel Rai5 has announced broadcasts for the week of Feb. 14 – Feb. 20, 2021. The opera broadcasts will be dedicated to composer Giacomo Puccini. The stream on Feb. 14 will be dedicated to late soprano Mirella Freni. OPERAS The broadcast of Niccolò {…}
Whether it is a brand new Ferrari or a Rolls Royce cabriolet – the relationship between star singers and their cars has always been something of an amour fou. Piotr Beczała is no exception and the Polish tenor drives a sleek and elegant Jaguar XK150 which, in general terms, might well serve the description of his voice. Timeless, and equipped {…}
Giacomo Puccini lived during the age of Verismo, but he couldn’t easily be pinned down to said opera genre. In fact, much like Verdi before him, he was far greater because he defies categorization. Puccini’s works strive for the same exoticism that we find in composers that preceded him and like Verdi’s forays into “Ancient Egypt” or Rossini’s into Algiers {…}
Puccini is undeniably one of those names that will forever be linked with opera. Born on Dec. 22, 1858 (his full name was Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini) in Lucca, Italy, he was set to occupy the position of maestro di cappella after his father’s death. However, he was only six-years-old and unable to occupy the position his {…}
Juan Pons, born on August 8, 1946, became one of the greatest underrated baritones of all time, his career associated with a number of major Italian operas such as “Andrea Chénier,” “Aida” and “Rigoletto.” He was always heavily reliable and put together some truly memorable vocal displays during his peak years. He also gave us some great stories, none more {…}
Puccini’s “Tosca” had its debut on Jan. 14, 1900. Since then it has been an instant classic, one of the staples of the operatic repertoire. All of the world’s greatest sopranos have taken their respective cracks at the role with Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Leontyne Price and Eva Marton among some of the many popular exponents of the role. And {…}
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 {…}