The Canadian Opera Company has announced its 2018-19 season, which will feature six operas. Every opera is undeniably the sum of all its parts, but there is certainly a lot to be said about how one performer can become the big story for his or her upcoming showcase. Here is a look at the six exciting singers to keep an {…}
James McCracken, born on Dec. 16, 1926, is known today as one of the great American tenors of the 20th Century. Shockingly, he wasn’t always viewed that way. In fact, a great portion of his early career, spent at the Metropolitan Opera, was spent in the shadows of other things. He sang a whopping 596 performances with the company, but {…}
“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment features Jonathan Woody Allen’s {…}
When he was to name what would be his great dramatic masterpiece “Otello,” Verdi struggled with the name. He was afraid not of his work being compared to Shakespeare’s immortal play but of having to suffer the consequences of doing battle with Rossini’s original opera on the subject. The master of Pesaro, an idol for the young Verdi, had created {…}
Rene Kollo (or René Kollodzieyski, as he was born on Nov. 20, 1937), was a renowned Wagnerian tenor. He took on every major leading role by the great composer, recording almost all of his interpretations to great acclaim with the best of conductors. His Siegfried was recorded with Wolfgang Sawallisch, his Lohengrin and Walther von Stolzing with Herbert Von Karajan, {…}
Jon Vickers, born on Oct. 29, 1926, built up a career as one of the finest dramatic tenors of his time. He conquered a wide range of repertoire across a wide range of houses, became associated with quite a few roles, and then went on to make acclaimed recordings with other major superstars. Vickers’ career got kickstarted in 1957 when {…}
Tito Gobbi is arguably one of the greatest, if not the greatest baritone of the 20th century. Born on Oct. 24, 1913, his career really took off after the second World War with the singer performing all around the world in a wide range of great Italian repertoire. He not only sang with a gorgeous baritone sound that featured tremendous {…}
For years, tenor Russell Thomas has developed into one of the rising stars of the opera world, his incredible lyricism and potent dramatic voice making him a fixture for some of the greatest operas. He has dominated in Mozart, Verdi, and Puccini alike at the greatest opera houses around the world including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper {…}
Performances of Washington National Opera’s (WNO) production of Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Aida’ are well underway. While the production finishes its run on September 23rd, there remains great interest, and for good reason. With set and costume designs drawing inspiration from Los Angeles-based artist RETNA, audiences will no doubt find much novelty in this classic work set within the ancient world of {…}
Ramón Vinay was one of the greatest dramatic tenors of all-time, his dark and potent voice often cited as the shining example of what Verdi’s “Otello” should sound like. In fact, Carlo Bergonzi famously declared that Vinay’s was the only one he found suitable for the role of the tragic Moor. Vinay, born on August 31, 1912, in Chile, actually {…}
One of the great tragedies of 2016 was losing tenor Johan Botha in the midst of his vocal prime. At just 51 years of age, he still had, at the very least, a few solid years of singing to impart on us. Those who heard Botha will rarely forget his beautiful tenor, a delicate instrument by nature capable of ripping {…}