Born on Sept. 7, 1940, Giuseppe Giacomini would go on to become one of the great Italian tenors of the 20th century. He had some solid success with song competitions prior to his professional debut in 1966 in Vercelli. In 1969, he was also performing around Italy, before finally making his international debut in 1970 in Berlin. Debuts in Lisbon, Barcelona, {…}
We are aware that we have done our fair share of movie related opera quizzes (Don’t know what we’re talking about? Click here or here). And here we are again. Of course, it’s just fun to look into the two great art forms and see how they correspond with another. But we also wanted to bring this quiz into the {…}
There is something so intimate about the theater at Santa Fe Opera. Though intimacy may not be the word in mind for the over 2,000 seat semi-outdoor theater, it was magical to watch the setting sun as the backdrop for Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” It’s a treat reserved specifically for the New Mexican audience. Director Lee Blakely’s melancholy production of “Madama {…}
On August 8, 2018, Laura Alonso Padin will make her role debut as Cio-Cio San in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” The Spanish soprano will sing the role at the Espacio Cultural San Martín Pinario in Santiago de Compostela, where she will be joined by Moises Molin, Sandra Olivas, and Pablo Atahualpa. Linus Lerner will conduct the performance which will begin at 7 {…}
The Philadelphia Orchestra will be back in 2019 to showcase Puccini’s “Tosca” as Bravo! Vail Music Festival’s debut opera production. Performances are set for July 11 and 13, 2019 at the outdoor Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. The announcement was made by Bravo! Vail’s Music Festival’s Artistic Director Anne-Marie McDermott during a concert by the ensemble, as led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. {…}
Any time an opera production begins with non-textual lines, especially in a language different to the libretto, alarm bells ring louder the tubular Grail chimes in “Parsifal.” Such was the case in Davide Livermore’s new staging of “Manon Lescaut” for the Gran Teatre del Liceu which had already been seen in co-production with the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. Instead of {…}
Tenor Jonathan Tetelman will replace Piotr Beczala in “La Bohème” at Tanglewood. Beczala was supposed to take on his signature role alongside soprano Kristine Opolais but opted for performing in “Lohengrin” at the Bayreuth Festival when Roberto Alagna stepped down from the production. Tetelman sang his first performances of Rodolfo in the Puccini masterpiece at the Fujian Grand Theatre in {…}
Ever wonder what Mozart or Verdi might have thought about the changes that music took on nearly 100 years after them? It would certainly be interesting to see what they would have felt and how they might have connected to musicians of the last half-century. It would have been even more interesting to see what they felt of the direction {…}
As the Metropolitan Opera company’s Summer Recital Series rolls on, the artists and crew took to Williamsbridge Oval Park in the Bronx for an afternoon of arias, duets, and a trio from some of opera’s most cherished composers. Kicking things off was tenor Gerard Schneider, singing “Questa o quella” from Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” This amorous aria made for a spirited opening, {…}
The word “Bohemian” – much like the popular terms “retro,” “Goth,” or “vintage” – is yet another label that has offered countless inferences over a plethora of different times. The “Bohème” clique of Puccini, undercut by the whimsy and exuberance of Italian verismo, would contrast with a play rendition of its source, Henri Murger’s “Scènes de la Vie de Bohème.” {…}
Eva Marton, born on June 18, 1943, is arguably the most famous Hungarian soprano of the last few decades. She studied at the Franz Liszt Academy and made her professional debut at Hungary’s Margaret Island Summer Festival. Then at the Hungarian State Opera, she appeared for the first time in “The Golden Cockerel” in 1968. From there she made her {…}
