Over the past years Italian-American tenor Leonardo Capalbo has garnered international acclaim for performing in some of the leading theaters such as The Royal Opera Covent Garden, Teatro Real Madrid, La Monnaie, Berlin State Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, L’Opéra de Lyon, Teatro Regio di Torino, the Canadian Opera Company, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, {…}
For many, there has never been a more beautiful lyric tenor voice than that of Giuseppe di Stefano. Luciano Pavarotti once stated that, “Di Stefano is my idol. There is a solar voice… It was the most incredible, open voice you could hear. The musicality of di Stefano is as natural and beautiful as the voice is phenomenal.” Born on July 24, {…}
Aldo Protti is one of the great baritones of the 20th century, and yet he doesn’t always get that much recognition. Born on July 19, 1920, Protti often found himself in the shadow of Tito Gobbi and Ettore Bastiani, though he admittedly had some major exploits of his own. He studied in Parma and made his debut in 1948 in {…}
Soprano Nadine Sierra is having a 2018 to remember. The Florida-born artist, who turned 30 this past May, recently announced her first-ever solo album, is performing at the top theaters on the planet, has been garnering a plethora of accolades, and is set to perform in the opening night gala of the Festival Napa Valley, a leading performing arts organization that {…}
Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there. Opera is rife with fathers, many of whom are some of the greatest characters in the artform. But which of opera’s famous father’s is most closely related to your own father. Take this quiz, tell us about your father and find out which opera dad best resembles him! As always, have {…}
Ivan Magrì will replace Juan Diego Flórez as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” at the Vienna State Opera. It will be his debut with the company. He will perform alongside Paolo Rumetz’s interpretation of the title role and Aida Garifullina, who will take on Gilda. Magrì has performed at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro {…}
Update: Juan Diego Flórez recently announced that he is canceling his participation in this production. The original article follows. This Sunday, June 10, 2018, the Vienna State Opera streams a live performance of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” around the globe. The performance is part of the company’s season-long service straight from its website. Per the official website, the performance will star Juan {…}
On Sunday, May 27, 2018, Los Angeles Opera presented Giuseppe Verdi’s “Rigoletto” with a new cast of singers that was equal to those who sang the premiere. For this unusual situation, I found it necessary to return to the City of Angels for another look. Having attended a matinee performance, I write about it as our car speeds eastward away {…}
The Deutsche Oper Berlin had a problem for its final presentation of “Rigoletto” on Thursday night. The baritone Markus Bruck was forced to cancel around noon that day from his scheduled appearance in the title role. Fortunately, the company had a tremendous solution at hand. The Serbian baritone Zeljko Lucic was available since he was present to perform in “Nabucco” {…}
Swedish baritone Ingvar Wixell engaged in a lengthy career that spanned from 1955 all the way to 2003. Born on May 7, 1931, in Lulea, Sweden, he studied at the Stockholm Academy of Music, making professional debuts in 1952 in Galve and 1955 in Stockholm, where he would become a member of the Royal Swedish Opera until 1967. Then came {…}
Roberta Peters, born on May 4, 1930, was one of the great American coloratura sopranos of the 20th century. She grew up in New York City and started her musical studies at age 13, under William Herman. He taught her vocal technique as well as French, German, and Italian. From there, she auditioned for Rudolf Bing, who was General Manager {…}