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Did you know ... related to opera ...
The hooks appeared on the talk of the Project Opera. Those until 23 September 2012 appeared before on the Main page. Then a daily DYK was created related to the given day, adding the new ones (marked by date of archive). As of September 2013, again only new ones are listed.
... that baritone
Liviu Holender chose
lieder by five composers whose music was banned by the Nazis—
Schreker ,
Zemlinsky ,
Mahler ,
Korngold and
Schönberg —for a recital at the
Oper Frankfurt ?
22 May
... that a will bequeathing the
Chestnut Street Opera House to the
University of Pennsylvania was contested at the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ?
16 May
... that although
Agnes Kimball was a popular recording artist of opera and musical theatre, she never appeared as a singing actress on the stage?
14 May
... that singer
Frank Croxton performed a duet with his father for the unveiling of a monument to a Confederate States Army general?
13 May
... that a reviewer described the approach of
soprano
Magdalena Hinterdobler to her role as Grete in Zemlinsky's
Der Traumgörge as "bold" and "sassy"?
10 May
... that opera composer and librettist
Joseph Redding (pictured) was also a chess
polymath and lawyer who won a
landmark decision before the United States Supreme Court?
7 May
... that soprano
Olga von Türk-Rohn (pictured) was celebrated for her interpretations of
Franz Schubert 's
lieder ?
30 Apr
... that opera singer
Charles Holland (pictured) spent much of his career in Europe as opportunities in classical music for African Americans were limited?
20 Apr
... that in opposition to his parents, opera star
Joseph Schwarz began his career by running away from home to join a band of traveling minstrels?
18 Apr
... that
Tilmann Köhler directed Mozart's
Le nozze di Figaro in 2023 with playful "serious games" in which the women win by "wit, cleverness and presence of mind"?
29 Mar
Karsten Januschke 's conducting of Offenbach's
Die Banditen was described as producing a "lean, dry, delicate" sound with an ensemble of 22 soloists, including 11 tenors?
29 Mar
... that as music director of the
Oper Hagen ,
Florian Ludwig promoted a wide repertoire that included contemporary operas such as Barber's
Vanessa and crossover projects?
26 Mar
... that when
Kelsey Lauritano portrayed
Mozart's Cherubino , a reviewer from the
FAZ noted her "almost metallic-brittle approach that spreads androgynous infatuation"?
26 Mar
... that American mezzo-soprano
Cecelia Hall portrayed the lead male role in Mozart's
Ascanio in Alba ?
23 Mar
... that
Grounded , an opera about drone warfare, was sponsored by
General Dynamics , a major military contractor?
23 Mar
... that
Caspar Richter co-founded
an orchestra in Vienna and conducted it in performances of new musicals including
Mozart! and
Elisabeth ?
3 Mar
... that the Soviet
soprano
Tamara Milashkina performed alongside her husband
Vladimir Atlantov at New York's
Metropolitan Opera in 1975?
20 Feb
... that
Stephen Gould performed three roles at the 2022
Bayreuth Festival :
Tannhäuser ,
Siegfried and
Tristan , earning him nicknames such as "Iron Man"?
7 Feb
... that
Kaija Saariaho 's 2021 opera
Innocence includes traditional Finnish cow-herding calls?
4 Feb
... that before the age of thirty,
Anna Nekhames performed the dual role of Venus and Chief of the Gepopo in Ligeti's
Le Grand Macabre , one of opera's most demanding
coloratura soprano parts?
26 Jan
... that
Kihwan Sim from South Korea appeared as Mozart's
Figaro at the
Oper Frankfurt in the first production with
the new music director , acting with a hint at the
French Revolution ?
12 Jan
... that a 1974 recording of Mozart's
Così fan tutte with
Ryland Davies as Ferrando was used in a 1995 film by the
Salzburg Marionette Theatre ?
9 Jan
... that
Luca Salsi (pictured) performed leading roles in two operas in a row at the
Metropolitan Opera , stepping in on 30 minutes' notice in Verdi's
Ernani and singing as planned in
Lucia di Lammermoor ?
28 Nov
... that soprano
Rachel Yakar , who received international attention in 1977 as
Poppea with
Nikolaus Harnoncourt , was also described as an "ideal"
Mélisande and "a Mozartian at heart and in style"?
17 Nov
... that composer
Guglielmo Zuelli (pictured) , a former director of the
Palermo Conservatory , spent time in prison before the age of eight?
3 Nov
... that
Isabelle Cals , who turned to singing after a degree in Chinese, appeared as Wagner's Kundry in a production of
Parsifal at the
Stadttheater Minden ?
28 Oct
... that when
Robert Hale performed as
Wagner's Wotan in Washington, a reviewer noted that he commanded "the spirit, from tragic grandeur to ironic detachment, from flooding tenderness to grim rage"?
14 Oct
... that soprano
Vera Curtis was the first singer trained exclusively in the United States to perform with the
Metropolitan Opera ?
29 Sep
... that the
tenor
Graham Clark appeared at the
Bayreuth Festival in 16 seasons, portraying the characters Loge and Mime in the 1988
Ring cycle ?
17 Sep
... that as of 2018,
the opera house in
Harrington, Washington – which opened in 1904 – had never held an
opera ?
12 Sep
... that
Le Vin herbé is a 1942 musical setting of the story of
Tristan and Iseult by
Frank Martin for twelve vocalists, seven
strings and
piano ?
1 Sep
... that
dramatic soprano
Berit Lindholm (pictured) was said to have been called "that damn primary school teacher" by
the director of the
Royal Swedish Opera , and used it in the title of her memoir?
30 Aug
... that the "extreme lightness and luminous agility" of
Michael McCown 's voice in the roles of Britten's
Tempter and
Nebuchadnezzar has been likened to that of
Peter Pears ?
13 Aug
... that countertenor
Christopher Lowrey 's voice has been described as "packed with enough character to sink a battleship"?
4 Jul
... that international opera singer
Soňa Červená (pictured) won the
Alfréd Radok Award for Best Actress when she was 83 years old?
29 Jun
... that while
Dmitri Shostakovich composed his opera
Katyusha Maslova ,
Sergei Prokofiev was also contemplating an opera based on the same subject?
22 Jun
... that in Strauss's
Elektra ,
Aile Asszonyi was said to be convincing as a woman close to madness?
5 Jun
... that actress
Eula Morgan performed opera in her 1940s film roles, such as Madame Rinaldi in
The Great American Broadcast ?
30 May
... that several composers wrote
coloratura arias specifically for the voice of Italian opera singer
Maria Giustina Turcotti ?
23 May
... that soprano
Carolina White performed the title role in the United States premiere of
Il segreto di Susanna at the
Metropolitan Opera in 1911?
26 Apr
... that
Erich Korngold 's
Die tote Stadt had simultaneous premieres in Cologne and Hamburg in 1920, one with
Johanna Geisler and her husband
Otto Klemperer ?
16 Apr
... that the opera
Omar , about the Muslim scholar
Omar ibn Said , had its world premiere in a theater located less than a mile (1.6 km) from the site where he was sold as a slave?
6 Apr
... that
a temple once housed the
New York City Opera and
New York City Ballet ?
21 Mar
... that jazz composer
Duke Ellington worked on his only opera,
Queenie Pie , from the 1930s until his death in 1974 without finishing it?
17 Mar
... that as a last-minute substitute in a premiere performance at
Oper Frankfurt ,
Elena Manistina sang from the side while the assistant director mimed onstage?
27 Jan
... that
Volodymyr Kozhukhar , the chief conductor of the
National Opera of Ukraine in Kyiv, led Lysenko's opera
Taras Bulba and Shchedrin's ballet
Carmen Suite .
12 Jan
... that soprano
Galina Pisarenko studied economics, English, and Norwegian at the same time she was studying to become a professional opera singer?
12 Jan
... that after
Domen Križaj from Slovenia was a prize winner in the singing competition
Neue Stimmen , he moved to the
Oper Frankfurt where he appeared as Massenet's
Albert and Mozart's
Papageno ?
6 Jan
... that
Quentin Oliver Lee landed a title role in Gershwin's
Porgy and Bess on Broadway after a casting agent spotted him singing in a subway station?
30 Dec
... that
Talia Or (pictured) , who sang as the
Voice of a Falcon at
La Scala , was born in Israel and is based in Germany?
26 Dec
... that
Azio Corghi composed his second and third operas with author
José Saramago – the second for
La Scala in Milan, and
the third for a 1993 premiere at the
Theater Münster ?
17 Dec
... that in 2020 when Persian-Canadian
countertenor
Cameron Shahbazi performed in
Written on Skin in Cologne, his "Luciferian charm" and "iridescent voice" were noted?
28 Nov
... that
Enriqueta Legorreta (pictured) , who was the first Mexican woman to appear as Sieglinde in Wagner's
Die Walküre , became an award-winning environmental activist?
17 Nov
... that
Sung Min Song , who was an informatics engineer in Seoul until age 26, performed the extreme tenor role of Arnold in Rossini's
Guillaume Tell as his debut at the
Saarländisches Staatstheater ?
9 Nov
... that the Ukrainian composer
Borys Lyatoshynsky (pictured) composed his second opera,
Shchors in 1937–38, about
a military figure from Ukraine who fought for the Soviet
Red Army in the
Ukrainian–Soviet War ?
8 Nov
... that
Silvia Hauer , a singer of Rossini's
Rosina and Bizet's
Carmen at
Staatstheater Wiesbaden , performed the
mezzo-soprano solo of Verdi's
Requiem in 2022?
30 Oct
... that in 2021
Sarah Aristidou recorded
Jörg Widmann 's Labyrinth V , a wordless piece for her
soprano voice with "
ululations , sobs, jazz inflections and wild laughter"?
17 Oct
... that Ukrainian baritone
Danylo Matviienko , who holds a master's degree in mathematics, appeared as Demetrius in
Britten 's opera
A Midsummer Night's Dream at the
Oper Frankfurt ?
28 Sep
... that
The Maiden in the Tower , the only opera by
Jean Sibelius , was withdrawn after only three performances with the intention to revise it, which never happened?
23 Sep
... that when
Francesco Lanzillotta conducted Dallapiccola's
Ulisse at
Oper Frankfurt in 2022, a reviewer noted that he "does not shy away from agglomerations of sound"?
22 Sep
... that
Pier Giorgio Morandi first played as the principal
oboist at
La Scala in Milan, and conducted a 2019 recorded production of Verdi's
Il trovatore at the
Verona Arena , directed by
Franco Zeffirelli ?
9 Sep
... that
Matti Lehtinen , a
baritone of the
Finnish National Opera and professor of singing at the
Sibelius Academy , was the voice of God at age 93?
7 Sep
... that in the history of
opera in Ukraine ,
Mykola Lysenko 's historical
Taras Bulba (title character pictured) was the first
grand opera , but not performed during his lifetime because he refused a performance in Russian?
5 Sep
... that when the Canadian
baritone
Iain MacNeal appeared as
Odysseus in Dallapiccola's
Ulisse at the
Oper Frankfurt , a reviewer noted that he portrayed the "character's self-exegeses"?
21 Aug
... that
Victória Pitts from Brazil portrayed characters in all three parts of Puccini's
Il trittico at the
Oper Frankfurt in 2022, including Zita in
Gianni Schicchi ?
19 Aug
... that
Rogers Covey-Crump , once the high tenor of the
Hilliard Ensemble , is known as a leading
Evangelist in
Bach's Passions ?
17 Aug
... that Colombian singer
Juanita Lascarro became a
soprano at the
Oper Frankfurt , where she appeared as both Calypso and Penelope in a new production of Dallapiccola's
Ulisse ?
9 Aug
... that
Avelina Carrera (pictured) made her debut at the
Liceu in Barcelona in 1889, stepping in as Elsa in Wagner's
Lohengrin , and created the role of Maddalena in Giordano's
Andrea Chénier at
La Scala ?
8 Aug
... that
R. B. Schlather directed the world premiere of Hertzberg's chamber opera
The Rose Elf in Brooklyn, as well as Cimarosa's
L'Italiana in Londra and Puccini's
Madama Butterfly at the
Oper Frankfurt ?
30 Jul
... that after the Italian soprano
Fausta Labia (pictured) worked at the
Royal Swedish Opera , she appeared as Mascagni's
Iris at
La Fenice in Venice and as Wagner's
Sieglinde at
La Scala in Milan?
26 Jul
... that French
soprano
Marguerite Vaillant-Couturier created the role of Micaëla in the world premiere of Lecocq's
Le coeur et la main (pictured) in Paris in 1882?
23 Jul
... that soprano
Sarah Traubel appeared as Inanna in Jörg Widmann's
Babylon for the opening of the 2022
Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden ?
23 Jul
... that after finding success in Poland and South America,
soprano
Adalgisa Gabbi performed at
La Scala as Eva in the Italian premiere of Wagner's
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg ?
22 Jul
... that Danish-born
soprano
Louise Janssen appeared at the
Grand Théâtre de Lyon as Eva in the French premiere of Wagner's
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg ?
21 Jul
... that the favourite role of
Wilma Schmidt , who performed at the
Staatsoper Hannover for more than five decades in German, Italian and Slavic operas, was the Marschallin in
Der Rosenkavalier ?
20 Jul
... that
Lorenzo Passerini , who has conducted several operas in Sydney, revived Giordano's
Fedora at the
Oper Frankfurt ?
26 Jun
... that the mezzo-soprano
Wilhelmine Holmboe (pictured) , who studied in Paris with
Pauline Viardot and moved to Italy to perform, was one of the first Norwegian women to be acclaimed internationally for her singing?
25 Jun
... that
Arnold Blackner was said to be the first person to sing over 3,000 miles on the telephone?
12 Jun
... that
Paula Lizell , a former star of the
Royal Swedish Opera , advanced from
coloratura to dramatic
Wagnerian roles?
12 Jun
... that tenor
Theo Lebow performed the roles of
F. Scott Fitzgerald and
Pablo Picasso in the world premiere of the opera
27 ?
10 Jun
... that at age 22,
Yoel Gamzou from
Tel Aviv conducted an orchestra that he had founded, playing his completion of Mahler's
Tenth Symphony in Berlin?
9 Jun
... that when
tenor
Jonathan Tetelman appeared as Loris Ipanov in Giordano's
Fedora , which had made
Caruso famous, a reviewer called him ideal for the role?
8 Jun
... that
Liva Järnefelt performed leading roles at the
Royal Swedish Opera , such as Ortrud in Wagner's
Lohengrin (pictured) , and Bizet's
Carmen , which she also performed for her 25th anniversary with the company?
7 Jun
... that when
Nadja Stefanoff portrayed the title role of Giordano's
Fedora at the
Oper Frankfurt , one reviewer complimented the brilliance and agility of her voice, assertive even when singing softly?
27 May
... that
Magna Lykseth appeared as Isolde (pictured) when Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde was first performed at the
Royal Swedish Opera in 1909?
25 May
... that when public radio stations aired
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in solidarity with Ukraine on 10 March 2022, the
bass voice of
Anthony Robin Schneider was heard live
from Frankfurt and recorded
from Auckland ?
23 May
... that
AJ Glueckert appeared at the
Metropolitan Opera as
Erik in 2017, described as a "clarion sensitive tenor", and at the
Oper Frankfurt as
Flamand in 2018, with "passionate power"?
21 May
... that a reviewer noted that when
Leo Hussain conducted Weinberg's
Die Passagierin at the
Oper Frankfurt , the orchestra excelled in chamber music moments, hard beats and distorted entertainment music?
4 May
... that
Germaine Bailac (pictured) created in 1911 the role of Phenice in
Déjanire , the last opera by Camille Saint-Saëns, at the
Opéra de Monte-Carlo ?
30 Apr
... that the melody of Mozart's aria "
Dove sono " from
Le nozze di Figaro , asking "Where are those happy moments ...?", begins similarly to the Agnus Dei from his earlier
Coronation Mass ?
28 Apr
... that during a German charity concert for Ukraine, Slovakian singer
Judita Nagyová performed a solo in the finale of
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony ?
23 Apr
... that American soprano
Emily Pogorelc went from winning the 2018 "Most Promising Talent" prize at
Glyndebourne to appearing as
Mozart's Cherubino at the
Munich Opera Festival ?
22 Apr
... that
Monika Buczkowska , who appeared as a student at the
Grand Theatre, Poznań , as
Mozart's Susanna , was a soloist in
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at a charity concert for Ukraine at the
Alte Oper ?
20 Apr
... that the
mezzo-soprano of
Beth Taylor was the only lower voice when she appeared as Dardano in Handel's
Amadigi , portraying her
male character with fine vocal lines and "remarkable
coloraturas "?
19 Apr
... that
Katharina Konradi , a
soprano born in Kyrgyzstan, made a recording of
lieder with pianist
Gerold Huber including settings by
Lori Laitman of children's poems written in
Terezin ?
18 Apr
... that the titular character of Verdi's
Nabucco , the opera that established his fame, is a combination of three historic rulers?
15 Apr
... that when soprano
Rosina Buckman returned to New Zealand for a concert tour in 1922, the
prime minister and a former prime minister spoke at the reception?
14 Apr
... that the Polish
soprano
Zofia Kilanowicz appeared as Roxana in Szymanowski's
King Roger in Paris, and recorded Górecki's
Symphony of Sorrowful Songs ?
12 Apr
... that
Vladyslav Buialskyi , a 24-year-old bass-baritone from
Berdiansk , sang the
State Anthem of Ukraine on the night of his debut with the
Metropolitan Opera ?
9 Apr
... that when
Heather Phillips made her European debut in Rossini's
Bianca e Falliero at the
Oper Frankfurt , reviewers agreed that her nuanced
coloraturas served to portray Bianca's development?
9 Apr
... that after the Ukrainian soprano
Olga Bezsmertna won the
Neue Stimmen competition in 2011 (pictured) , she was engaged at the
Vienna State Opera ?
29 Mar
... that
Rose Delaunay (pictured) , a French operatic soprano who began her career at the
Opéra-Comique in Paris, and her husband, an actor, celebrated their
diamond wedding in 1937?
25 Mar
... that
Stephan MacLeod ' s 2021 recording of Bach's
Mass in B minor with ten singers was said to be "characterised by swift momentum, crisp articulation and benevolent attention to detail"?
21 Mar
... that when
Lviv -born
Maria Moscisca (pictured) performed the title role of Verdi's
La traviata at the
San Francisco Opera in 1913, a review described her as "the impersonation of grace and refinement"?
19 Mar 2022
... that operatic
soprano
Elena Tsallagova has been described as a natural actress who can make even looking around a corner interesting?
9 Mar 2022
... that New York's
Wieting Opera House burnt down and was rebuilt on three separate occasions by its proprietors,
John Wieting and
Mary Elizabeth Wieting ?
6 Feb 2022
... that
Rudi Stephan was already composing the opera
Die ersten Menschen when the 1908 drama about the first humans by Otto Borngräber, on which it is based, was banned in Bavaria?
4 Feb 2022
... that
Elena Guseva 's training as a choral conductor helped her analyse the score when playing Polina in Prokofiev's
The Gambler at the
Vienna State Opera ?
30 Jan 2022
... that when
Helena Braun visited New York "just for the trip", she sang the role of Brünnhilde in Wagner's
Die Walküre at the
Metropolitan Opera with four hours' notice?
17 Jan 2022
... that after
George Alexander Albrecht collapsed when conducting
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony during a New Year's concert, he returned to composing and began
hospice work?
16 Jan 2022
... that
Rogelio de Egusquiza 's
paintings of Tristan and Isolde (one pictured) arose from his decades-long fascination with the works of
Richard Wagner ?
14 Jan 2022
... that in
Die Schneekönigin , an opera for children by
George Alexander Albrecht after Andersen's "
The Snow Queen ", members of a children's choir play the roles of birds and ice crystals?
9 Jan 2022
... that
bass-baritone
Johann-Werner Prein took part in the 1994 premiere of
Erwin Schulhoff 's only opera,
Flammen , which the Nazis had suppressed?
3 Jan 2022
... that
Roland Böer (pictured) , who made his debut at
La Scala in Milan with Mozart's
Die Zauberflöte , was the artistic director of the
Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte in Montepulciano?
17 Dec 2021
... that
Fabian Kelly , a
tenor focused on
historically informed performance , was a soloist in Monteverdi's
Vespro della Beata Vergine and Handel's
Messiah ?
17 Dec 2021
... that the Polish
mezzo-soprano
Agnieszka Rehlis , who sang in the
Grammy Award –winning album
Penderecki conducts Penderecki , was Verdi's
Azucena in
Zürich in 2021?
15 Dec 2021
... that
Marie Litta started her own opera company in her early 20s, just a few years before her death in 1883?
30 Nov 2021
... that a reviewer from
The Guardian noted after a concert at
The Proms that
Jonathon Heyward led Beethoven's
Third Symphony "from memory – a fast and fearless performance"?
24 Nov 2021
... that
Thomas Guggeis , who studied conducting and
quantum mechanics , began at the
Berlin State Opera as an assistant of
Daniel Barenboim and became the youngest Staatskapellmeister there?
24 Nov 2021
... that
Metropolitan Opera star
John Gurney performed "
The Star-Spangled Banner " for sporting events in which his son, racing driver
Dan Gurney , competed?
19 Nov 2021
... that
Elizabeth Reiter portrayed the double role of Renee, an "icy wife"; and Alice, an "insatiable lover"; in the German premiere of Olga Neuwirth's opera
Lost Highway ?
18 Nov 2021
... that
Andreas Reize assumed the post of
Thomaskantor as the first Swiss and the first Catholic since the
Reformation ?
12 Nov 2021
... that when
La Folia Barockorchester made the first recordings of anonymous violin concertos found in the
Dresden Hofkirche , they chose not to discover the identity of the composers?
29 Oct 2021
... that the title of
La Passion selon Sade , an opera by
Sylvano Bussotti , caused a scandal at its premiere and had to be changed for the next performance?
24 Oct 2021
... that
Johann Adam von Questenberg (pictured) , who worked for the
Austrian Imperial Court , was an amateur
lutenist who made his palace a music centre?
15 Oct 2021
... that
Wolfgang Anheisser was the leading
baritone at the
Cologne Opera while simultaneously a member of
East Berlin's State Opera ?
1 Oct 2021
... that
Jean-Paul Jeannotte , founder and first artistic director of the
Opéra de Montréal , performed the role of Bobino more than 100 times, in the premiere on
CBC TV and on stages on a Canada tour?
25 Sep 2021
... that
Willi Brokmeier , who participated in the world premiere of
Die Soldaten at the
Cologne Opera , appeared as
Beethoven's Jaquino on a tour to Japan?
22 Sep 2021
... that more than fifty years after
Hilde Scheppan appeared in Wagner's
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the 1943
Bayreuth Festival , reviewer
Alan Blyth called her "a dream of an Eva"?
18 Sep 2021
... that when conductor
Hans Drewanz , a personal assistant to
Georg Solti at the
Oper Frankfurt , became
Generalmusikdirektor in
Darmstadt , he was the youngest GMD in Germany?
17 Sep 2021
... that the
Alfred Fischer Hall , built as the machinery hall for a 1912 coal mine, was the venue for a
concert performance of Beethoven's
Fidelio in 2021?
16 Sep 2021
... that a review by
Alan Blyth of
tenor
Christoph Strehl 's performances described him as singing "with a
Wunderlich -like strength and beauty"?
14 Sep 2021
... that
Joe Hill , the last opera by
Alan Bush , contains four songs by the real
Joe Hill ?
11 Sep 2021
... that
Alfred Koerppen , who taught
music theory and composition at the
Musikhochschule Hannover , wrote the text and music of a 1951 opera after
Virgil ?
6 Sep 2021
... that
Paul Armin Edelmann appeared in the title role of Mozart's
Don Giovanni at
Opera Ireland in 2009, while
his brother Peter took the role of Leporello?
3 Sep 2021
... that the Romanian soprano
Iulia Maria Dan was Hamlet's Ophelia in the
Bregenz Festival 's revival of Franco Faccio's revived opera
Amleto ?
2 Sep 2021
... that New Zealand opera singer
Helen Medlyn 's first performing role was as one of the
Three Kings ?
1 Sep 2021
... that
Claus Guth , recognised internationally for directing the 1999 premiere of Berio's
Cronaca del luogo at the
Salzburg Festival , later received two
Faust awards ?
29 Aug 2021
... that
Linda Watson , a
dramatic soprano born in
San Francisco who made a career in Europe, is proud of a
Grammy nomination for Wagner's
Ring cycle with her as Brünnhilde?
28 Aug 2021
... that
Erich Witte was the first performer of the title role of Britten's
Peter Grimes in Berlin?
27 Aug 2021
... that as general director of the
Grand Theatre in Łódź ,
bass singer
Kazimierz Kowalski led a worldwide television broadcast of Moniuszko's
The Haunted Manor ?
26 Aug 2021
... that Australian soprano
Ada Baker toured India and China before becoming a singing teacher in
Perth in 1889?
24 Aug 2021
... that
Giedrė Šlekytė conducted a version of Mozart's
Die Zauberflöte for children at the 2018
Salzburg Festival , and Poulenc's
Dialogues des Carmélites at the
Oper Frankfurt in 2021?
21 Aug 2021
... that the composer
Francis Burt , who came from London and settled in Vienna, was inspired by the drumming of the Nigerian
Ibo people ?
21 Aug 2021
... that
Vera Schoenenberg 's performance in the title role of Kálmán's
Die Csárdásfürstin at the
Mörbisch Lake Festival was broadcast by German and Austrian stations?
19 Aug 2021
... that
Gottfried Hornik , a
baritone at the
Vienna State Opera for 25 years, appeared in his signature role of
Beckmesser from
Aachen and
Barcelona in 1976 to the
Municipal Theatre of Santiago in 2001?
18 Aug 2021
... that mezzo-soprano
Margarita Gritskova was
José Carreras 's partner for his farewell concert in
Carnegie Hall ?
17 Aug 2021
... that a reviewer wrote that
Florian Boesch 's 2011 recording of
Winterreise with
Malcolm Martineau was "one of the most powerful
lieder albums of recent years"?
16 Aug 2021
... that
Mika Kares returned to Finland to perform the title role of Boito's opera
Mefistofele at the
Savonlinna Opera Festival ?
12 Aug 2021
... that soprano
Heidi Grant Murphy , who has given over 200 performances at the
Met , said that becoming a singer "takes work on your psyche, your innermost being"?
11 Aug 2021
... that a reviewer wrote that "few tenors on disc can rival the German
Rainer Trost " about his 1992 performance as Ferrando in Mozart's
Così fan tutte in Paris, with conductor
John Eliot Gardiner ?
11 Aug 2021
... that in
Inferno , an opera by
Lucia Ronchetti premiered in 2021 at the
Oper Frankfurt , the main character
Dante has a speaking voice and an
inner voice of four male singers?
7 Aug 2021
... that operatic soprano
Natalia Shpiller was beloved by
Joseph Stalin , and he frequently had her perform at the
Moscow Kremlin to impress visiting dignitaries?
26 Jul 2021
... that when
Ingrid Haubold recorded the role of Senta in Wagner's
Der fliegende Holländer , reviewer
Alan Blyth found "a certain raw edge" of her
soprano voice apt for the role?
23 Jul 2021
... that
Ludwig Wüllner sang in the U.S. premiere of Mahler's
Kindertotenlieder in 1910, conducted by the composer?
15 Jul 2021
... that
Jane Margyl (pictured) began her stage career as a
mime at the
Folies Bergère , and became a leading singer of the
Paris Opera ?
6 Jul 2021
... that
Henriette Spitzeder and her husband
Josef Spitzeder appeared on stage as
Mozart's Figaro and his bride Susanna?
27 Jun 2021
... that
Rosa Ponselle blamed
Metropolitan Opera star
Giovanni Martinelli 's poor singing on his love affair with French soprano and actress
Colette D'Arville ?
26 Jun 2021
... that the
Theater Trier runs a series including the premiere of
Zemlinsky 's Sarema , the German premiere of The Voyage by
Philip Glass , and the revival of Koanga by
Frederick Delius ?
15 Jun 2021
... that when
Honor McKellar studied voice in England,
Ralph Vaughan Williams called her "the girl who does things with the words"?
14 Jun 2021
... that soprano
Estelle Liebling , the voice teacher of
Beverly Sills and
Meryl Streep , performed in more than 1600 concerts with
John Philip Sousa and his band?
4 Jun 2021
... that concert pianist, composer, and opera librettist
Leonard Liebling was the editor-in-chief of the
Musical Courier from 1911 to 1945?
4 Jun 2021
... that soprano
Joyce Mathis won the
Marian Anderson Award in 1967 and the
Young Concert Artists singing competition in 1968?
1 Jun 2021
... that
Marie Desbrosses made her operatic debut at the
Comédie-Italienne in Paris in 1776, and created the role of Marguerite in Boieldieu's
La dame blanche there in 1822?
26 May 2021
... that in
The Gamblers , Shostakovich tried to set
Gogol's play word for word but gave up after one act, and
Krzysztof Meyer completed the opera decades later?
13 May 2021
... that
Boris Carmeli , a
basso profondo born in Poland who made an opera career in Italy, appeared in the world premieres of Penderecki's
Seventh Symphony and Stockhausen's
Sirius ?
12 May 2021
... that
Helmut Branny , a double bassist of the
Staatskapelle Dresden , conducted a recording of four
bassoon concertos found in the library of the Dresden Court, including two by
Antonín Reichenauer ?
9 May 2021
... that
Isabelle Andréani appeared as Bizet's
Carmen (pictured in the role) first at the
Opera de Marseille , and from 1960 in a production of the
Opera de Paris ?
8 May 2021
... that a
Financial Times reviewer described
Der Mieter (The Tenant ) , a German opera based on
a French novel , as "a journey to the blackest regions of an anguished psyche in a hostile world"?
7 May 2021
... that
Rosa Agthe (pictured) and
her future husband performed the roles of Elsa and Telramund, respectively, in the world premiere of Wagner's
Lohengrin , conducted by
Franz Liszt in
Weimar ?
6 May 2021
... that
John Thomas Douglass 's Virginia's Ball , which premiered in 1868, is generally regarded as the first
opera written by a black composer?
4 May 2021
... that soprano
Florence Kirk 's temperamental fit over her costume as
Lady Macbeth led to the professional debut of opera star
Regina Resnik who replaced her?
4 May 2021
... that
Olena Tokar , a
soprano of the
Leipzig Opera from Ukraine, recorded Charmes , a collection of
art songs by women including
Clara Schumann and
Vítězslava Kaprálová ?
29 Apr 2021
... that
Leontyne Price described her relationship with voice teacher
Florence Kimball as "the most important relationship of my life. Like sex it was pure chemistry"?
27 Apr 2021
... that the
Oper am Brühl was the venue for the world premiere of Telemann's
Germanicus in 1704, when he was director of the opera house?
25 Apr 2021
... that Russian writer
Leonid Andreyev 's 1915 play
He Who Gets Slapped was his most successful work in the US, spawning
a silent film (1924), a novel, and
an opera (1956)?
23 Apr 2021
... that
Madame Gavaudan , a
soprano of the
Opéra-Comique in Paris, created the role of Benjamin in Étienne Méhul's
Joseph ?
19 Apr 2021
... that
Aga Mikolaj , a
soprano who studied with
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf , appeared as Mozart's
Donna Elvira from San Francisco to Tokyo, and sang the
Four Last Songs with "a degree of abandon and rapture"?
18 Apr 2021
... that
Anja Petersen performed the role of the leading woman in the world premiere of Arnulf Herrmann's
Der Mieter at the
Oper Frankfurt ?
15 Apr 2021
... that
Marita Napier is the first South African opera singer to have performed lead roles in each of the four "Grand Slam" opera houses?
14 Apr 2021
... that
Michael Hampe , who directed the
Cologne Opera for 20 years, was the stage director for the world premiere of
Henze 's adaptation of Monteverdi's
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria at the
Salzburg Festival ?
11 Apr 2021
... that after
Erna Schlüter had appeared as
Elektra at the
Royal Opera House ,
the composer , who was in the audience, told her that she was the fulfilment of the character?
9 Apr 2021
... that the pioneering Turkish
soprano
Mesude Çağlayan was presented a tiny doll of "Madama Butterfly" by the
government of Japan for performing the Japanese title role in
Puccini's opera ?
8 Apr 2021
... that
Jakob Grün (pictured) ,
concertmaster of the
Vienna Court Opera Orchestra from 1868 to 1897, played violin solos standing, in Hungarian tradition?
24 Mar 2021
... that the clarinetist
Nicola Jürgensen portrayed the character of Eve with her
basset horn in Karlheinz Stockhausen's
Michaels Reise um die Erde in Vienna and New York City?
23 Mar 2021
... that the baritone
Benjamin Appl , the last private student of
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau , was named
Gramophone 's Young Artist of 2016?
22 Mar 2021
... that
Elsa Dreisig appeared at the
Berlin State Opera in soprano roles from Diane in Rameau's
Hippolyte et Aricie to Natascha in the world premiere of
Beat Furrer 's Violetter Schnee ?
18 Mar 2021
... that American financial executive
Robert Glauber could watch an opera "infinite times"?
15 Mar 2021
... that although
The Most Important Man was poorly received by critics, composer
Gian Carlo Menotti thought it was one of his finest operas?
12 Mar 2021
... that
Joachim Herz was the stage director of an unconventional production of the
Ring cycle at the
Leipzig Opera , completed in 1976, and of the opening performance of the restored
Semperoper in 1985?
11 Mar 2021
... that
William Wernigk performed four roles in
Der Rosenkavalier during his decades at the
Vienna State Opera , including the Innkeeper on a 1933 recording conducted by
Robert Heger ?
10 Mar 2021
... that
Andréa Guiot appeared internationally in French
soprano roles such as
Mireille ,
Marguerite ,
Manon , and Micaëla in Bizet's
Carmen , which she recorded alongside
Maria Callas in the title role?
8 Mar 2021
... that
Polly Batic appeared at the
Salzburg Festival in roles such as Annina in
Der Rosenkavalier from 1931 to 1937, and became a member of the
Vienna State Opera in 1948?
8 Mar 2021
... that conductor
Volker Wangenheim opened the
Beethovenhalle in
Bonn for music by
Karlheinz Stockhausen on 15 November 1969, including the world premiere of
Fresco for four orchestral groups?
5 Mar 2021
... that
Libuše Domanínská , a soprano of Prague's
National Theatre , performed in all of
Janáček 's operas, and a recording she made as his
Jenůfa made his works better known beyond their home country?
25 Feb 2021
... that with compositions such as
Con brio , clarinetist
Jörg Widmann was ranked the third-most-performed contemporary composer in 2018?
24 Feb 2021
... that
Peter Herrmann composed a Second Symphony that premiered at the Gewandhaus with
Kurt Masur , and a Kant Pop Symphony that premiered at the
Musikhochschule Leipzig , where he had taught for decades?
21 Feb 2021
... that
Biserka Cvejić , a Serbian
mezzo-soprano who appeared at the
Vienna State Opera in 372 performances, made her
Metropolitan Opera debut in 1961 as Amneris in Verdi's
Aida ?
18 Feb 2021
... that Universalkünstler
Arik Brauer created paintings in
Fantastic Realism , songs in
Austropop , stage sets for the
Paris Opera , and house facades in Austria and Israel?
17 Feb 2021
... that
Dorothee Manski , a soprano of the
Berlin Court Opera , gave 335 performances at the
Metropolitan Opera after being invited to appear there as the Witch in Humperdinck's
Hänsel und Gretel in 1927?
16 Feb 2021
... that music educator
Siegfried Borris was dismissed from the
Musikhochschule Berlin by the Nazis, but after World War II became a professor there and president of the
Deutscher Musikrat ?
12 Feb 2021
... that
Konrad Rupf , a long-term singer of the
Leipzig Opera , made his stage debut in 1955 as Dulcamara in
L'elisir d'amore and appeared as Tevje in
Fiddler on the Roof in 2000?
11 Feb 2021
... that
Anne Bierwirth has performed the
alto part in Bach's
Christmas Oratorio , and in a recording of the first
Passion oratorio in German by
Reinhard Keiser ?
9 Feb 2021
... that
Leon Rains , a bass singer who studied in New York City and Paris, took part in the world premiere of
Salome and an early recording of
Tannhäuser ?
7 Feb 2021
... that after meeting
Mira Mendelson ,
Sergei Prokofiev described his future wife as "just some girl who wants me to read her bad poetry"?
19 Jan 2021
... that
Oscar Fritz Schuh created a new style to direct
Mozart operas at the
Vienna State Opera , focused on the psychology of the characters?
15 Jan 2021 Wikipedia 20
... that a few years after Pacini's opera
La schiava in Bagdad premiered in Turin,
Rosalbina Caradori performed the title role of the slave girl (pictured) in London?
13 Jan 2021
... that while
Ute Trekel-Burckhardt was a leading
mezzo-soprano of the
State Opera of East Berlin , she appeared as the
Rosenkavalier in Vienna, and in the premiere of
Sutermeister 's Le roi Béranger
in Munich ?
9 Jan 2021
... that
Rosl Zapf , a
mezzo-soprano of the
Oper Frankfurt who took part in world premieres, appeared at the
Salzburg Festival in Mozart's
Die Zauberflöte conducted by
Georg Solti ?
8 Jan 2021
... that
Enid Szánthó , a leading
contralto of the
Vienna State Opera , appeared as Erda in Wagner's
Ring cycle at the
Bayreuth Festival in 1930, but was no longer invited by 1938?
2 Jan 2021
... that
Rudolf Steglich , a musicologist who wrote his habilitation thesis on
rhythm in 1930, was a co-editor of the
Hallische Händel-Ausgabe , the critical edition of
Handel's complete works , from 1955?
23 Dec
... that
Gustav Classens , music director in
Bonn from 1933, performed Beethoven's
Choral Fantasy ,
Missa solemnis , and
Ninth Symphony during his first two seasons, offering the Ninth in both?
16 Dec
... that when
Johannes Chum , a tenor in operatic roles from
Nerone to
Lohengrin , performed in
Harnoncourt 's recording of Beethoven's
Missa solemnis , a reviewer described his singing as "seraphic"?
16 Dec
... that
Otto Jochum , the organist and later the director of the
Augsburg Conservatory , received a German national composition prize for a sacred oratorio in 1932, but also composed patriotic anthems under the Nazi regime?
15 Dec
... that in
Cassandre , an opera by
Michael Jarrell based on the novel by
Christa Wolf ,
Cassandra speaks and acts without singing?
14 Dec
... that
The Alcestiad , an opera based on
a Greek myth and written collaboratively by
Thornton Wilder and composer
Louise Talma , was premiered by the
Oper Frankfurt in German?
14 Dec
... that
Helmut Koch , who conducted Monteverdi's
L'Orfeo in 1949, taught at the
Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" , and continued the tradition of the
Berliner Singakademie in East Berlin from 1963?
11 Dec
... that the
soprano
Nina Dorliak recorded works by
Bach with her husband, the pianist
Sviatoslav Richter , sung in Russian?
10 Dec
... that
Marjon Lambriks , who studied voice in the Netherlands with
Paula Lindberg (both pictured) and made a career in Vienna, recorded
La traviata alongside
Pavarotti ?
9 Dec
... that
countertenor
David Cordier performed operatic title roles such as Handel's
Giulio Cesare and one of the three sisters in
Tri sestry by Péter Eötvös?
9 Dec
... that
Hermann Schey , a Jewish
bass-baritone , travelled regularly from Berlin to Amsterdam to perform in Bach's
St Matthew Passion , and went into hiding there during World War II?
6 Dec
... that
Rudolf Gerlach-Rusnak was the stage name of a
tenor from Ukraine, with the first name chosen for his favourite role in
La bohème ?
3 Dec
... that
Hermann Wiedemann , who sang the role of Beckmesser in
Toscanini 's recording of
Die Meistersinger , appeared as Faninal in
Der Rosenkavalier at the
Vienna State Opera 196 times?
3 Dec
... that Swiss
bass
Peter Lagger performed in the world premieres of Louise Talma's
Die Alkestiade at the
Oper Frankfurt and of Penderecki's
Magnificat at the
Salzburg Festival ?
2 Dec
... that
Kwangchul Youn , a
bass from South Korea, appeared as Gurnemanz in
Parsifal at the
Bayreuth Festival , as
Mephisto at the
Vienna State Opera , and as
King Marke at the
Metropolitan Opera ?
30 Nov
... that the Japanese mezzo-soprano
Mihoko Fujimura , who
appeared as Fricka at the
Bayreuth Festival in 2002, toured Mahler's
Resurrection Symphony with the
CBSO conducted by
Andris Nelsons ?
26 Nov
... that
Pierre Bleuse , who learned conducting after a career as violinist, was chosen by composer
Michael Jarrell to lead his opera Cassandre , starring
Fanny Ardant ?
25 Nov
... that
Maddalena Mariani Masi performed the title role of Ponchielli's
La Gioconda in the 1876 world premiere at
La Scala ?
24 Nov
... that
Saadet İkesus Altan studied music in Berlin, performed as a
mezzo-soprano in Germany, and became the first female
vocal coach and
opera director in Turkey after her return home in 1941?
8 Nov
... that African-American contralto
Marian Anderson (pictured) was denied permission by the
Daughters of the American Revolution to sing at
Constitution Hall in 1939, prompting thousands of its members to resign?
7 Nov
... that the opera
Die Prinzessin Girnara , by composer
Wellesz and librettist
Wassermann , and based on a legend from India, premiered simultaneously at two opera houses in 1921?
5 Nov
... that
Agnes Stavenhagen was the
soprano soloist in the first performance of Mahler's
Second Symphony in
Munich , conducted by the composer?
5 Nov
... that
Ita Maximowna , who trained as a painter in Paris and Berlin in the 1920s, began working in scenic and costume design after World War II and went on to work internationally?
3 Nov
... that
Martin Egel appeared at the
Bayreuth Festival from 1975 to 1986, including a three-year run as Donner in the
Jahrhundertring ?
1 Nov
... that in
Bettina , the
chamber opera 's only solo singer portrays both
Bettina von Arnim and
Karoline von Günderrode , reflecting their friendship and Günderrode's suicide?
31 Oct
... that
Katrin Lea Tag , named the 2020
Scenic Designer of the Year , created sets and costumes, for
Die Schutzbefohlenen (production pictured) at the
Burgtheater , and for
Barrie Kosky 's
Salome at
Oper Frankfurt ?
29 Oct
... that soprano
Hermine Finck became the third wife of
Eugen d'Albert (couple pictured) , who composed songs and a cantata based on
The Little Mermaid for her?
25 Oct
... that
Eli is an opera by
Walter Steffens , who based the
libretto on a
mystery play by
Nelly Sachs which dealt with the suffering of Israel?
24 Oct
... that
Baptist Hoffmann , a leading
baritone at the
Berlin Court Opera , appeared as Jochanaan in the first production of
Salome there in 1906?
22 Oct
... that
Wiebke Lehmkuhl was the alto soloist in Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony at the 2017 opening of the
Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg?
19 Oct
... that conductor
Eugen Szenkar , who promoted works by
Béla Bartók and
Gustav Mahler in Germany, Russia, and Brazil, caused a "near riot" with the world premiere of
The Miraculous Mandarin ?
16 Oct
... that soprano
Ilse Helling-Rosenthal ,
her husband , and two others formed a vocal ensemble that appeared as the soloists in Bruckner's
Te Deum at the Leipzig
Gewandhaus in 1920?
13 Oct
... that
mezzo-soprano
Marina de Gabaráin appeared as Bizet's
Carmen in Scotland, and as Rossini's
La Cenerentola
in Glyndebourne in 1952, recorded the following year?
3 Oct
... that when
Annette Jahns portrayed
Bettina von Arnim in an opera by
Friedrich Schenker , the role required her to scream as well as sing?
2 Oct
... that
Robert Burg , a leading
baritone at the
Semperoper in Dresden between the First and Second World Wars, created the title roles of Busoni's
Dr. Faustus and Hindemith's
Cardillac there?
1 Oct
... that
Hainer Hill , who took hundreds of photographs documenting Brecht's
Berliner Ensemble , created the stage design for Hindemith's
Mathis der Maler at the new
Opernhaus Dortmund in 1966?
29 Sep
... that after
contralto
Florence Wickham made her debut
in Germany , she was engaged for an American tour as Kundry in Wagner's
Parsifal ?
23 Sep
... that
Hildegard Uhrmacher , a
coloratura soprano who appeared as Mozart's
Konstanze and Bernd Alois Zimmermann's
Marie , titled her 2006 autobiography Hilde, du schaffst das (Hilde, you'll manage )?
22 Sep
... that
Johanna André , who appeared in
dramatic soprano roles such as Wagner's
Isolde , took part in the 1882 world premiere of
Parsifal ?
11 Sep
... that
contralto
Simone Schröder performed as a soloist at the
Bayreuth Festival while she was still studying, and went on to sing there in three different productions of
Parsifal ?
9 Sep
... that
Hanna Ludwig appeared in the title role of
Der Rosenkavalier at the
Vienna State Opera , and in five roles at the first
Bayreuth Festival after World War II?
8 Sep
... that
Matthias Hölle , a regular bass singer at the
Bayreuth Festival , appeared in the world premieres of Stockhausen's
Donnerstag aus Licht and
Samstag aus Licht at
La Scala in Milan?
8 Sep
... that cellist, composer, and conductor
Rudolf Hindemith was the brother of the famous
Paul Hindemith , with whom he played in the
Amar Quartet , but later used pseudonyms to hide the relation?
7 Sep
... that
Jean Kurt Forest played violin in German film orchestras in the 1930s, defected to the
Red Army in 1945, and composed operas and film scores from 1954 onwards?
3 Sep
... that
Vera Little from
Memphis , Tennessee, was for four decades a member of the
Deutsche Oper Berlin , where she appeared as Bizet's
Carmen and in the world premiere of Henze's
Der junge Lord ?
2 Sep
... that
Theodor Scheidl , who participated in the
pentathlon at the
1906 Olympic Games and in the 1928
Bayreuth Festival , appeared as Scarpia in Puccini's
Tosca to celebrate his 75th birthday?
2 Sep
... that
Bernard Ładysz , a
bass-baritone who performed in world premieres of
Krzysztof Penderecki 's music
in Hamburg and
in Salzburg , was the only Polish singer to appear with
Maria Callas ?
21 Aug
... that the
comic opera
Scalia v. Ginsburg is based on the friendship of the two
U.S. Supreme Court justices and their shared love of opera?
16 Aug
... that
Johannes Schüler conducted world premieres including Alban Berg's
Three Orchestral Pieces in 1930, and Henze's
Boulevard Solitude in 1952?
4 Aug
... that the
Rheinsberg Music Academy , based at
Schloss Rheinsberg , offered master classes by opera singer
Waltraud Meier and stage director
Harry Kupfer in 2019?
28 Jul
... that when
Elza van den Heever made her debut as the
Metropolitan Opera as the bald queen
Elisabetta in Donizetti's
Maria Stuarda , she had her head shaved?
26 Jul
... that
John Whitworth , a singing
lay vicar at
Westminster Abbey for 22 years, was praised for his "voice of great beauty, rich in the lower register, trumpet-toned in the upper"?
15 Jul
... that the musicologist
Ulrike Liedtke , who founded and directed the
Rheinsberg Music Academy , became president of the
Brandenburg state parliament in 2019?
14 Jul
... that the earliest of the three surviving
operas by Claudio Monteverdi ,
L'Orfeo from 1607, is the oldest extant opera still regularly performed today?
23 Jun
... that after joining her father's church choir at the age of six,
contralto
Portia White (pictured) grew up to become the first
Black Canadian concert singer to achieve international fame?
12 Jun
... that the opera
The Devil in Love by
Alexander Vustin took 15 years to be completed and 30 more years to be premiered, debuting at the centenary of
a Moscow theatre ?
11 Jun
... that
mezzo-soprano
Grace Hoffman from
Cleveland appeared as Brangäne in Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde at the
Bayreuth Festival in 1957 and 1970?
10 Jun
... that
Ferdinand Zellbell the Younger was the only co-founder of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Music who was a professional musician?
10 Jun
... that for the centenary of
Stravinsky 's birth,
Zoltán Peskó conducted three of the composer's stage works—
The Flood ,
Renard , and
Mavra —directed by
Peter Ustinov at
La Scala ?
9 Jun
... that
Ludwig Strecker was both director of the
Schott music publishing house, and under a pen name the librettist of two of the most successful German contemporary operas of the 1930s?
8 Jun
... that the opera
Doktor Johannes Faust by
Hermann Reutter , which was premiered by the
Oper Frankfurt in 1936, is based on a puppet play?
5 Jun
... that
Cyrano de Bergerac by
Eino Tamberg was the first opera to be broadcast internationally from Estonia?
4 Jun
... that American tenor
Scot Weir sang
Hans Zender 's contemporary version of Schubert's
Die Winterreise with chamber orchestra in a performance of the
Hamburg Ballet ?
1 Jun
... that music academy director
Hermann Reutter composed "
Hymne an Deutschland ", which President
Theodor Heuss suggested as a new German national anthem after World War II?
29 May
... that on Good Friday 2020,
Benedikt Kristjánsson sang all roles in a chamber arrangement of Bach's
St John Passion , broadcast live from
the composer's burial place ?
22 May
... that
Franz Klarwein , a
tenor at the
Bavarian State Opera from 1942 to 1977, appeared in world premieres such as those of
Capriccio by Richard Strauss and
Die Harmonie der Welt by Paul Hindemith?
15 May
... that
Hans Herbert Jöris conducted the world premiere of
Giselher Klebe 's one-act opera
Das Rendezvous , composed for the 125th anniversary of the
Staatsoper Hannover ?
15 May
... that
Anatoliy Mokrenko , a
baritone and future director of the
Ukrainian National Opera , performed in a Russian film based on
Donizetti 's opera
Lucia di Lammermoor ?
2 May
... that
Naomi Munakata , who began singing in a choir at the age of seven, served as the choral conductor of the
Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo from 1995 to 2013?
27 Apr
... that
Haroun and the Sea of Stories , an opera by
Charles Wuorinen , is based on a children's novel by
Salman Rushdie about free imagination in battle with thought control?
26 Apr
... that
Elisabeth Lindermeier sang in performances of Wagner's
Ring cycle at the
Royal Opera House in London, conducted by her husband
Rudolf Kempe and recorded in 1957?
25 Apr
... that
Heinz Imdahl , a
baritone at the
Bavarian State Opera , appeared as Beethoven's
Pizarro at the
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and as Wagner's
Hans Sachs at the
Philadelphia Opera ?
24 Apr
... that
Srećko Albini , a conductor at the
Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb , composed
operettas that were also performed in Venice, London, and New York?
24 Apr
... that
Le Concert Spirituel played
Handel's open-air music at
the Proms with an ensemble that comprised 18 oboes, 9 trumpets, 9 trombones, and strings?
22 Apr
... that
Peter Minich was a lead tenor for Viennese
operettas at the
Volksoper in the 1960s and 1970s?
22 Apr
... that
Renée Gilly studied under her parents and became a leading
mezzo-soprano at the
Opéra-Comique in Paris, where she sang roles such as Bizet's
Carmen ?
21 Apr
... that soprano and voice teacher
Henny Wolff performed
lieder by
Hermann Reutter at the inaugural
Ferienkurse für internationale neue Musik in
Darmstadt in 1946, with the composer at the piano?
16 Apr
... that
Paul Mägi , principal conductor of the
Estonian National Opera , conducted the first recording of
Eino Tamberg 's opera
Cyrano de Bergerac ?
13 Apr
... that the Dutch soprano
Jo Vincent appeared in
Willem Mengelberg 's 1939 recording of Bach's
St Matthew Passion , and in the world premiere of Britten's
Spring Symphony in 1949?
10 Apr
... that
Diether de la Motte , who taught composition and music theory in Berlin and Vienna, wrote an opera that premiered at the
Staatsoper Hannover in 1970?
5 Apr
... that
Gösta Neuwirth studied composition and
musicology in Vienna, but wrote his dissertation on
harmony in
Schreker 's opera
Der ferne Klang in Berlin?
30 Mar
... that soprano
Jessye Norman (pictured) , whose voice was described as a "grand mansion of sound", performed at
U.S. presidential inaugurations and sang
La Marseillaise at the
French Revolution 's bicentennial?
29 Mar
... that besides his portrait photography,
Étienne Carjat edited journals and published caricatures (example shown) in the popular press?
26 Mar
... that violinist
Günter Kehr , director of the
Peter Cornelius Conservatory from 1953, founded the Kehr Trio, a
string trio that toured South America, North Africa, and the Near East?
16 Mar
... that baritone
Michael Volle has appeared as Wagner's
Hans Sachs at the
Bayreuth Festival and was awarded
Der Faust for portraying
Wozzeck ?
6 Mar
... that tenor and voice teacher
Eliodoro Bianchi (depicted) performed in many world premieres of operas, with
Rossini expressly writing two roles for him?
4 Mar
... that tenor
Roberto Saccà has portrayed musicians in opera such as Haydn's
Orfeo , Pfitzner's
Palestrina , and
Herbert Willi 's Elias?
1 Mar
... that
Hildegard Heichele , a soprano of the
Oper Frankfurt known for performing Mozart roles, appears as Adele on a DVD of
Die Fledermaus from the
Royal Opera House ?
23 Feb
... that
Gustav Brecher , who conducted the world premieres of
Jonny spielt auf and
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the
Leipzig Opera , was dismissed by the Nazis in 1933?
22 Feb
... that Dutch baritone
John Bröcheler first sang concerts including world premieres, but was "discovered" for opera in a role of Donizetti's
Maria Stuarda alongside
Joan Sutherland ?
21 Feb
... that the
coloratura soprano
Julia Bauer played five roles in
Der Ring in Minden , including her on-stage portrayal of the Forest Bird in
Siegfried ?
19 Feb
... that
Wolfgang Rehm worked on the
Neue Mozart-Ausgabe from the beginning of the project in 1955 to its completion in 2007?
16 Feb
... that
Elke Heidenreich , two-time winner of the
Grimme television award , wrote the book Nero Corleone featuring a tomcat as the bullying protagonist?
15 Feb
... that the 2020 opera
Eurydice was created by three
geniuses ?
15 Feb
... that musicologist
Ulrich Konrad studied sketches that
Wolfgang Amadé Mozart made for composition, and concluded that the composer planned his works more thoroughly than previously assumed?
13 Feb
... that
Josef Protschka , who sang as a soloist in Stockhausen's
Gesang der Jünglinge at age 12, later appeared in leading
tenor roles in the Mozart cycle staged by
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle at the
Cologne Opera ?
5 Feb
... that Italian soprano
Carolina Crespi was born in Prague, appeared in Barcelona in a child role, met
her husband in Paris, and performed with him in world premieres of operas at
La Scala in Milan?
5 Feb
... that Canadian
Yves Abel , the chief conductor of
a German symphony orchestra , founded Opéra Français de New York, which focuses on rarely played French operas?
1 Feb
... that
Reinhold Fritz of the
Stuttgart Court Opera , who participated in world premieres such as
Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, was dismissed in 1933 because his wife was Jewish?
24 Jan
... that
Jutta Hering-Winckler , a lawyer from
Minden whose grandfather saw the premiere of Wagner's
Ring cycle , "made the impossible possible" by organizing
Der Ring in Minden ?
21 Jan
... that
Albert Lortzing (engraving shown) , who adapted a 1733 French play for his German
Spieloper
Die Opernprobe , died the day after its successful premiere at the
Oper Frankfurt on 20 January 1851?
20 Jan
... that Polish
baritone
Wacław Brzeziński (pictured) was praised in Italy for his performances as Rossini's
Figaro and Verdi's
Rigoletto ?
19 Jan
... that American
coloratura soprano
Laura Aikin (pictured) , who began her opera career in Berlin, appeared as Marie in
Zimmermann 's
Die Soldaten at the 2012
Salzburg Festival ?
10 Jan
... that after American baritone
Raymond Wolansky appeared as a guest at the
Staatsoper Stuttgart as Verdi's
Rigoletto , he remained at the theatre for more than 30 years and made an international career?
9 Jan
... that
Herbert Willi composed Montafon , a cycle of four
concertos with orchestra – for trumpet, flute and oboe, clarinet, and horn?
7 Jan
... that
Kurt Honolka 's mid–20th century German translation of
Smetana 's
Dalibor was still being performed in 2019 in a new
Oper Frankfurt production?
5 Jan
... that tenor
Carl Demmer was possibly Beethoven's first
Florestan at the
Vienna Court Opera , but failed to please the composer?
3 Jan
... that baritone
Heiko Trinsinger of the
Aalto Theatre appeared as
Alberich in
Der Ring in Minden , in which reviewers noted expressivity in every moment and a thunderous curse of the ring?
29 Dec
... that tenor
Mirko Ludwig took part in the opening of Hamburg's
Elbphilharmonie as a member of a vocal
quintet ?
28 Dec
... that soprano
Irma Beilke appeared as Marzelline in Beethoven's
Fidelio on 4 September 1945 in the first opera performance in Berlin after World War II?
22 Dec
... that
Bernd Loebe , who began his career as a music journalist, received the 2018
International Opera Award in the category of Leadership in Opera?
15 Dec
... that American tenor
Jeff Martin has appeared as the Astrologer in
Rimsky-Korsakov 's
The Golden Cockerel at Moscow's
Bolshoi Theatre ?
14 Dec
... that
Siegfried Matthus composed the opera
Judith for the reopening of the restored
Semperoper , but it premiered at the
Komische Oper Berlin , staged by
Harry Kupfer ?
13 Dec
... that Beethoven's only opera,
Fidelio , was a failure in its original form, but was revised partly at the behest of
Carl Weinmüller , who then appeared in the premiere in the
bass role of Rocco?
12 Dec
... that in
Der Ring in Minden ,
the orchestra played at the back of the stage, and the singers all turned towards it to listen to the music
at the end ?
7 Dec
... that
Ignaz Saal , for decades a bass with the
Imperial Court Theatre in Vienna, performed the bass parts in the world premieres of Haydn's oratorios
Die Schöpfung and
Die Jahreszeiten ?
3 Dec
... that
Kathrin Göring portrayed both Fricka and Waltraute in
Der Ring in Minden , and a critic called her scene in
Götterdämmerung a highlight, noting her dramatic mezzo-soprano and intense acting?
1 Dec
... that baritone
Hans Braun , who performed 75 roles at the
Vienna State Opera , appeared as Mozart's
Count Almaviva at the
Royal Opera House and as Wagner's
Wolfram at
La Scala ?
30 Nov
... that
Isabelle Kabatu , a Belgian
soprano of African origin, recorded the role of Dolly in
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari 's opera
Sly alongside
José Carreras in the title role?
27 Nov
... that
Frank Philipp Schlößmann designed the stage for Wagner's
Ring cycle in
Bayreuth in 2006, and more recently created a large illuminated ring framing the stage for
the same work in Minden ?
17 Nov
... that
Renatus Mészár , who made his opera debut at the
Munich Biennale and then was a member of the
NDR Chor , has appeared as Wotan in Wagner's
Ring cycle , including on DVD?
16 Nov
... that
Christof Nel staged the world premiere of
Thomas Brasch 's play Rotter and the first production in German of
Aulis Sallinen 's opera
Kullervo ?
10 Nov
... that Belgian
bass
Tijl Faveyts , recognized internationally since his 2006 performance as Mozart's
Sarastro at the
Aix-en-Provence Festival , has portrayed both Fasolt and Hunding in
Der Ring in Minden ?
9 Nov
... that American
tenor
Joshua Guerrero stepped in at late notice to sing Almaviva in a
Grammy Award -winning production of
The Ghosts of Versailles ?
31 Oct
... that
Joseph Kupelwieser wrote the
libretto for Schubert's
Fierrabras , and was later held responsible by the composer for the opera's failure?
27 Oct
... that
Werner Haseleu appeared as Moses in Schoenberg's
Moses und Aron at the
Staatsoper Dresden , and as Holofernes in the world premiere of
Judith by
Siegfried Matthus at the
Berlin State Opera ?
19 Oct
... that tenor
Thomas Mohr , who performed the roles of Loge, Siegmund, and Siegfried in
Der Ring in Minden , hosts concerts in his cowshed?
17 Oct
... that
tenor
Enea Scala has appeared in roles by
Rossini , most recently in the title role of
Otello , an opera which requires at least five tenors?
16 Oct
... that when
Marie-Thérèse Gauley premiered the title role of Ravel's opera
L'enfant et les sortilèges , he praised both her acting and her "ravishing voice"?
6 Oct
... that
Andrea Ihle performed the role of Ännchen in Weber's opera
Der Freischütz in the opening performance of the rebuilt
Semperoper in Dresden?
28 Sep
... that
Ulrike Sonntag , a
soprano at the
Staatsoper Stuttgart and an academic voice teacher
in Stuttgart , recorded an oratorio by
Fanny Hensel and psalm settings by
Lili Boulanger ?
17 Sep
... that
lieder singer and voice teacher
Franziska Martienssen-Lohmann 's textbook for singers was recommended for general readers interested in "the human instrument"?
16 Sep
Ulrike Sonntag ,
Franziska Martienssen-Lohmann
... that as general manager of the
municipal theatres in Frankfurt ,
Harry Buckwitz staged plays by Brecht including
Mutter Courage , and recruited
Georg Solti for
the opera ?
9 Sep
... that the
Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt manage stages for
opera and
drama in
Frankfurt under one roof (pictured) , in a building incorporating the ruins of the bombed former playhouse?
6 Sep
... that
Ursula Boese , a long-time member of the
Hamburgische Staatsoper , appeared as Stravinsky's
Iocaste at
La Scala , and at the
San Francisco Opera in the presence of the composer?
6 Sep
... that in his opera
Sirenen – Bilder des Begehrens und des Vernichtens ,
Rolf Riehm included instruments such as archaic wood planks, a
musical saw , an
accordion , and a piano?
3 Sep
... that
John Pierce has performed Wagner roles internationally, such as
Tannhäuser and
Lohengrin at the
Stadttheater Minden , and
Tristan in Prague, Rotterdam, and Rio de Janeiro?
31 Aug
... that
Barbara Zechmeister , who appeared in world premieres at the
Oper Frankfurt , portrayed Clarissa in a recorded production of Weber's
Die drei Pintos at the 2004
Wexford Festival ?
30 Aug
... that the opera
Behold the Sun by
Alexander Goehr , about the
Anabaptists in
Münster , was premiered in an abridged version in German, but the
BBC aired it in full in English?
26 Aug
... that
Hermin Esser performed 14
tenor roles at the
Bayreuth Festival dedicated exclusively to stageworks by
Richard Wagner , beginning in 1966 as
Froh and ending in 1981 as
Tristan ?
25 Aug
... that among the
musical roles performed by
Anke Sieloff at the
Musiktheater im Revier are Maria in
West Side Story , and a witch in the first German production of
The Witches of Eastwick ?
22 Aug
... that librettist Gerhard Müller and composer
Georg Katzer wrote
Antigone oder die Stadt in
East Germany , but it premiered at the
Komische Oper Berlin only after
reunification ?
19 Aug
... that the baritone
Ernst Gerold Schramm was the
voice of Christ for
Karl Richter in Bach's
St John Passion and
St Matthew Passion ?
18 Aug
... that
Nicolas Joel , general manager of the
Paris Opera from 2009 to 2014, directed Wagner's
Ring in 1979 after having assisted
Patrice Chéreau for
the cycle's centenary ?
16 Aug
... that
Günther Leib , who often sang at the
Halle Handel Festival , was called a "first rate
Beckmesser " by
The New York Times when he first appeared at the
Metropolitan Opera ?
8 Aug
... that
Isoldé Elchlepp began her career as a
protest song singer and later appeared as Wagner's
Ortrud at the
Bayreuth Festival and as Schoeck's
Penthesilea at the
Staatsoper Hannover ?
6 Aug
... that
Jeanne Laisné appeared as Aurore in the 1894 world premiere of
Massenet 's
Le portrait de Manon , a sequel to his
Manon ?
4 Aug
... that East German
Udo Zimmermann composed his fifth opera,
Die wundersame Schustersfrau , based on a Spanish play by
Federico García Lorca , on a commission for the West German
Schwetzingen Festival ?
2 Aug
... that
Lilian Benningsen , a singer at the
Bavarian State Opera for decades, appeared as Carolina in the world premiere of Henze's
Elegie für junge Liebende (Elegy for Young Lovers )?
26 Jul
... that the
oboist and composer
Rolf Riehm taught music theory
in Frankfurt from 1974 to 2000 and wrote an opera,
Sirenen , for a 2014 premiere at the
Oper Frankfurt ?
20 Jul
... that the scenic design for Wagner's
Der Ring des Nibelungen by
Günther Schneider-Siemssen was shown at the
Metropolitan Opera from 1986 to 2009?
15 Jul
... that
Damiano Michieletto , known for directing
Rossini's operas , recently staged Schreker's
Der ferne Klang at the
Oper Frankfurt , where the world premiere had been performed in 1912?
15 Jul
... that
Bohumil Herlischka staged Schoenberg's
Moses und Aron at the
Hamburg State Opera , including a tour to Israel?
11 Jul
... that French-born
Joe Bertony , who twice escaped from Nazi concentration camps, played a key part in the construction of the
Sydney Opera House ?
11 Jul
... that operatic bass
Kieth Engen , who got his first role,
Bluebeard , at the
Bavarian State Opera because he was tall, also had a pop career under a pseudonym?
8 Jul
... that
Werner Egk wrote the libretto for
Irische Legende , his first opera after World War II , based on
The Countess Cathleen by W. B. Yeats?
3 Jul
... that the German soprano
Melanie Diener began her stage career in Mozart roles in 1996, and appeared as
Isolde with the
Canadian Opera Company and the
Opéra national du Rhin in 2013?
3 Jul
... that
John Casken 's opera
Golem won the 1991
Gramophone Classical Music Award for Best Contemporary Recording?
1 Jul
... that for his opera
Stephen Climax , composer
Hans Zender wrote a
libretto which juxtaposes the life of
Simeon Stylites with scenes from
Ulysses by James Joyce?
30 Jun
... that the Hungarian
coloratura soprano
Sylvia Geszty (pictured) was a member of the
Berlin State Opera in East Germany before joining the
Stuttgart State Opera in the West?
29 Jun
... that the tenor
Alfred Vökt , who performed in the premiere of Henze's
Il re cervo , had a
Doctor of Law degree?
26 Jun
... that
Peter Hirsch conducted the premiere of the revised and complete version of Luigi Nono's
Prometeo at
La Scala in 1985?
25 Jun
... that
theatre in Saarbrücken began as court theatre directed by
Iffland , while plans for today's State Theatre were commissioned by
Goebbels ?
24 Jun
... that
Ernst Christoph Dressler , an 18th-century operatic tenor, violinist, composer, and music theorist, composed a march on which
Beethoven based his earliest published work?
23 Jun
... that after German tenor
Herbert Schachtschneider was a prisoner of war in England during the Second World War, he remained in the country to study
voice with
a cousin of Arnold Schoenberg ?
20 Jun
... that
Elizabeth Bartlet 's PhD thesis on
Étienne Méhul was described as earning "the iconic status reserved for the few doctoral theses that are destined to change their chosen field"?
17 Jun
... that the artistry of
Ruth-Margret Pütz , a leading
coloratura soprano of the 1960s, was published in a 2018 Recital , including excerpts as
Konstanze and
Zerbinetta ?
11 Jun
... that in 1959 the
baritone
Ernst Gutstein appeared as Ernesto in Haydn's
Il mondo della luna , a role originally written for a
castrato ?
10 Jun
... that American opera singer
Jennifer Holloway portrayed Grete in
Der ferne Klang as a young girl whose lover leaves her, as a courtesan, and as an old woman who holds the returned lover while he dies?
7 Jun
... that a critic at
The Musical Times described
Ruth Hesse 's performance as the Nurse in
Die Frau ohne Schatten as "tirelessly ingenious"?
2 Jun
... that the soprano
Elżbieta Szmytka recorded Chopin's
Polish songs and performed in Górecki's
Symphony of Sorrowful Songs , celebrating a century of Polish independence?
30 May
... that when directing Der Ring in Minden , Wagner's
Ring Cycle at
a municipal theatre ,
Gerd Heinz focused on the psychology in the interactions of the characters?
28 May
... that
Troy is the first Turkish opera composed by a foreigner, the Romanian conductor
Bujor Hoinic ?
26 May
... that
Celestina Casapietra , an Italian soprano at the
Berlin State Opera , and the conductor
Herbert Kegel were regarded as the glamour couple of the
GDR in the 1960s?
24 May
... that
Alfred Kirchner directed the world premiere of
Martin Walser 's play Ein Kinderspiel in 1971, and the U.S. premiere of Henze's
We Come to the River at the
Santa Fe Opera in 1984?
22 May
... that
Giselher Klebe 's opera
Das Märchen von der schönen Lilie , on a libretto by his wife based on
Goethe's fairy tale , was premiered at the
Schlosstheater Schwetzingen (pictured) 50 years ago today?
15 May
... that the
bass-baritone
Hans Günter Nöcker appeared in several world premieres of operas in
Berlin ,
Schwetzingen , and
Munich , where he created a stirring portrayal of Gloucester in
Reimann 's
Lear ?
4 May
... that
Liselotte Hammes , a soprano with the
Cologne Opera , appeared as Sophie in
Der Rosenkavalier at the
Glyndebourne Festival alongside
Teresa Żylis-Gara in the title role and
Montserrat Caballé as the Marschallin?
3 May
... that
Rosl Schwaiger appeared as Mozart's
Blonde at the
Salzburg Festival in 1945 and the
Glyndebourne Festival in 1957?
30 Apr
... that
Bent Norup , a Danish
heldenbaritone , recorded the role of
Orest live in France, alongside
Ute Vinzing as Elektra and
Leonie Rysanek as Chrysothemis?
29 Apr
... that the tenor
Ferry Gruber performed at the
Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich for 50 years, including in Prokofiev's
Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen alongside
Ingeborg Hallstein in 1960?
22 Apr
... that
Margit Schramm appeared as Hanna Glawari, the "merry widow" in
Lehár's operetta , more than 500 times?
21 Apr
... that
Heinz Hoppe performed as a lyric tenor at the
Hamburg State Opera , including world premieres, but became popular for operetta recordings and television shows?
16 Apr
... that when
Hansgünther Heyme staged classic plays,
Antigone was set in Calcutta,
William Tell in Nazi Germany, and
Hamlet ended with the prince on a metal trolley?
15 Apr
... that
Patrick Lange , who conducted
a Stephen Sondheim musical in a youth club production at age 16, became
chief music director of the
Wiesbaden State Opera at age 36?
12 Apr
... that the Dutch-Belgian composer
Oscar van Hemel created two operas, one of them about a prostitute?
11 Apr
... that
Siegfried Vogel , a bass at the
Berlin State Opera from 1965, appeared at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York and at the
Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow?
10 Apr
... that
Raphaëlle Boitel worked as a
contortionist street performer at age eight to earn tuition for
circus school?
8 Apr
... that
Horst Laubenthal appeared in Mozart operas at the
Glyndebourne Festival as
Belmonte , in Paris as
Tamino , and in Turin as
Ottavio ?
4 Apr
... that the soprano
Melitta Muszely appeared as the four women
Hoffmann loves in
Felsenstein 's production at the
Komische Oper Berlin in 1958, and still sang recitals at age 80?
3ß Mar
... that in 2018
Lydia Steier , born in
Hartford, Connecticut , became the first woman to stage Mozart's
Die Zauberflöte at the
Salzburg Festival ?
27 Mar
... that the soprano
Margit Bokor (pictured) created the role of Zdenka in
Arabella by Richard Strauss at the
Semperoper in Dresden in 1933, and performed the role in the UK premiere at the
Royal Opera House ?
22 Mar
... that the soprano and voice teacher
Ria Ginster sang recitals at
Wigmore Hall and
Carnegie Hall , and recorded Rossini's
Petite messe solennelle conducted by
Sir John Barbirolli ?
20 Mar
... that the Dutch musicologist
Leo Riemens and the German physician
Karl-Josef Kutsch wrote
Großes Sängerlexikon , a biographical dictionary of opera singers, with 18,760 entries in 2012?
18 Mar
... that the conductor
Marc Piollet recorded rarely performed symphonies by
Norbert Burgmüller and
Hugo Staehle , and a DVD of
Carmen staged by
Calixto Bieito ?
15 Mar
... that the soprano
Ursula Wendt-Walther appeared in more than 60 operatic roles at the
Staatstheater Nürnberg , including Marei in the world premiere of Zemlinsky's
Der Traumgörge ?
13 Mar
... that
Spas Wenkoff , first a tenor at a Bulgarian amateur theatre, appeared as
Tristan at the Staatsoper Dresden, and was then invited to sing the role at the centenary
Bayreuth Festival ?
12 Mar
... that
Alma Webster Powell earned a law degree from
New York University while on a break from her operatic career?
11 Mar
... that
Zuzana Marková 's last-minute performance as
Lucia di Lammermoor at
Opéra de Marseille in 2014 was described as "dazzling" and praised for its depth of understanding?
11 Mar
... that
Ruthilde Boesch , who performed as Mozart's
Susanna and in 37 other roles at the
Vienna State Opera , made five world tours of recitals with her second husband as her accompanist?
10 Mar
... that
Robert Schunk , who performed minor roles at the
Bayreuth Festival , stepped in successfully for
Peter Hofmann as Siegmund in
Die Walküre there?
10 Mar
... that at the height of her opera career
Marlise Wendels sometimes sang in up to 300 performances in a single season?
8 Mar
... that the staged version of Henze's
radio opera
Ein Landarzt , closely based on
a short story by Kafka, premiered at the
Frankfurt Opera ?
7 Mar
... that the tenor
Ewandro Stenzowski went from early competition successes in Brazil to leading roles such as Rodolfo in
La bohème at the
Landestheater Detmold ?
7 Mar
... that the soprano
Claire Born appeared in
Bayreuth as Wagner's
Eva and
Gutrune , and in
Salzburg as Mozart's
Countess and
Donna Elvira ?
4 Mar
... that bass-baritone
Alfred Jerger , who appeared at the
Salzburg Festival between 1922 and 1959, created the leading role of Mandryka in
Arabella , an opera composed by
Richard Strauss ?
2 Mar
... that the Austrian actor and
librettist
Karl Lindau co-wrote The Nazi , a comedy, in 1895?
28 Feb
... that the soprano
Julia Kleiter has appeared internationally in
Mozart operas, as both Susanna and the Countess in
Figaro , and both Papagena and Pamina in
The Magic Flute ?
27 Feb
... that the main venue of the
Landestheater Detmold was built from 1914–18, after the 1825 court theatre of the
Principality of Lippe burnt down?
26 Feb
... that among the
Mozart roles sung by soprano
Sophie Karthäuser (pictured) are
Ilia ,
Tamiri , and
Serpetta ?
26 Feb
... that
Vincent Boussard staged
Manon for
Vilnius ,
San Francisco , and
Seoul , and
I puritani for
Liège and
Frankfurt ?
24 Feb
... that
Genia Kühmeier appeared as Mozart's
Pamina at the
Vienna State Opera and the
Metropolitan Opera , and recorded the soprano solo in Brahms'
Ein deutsches Requiem with
Nikolaus Harnoncourt ?
22 Feb
... that musician
Taina Asili studied
opera and fronted a
hardcore punk band before starting the
Afro-Caribbean group La Banda Rebelde?
20 Feb
... that
Megan Marie Hart has performed on stage in
Detmold , Germany, as Puccini's
Tosca and was soprano soloist in Mahler's
Resurrection Symphony ?
16 Feb
... that soprano
Ildikó Raimondi , who appeared at the
Vienna State Opera in more than 40 roles including
Pamina and
Mimì , sang the role of
Marzelline in the opening season of the
Valencia Opera ?
12 Feb
... that the
bass-baritone
Albert Dohmen appeared as Berg's
Wozzeck at the
Salzburg Festival in 1997, and as Wagner's
Pogner at
La Scala in 2017?
6 Feb 2019
... that bass singer
Carlos Feller made his debut at the
Teatro Colón in 1946, and at the
Metropolitan Opera in 1988 in his signature role of Don Alfonso in Mozart's
Così fan tutte ?
3 Feb 2019
... that
Marianne Schech appeared as the Dyer's Wife in the U.S. premiere of
Die Frau ohne Schatten by Richard Strauss at the
San Francisco Opera ?
26 Jan 2019
... that
Johannes Brahms attended the premiere of the operetta
Die Göttin der Vernunft by
Johann Strauss , but the composer himself did not, and heard about its reception only by telephone?
3 Jan 2019
... that the
Ospedale degli Incurabili in Venice, where
Johann Adolph Hasse was
maestro di cappella , was founded as a hospice for sufferers from
syphilis and other incurable diseases of the time?
3 Jan 2019
... that general manager
Claus Leininger 's tenure at the
Musiktheater im Revier (pictured) in
Gelsenkirchen was described as the period of the company's highest artistic accomplishment?
22 Dec 2018
... that
Tadashi Suzuki ,
librettist for the opera
Vision of Lear , also served as stage director and costume and lighting designer for its premiere at the 1998
Munich Biennale ?
14 Dec 2018
... that
Wolfgang Rennert conducted world premieres of operas, of
Louise Talma 's Die Alkestiade at the
Frankfurt Opera , and of
Rainer Kunad 's Sabellicus at the
Staatsoper Berlin , then in East Berlin?
14 Dec 2018
... that
Angela Brower performed her signature role as Octavian at the
Colombian premiere of
Richard Strauss 's
Der Rosenkavalier ?
10 Dec 2018
... that
Toshio Hosokawa composed several operas based on Japanese
Noh theatre, including
Vision of Lear after Shakespeare?
7 Dec 2018
... that the mezzo-soprano
Sophie Koch became known internationally when she appeared as Rosina in Rossini's
The Barber of Seville at the
Royal Opera House Covent Garden?
6 Dec 2018
... that
Andreas Bauer has appeared in bass roles such as Mozart's
Sarastro , Verdi's
Philipp II of Spain , and Wagner's
Marke , but also as
Bluebeard and
Ibn-Hakia ?
4 Dec 2018
... that
David Bennett was hired as general director of the
San Diego Opera after
his predecessor tried unsuccessfully to shut the opera company down?
3 Dec 2018
... that
Renate Behle (pictured) made her operatic debut in 1968 and appeared as Sara in the premiere of
Giorgio Battistelli 's Lot at the
Staatsoper Hannover in 2017?
1 Dec 2018
... that
Lula Mysz-Gmeiner (pictured) , a
contralto and influential voice teacher from
Transylvania , performed
lieder written for her by
Max Reger and other prominent contemporaries?
28 Nov 2018
... that
Ignaz Kirchner (pictured) and
Gert Voss often played opposite each other at the Vienna
Burgtheater , in roles such as Shakespeare's
Antonio and Shylock , and Tabori's
Goldberg and Mr. Jay ?
25 Nov 2018
... that
Günther Morbach appeared in more than 180
operatic bass roles, including Mozart's
Sarastro in the new
Opernhaus Dortmund and in a
Harald Weiss world premiere at the
Staatstheater Braunschweig ?
23 Nov 2018
... that
Udo Zimmermann composed two operas about the resistance group
White Rose , one while he was a student?
19 Nov 2018
... that in the fairy-tale opera
Der Schuhu und die fliegende Prinzessin by
Udo Zimmermann , two orchestras play on stage, representing two empires in conflict?
9 Nov 2018
... that the
Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz (pictured) in Munich, a royal theatre for operettas in the 19th century, presented the German premiere of Harold Rome's musical
Fanny in 1955?
3 Nov 2018
... that on her hundredth birthday, British soprano
Carrie Tubb was made a Fellow of the
Royal College of Music ?
3 Nov 2018
... that in his opera
Tri sestry (Three Sisters ), composer
Péter Eötvös wants the three sisters from
Chekhov's play to be sung by
countertenors ?
28 Oct 2018
... that the
Bockenheimer Depot (pictured) in
Frankfurt , built to house trams, is now a theatre which staged the German premiere of Olga Neuwirth's
Lost Highway ?
24 Oct 2018
... that
Theater Bremen , the state theatre in
Bremen for operas, plays, dance, and student programs, was selected as opera house of the year by
Opernwelt in 2007?
21 Oct 2018
... that
Beerbohm , a cat owned by the
Gielgud Theatre , became famous for entering actors' dressing rooms, attacking props, and wandering across the stage during performances?
11 Oct 2018
... that in his 1994 opera
La Belle et la Bête ,
Philip Glass wrote dialogue and music for soloists and ensemble to match
the 1946 film by
Jean Cocteau ?
9 Oct 2018
... that tenor
Daniel Behle had a single day to learn rarely performed
romantic duets when he stepped in at short notice for a 2018
Rheingau Musik Festival concert with
Annette Dasch ?
5 Oct 2018
... that the palace theatre
Schlosstheater Schönbrunn (hall pictured) , commissioned by
Maria Theresa , opened on 4 October 1747, the emperor's
name day ?
4 Oct 2018
... that
Harry Kupfer , the stage director at the
Komische Oper Berlin for decades, presented Wagner's
Der fliegende Holländer at the 1978
Bayreuth Festival as a psychological drama?
3 Oct 2018
... that
Rudolf Sellner engaged
Richard Wagner's grandson to stage a
Verdi opera as part of the opening of the
Deutsche Oper Berlin ?
27 Sep 2018
... that singer
Elise Barensfeld is a possible dedicatee of Ludwig van Beethoven's
Für Elise ?
23 Sep 2018
... that
Das goldene Kreuz (The Golden Cross ), the second opera by
Ignaz Brüll (pictured) , was an immediate international success but was later banned by the Nazi regime?
14 Sep 2018
... that mezzo-soprano
Sybille Specht appeared as La Belle in
a chamber opera by
Philip Glass at the
Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz ?
10 Sep 2018
... that
Ramiz Kovaçi , a
baritone at the
National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Albania , was also a jury member for a
light music festival?
4 Sep 2018
... that
Gaqo Çako was the lead tenor for more than three decades at the
National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Albania ?
30 Aug 2018
... that opera singer
Catherine-Nicole Lemaure was imprisoned overnight for refusing to perform?
20 Aug 2018
... that
Marie Lehmann , one of the
Rhinemaidens (pictured) at the first
Bayreuth Festival in 1876, sang the soprano solo in Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony for the groundbreaking of the
Bayreuth Festival Theatre ?
13 Aug 2018
... that the Argentinian mezzo-soprano
Alicia Nafé appeared in her signature role as Bizet's
Carmen alongside
Plácido Domingo in
San Francisco , and at the
Metropolitan Opera with Domingo as conductor?
9 Aug 2018
... that the mezzo-soprano
Carla Henius performed in the premiere of Luigi Nono's
Intolleranza 1960 at
La Fenice , and had a composition by
Dieter Schnebel written for her voice?
7 Aug 2018
... that
Franz Schubert (pictured) , a prolific composer of
songs, symphonies and other works , gave only one public concert presenting his own works?
4 Aug 2018
... that
Sara Hershkowitz , who usually appears on the opera stage as the
Queen of the Night and
Zerbinetta , parodied
Donald Trump in Ligeti's
Mysteries of the Macabre at the
Lowlands Festival ?
2 Aug 2018
... that
Catherine Gayer , who was a
coloratura soprano for four decades at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin , premiered Nono's
Intolleranza 1960 in Venice, and Reimann's
Melusine at the
Schwetzingen Festival ?
1 Aug 2018
... that
Kateryna Kasper appeared at the
Los Angeles Opera as Belinda in Purcell's
Dido and Aeneas , staged by
Barrie Kosky , and in
Frankfurt as Antonida in Glinka's
Iwan Sussanin , staged by
Harry Kupfer ?
30 Jul 2018
... that
Liebe und Eifersucht (Love and Jealousy ), an 1807 opera with libretto and music by
E. T. A. Hoffmann , premiered in 2008?
27 Jul 2018
... that when
Minna Lammert ,
Lilli Lehmann and her sister
Marie rehearsed as the
Rhinemaidens for the first performance of
Das Rheingold in
Bayreuth ,
Wagner thanked them "with tears of joy"?
25 Jul 2018
... that
Petra Schmidt has performed operatic title roles such as Dvořák's
Rusalka and Ponchielli's
La Gioconda at the
Musiktheater im Revier ?
24 Jul 2018
... that mezzo-soprano
Patricia Payne made her debut at the
Metropolitan Opera in Ponchielli's
La Gioconda , and took part in the first performance of Britten's
Peter Grimes in New Zealand?
21 Jul 2018
... that the conductor
Michael Hofstetter has performed and recorded rarely played operas at the
Ludwigsburg Festival , including
Salieri 's
Les Danaïdes ?
20 Jul 2018
... that
Sarah Louvion , playing principal flute with the
Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester , recorded 20th-century French music with solo flute by
André Jolivet ,
Jacques Ibert , and others?
19 Jul 2018
... that in
Der goldene Drache , the ninth opera by
Péter Eötvös , five singers perform 18 characters, switching age and gender?
18 Jul 2018
... that French mezzo-soprano
Isabelle Druet , a fan of
reggae , performed with
Les Arts Florissants at Carnegie Hall and has played as
Carmen in Nancy and Düsseldorf?
10 Jul 2018
... that
Cornelia Wulkopf made her operatic debut in the
centenary production of Wagner's Ring Cycle at the
Bayreuth Festival and recorded the alto part in Bach's
Mass in B minor with
Sergiu Celibidache ?
8 Jul 2018
... that
Britta Stallmeister , the
Forest Bird in
Bayreuth in 2001, appeared as Germa in a new chamber opera at the
Schlachthof Wiesbaden in 2018?
6 Jul 2018
... that a reviewer found
Maria Bengtsson (pictured) believable and expressive when she first performed the title role of
Arabella by
Strauss ?
28 Jun 2018
... that
Volker David Kirchner , who composed operas for the
Wiesbaden State Theatre and a mass for the
Mainz Cathedral , was the first recipient of the
Rheingau Musikpreis ?
25 Jun 2018
... that a decade after suggesting that opera houses should all be "blown up", the French composer
Pierre Boulez (pictured) conducted the
centenary production of Wagner's Ring cycle at the
Bayreuth Festival ?
22 Jun 2018
... that soprano
Christina Gerstberger recorded the role of Lisida in
E. T. A. Hoffmann 's Liebe und Eifersucht in a performance at the
Ludwigsburg Festival ?
13 Jun 2018
... that an opera was composed for mezzo-soprano
Birgit Remmert – Iokaste by Stefan Heucke – in which the mother and wife of
Oedipus is the only role?
27 May 2018
... that
Katharina Magiera , a member of the
Frankfurt Opera , has appeared as Lisa, a former SS officer in
Auschwitz , in Weinberg's opera
The Passenger ?
23 May 2018
... that
Bernardo De Pace , an Italian immigrant, started his own opera company and eventually performed at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York?
15 May 2018
... that German stage director
Tobias Kratzer nominated two versions of Verdi's
Rigoletto for an international competition, pretending to be an American woman in the first instance, and a Bulgarian in the second?
10 May 2018
... that mezzo-soprano
Melinda Paulsen was the first to record songs by
Nadia Boulanger and
Ethel Smyth ?
8 May 2018
... that
Franz Schubert dedicated compositions to
Cathinka Buchwieser (pictured) , a soprano who appeared in Vienna as Mozart's
Sesto and
Elvira , and as
Ferdinando Paer 's Achille and
Leonora ?
29 Apr 2018
... that in 1851, the German soprano
Anna Bochkoltz-Falconi appeared at
La Scala in Milan in Pergolesi's
Lo frate 'nnamorato ?
28 Apr 2018
... that
Elisabeth Speiser was the first to record Sandrina in Haydn's opera
L'infedeltà delusa , and recorded Debussy's
Ariettes oubliées ?
25 Apr 2018
... that soprano
Margarete Luise Schick , who performed roles such as
Gluck's Iphigenie and
Mozart's Zerlina with noted diction and acting, sang for the coronation of
Leopold II ?
23 Apr 2018
... that
Antonello Manacorda , who made an
award-winning recording of
Schubert's symphonies with his Kammerakademie Potsdam, conducted Mozart operas at
La Fenice and
Meyerbeer's grand opera at the
Frankfurt Opera ?
21 Apr 2018
... that the tenor
Julian Podger , who took part in the
Bach Cantata Pilgrimage , recorded the title role in Handel's last oratorio
Jephtha ?
4 Apr 2018
... that
Otar Taktakishvili 's opera
Mindia was based on
Vazha-Pshavela 's epic poem The Snake-eater and premiered in 1961, the centenary of the poet's birth?
2 Apr 2018
... that Canadian soprano
Kirsten MacKinnon , a winner of the
Met Auditions , appeared as
Fiordiligi at the
Glyndebourne Festival , and as
Meyerbeer's Inès at the
Frankfurt Opera , staged as a space mission?
31 Mar 2018
... that
Willem Ravelli was the
voice of Christ in Bach's
St Matthew Passion more than 400 times, including the first recording of the work conducted by
Mengelberg ?
30 Mar 2018
... that the
baritone
Johannes Hill was the voice of Jesus and Pilate in
Bach's Passions , and of
Pope Francis in the premiere of
Laudato si' ?
29 Mar 2018
... that
Elsa Cavelti , who appeared in dramatic roles at the
Opernhaus Zürich and taught voice at the
Musikhochschule Frankfurt , was Wagner's
Brangäne at
La Scala ?
25 Mar 2018
... that
Zofia Posmysz (pictured) ,
Auschwitz inmate No. 7566, wrote an audio play on her memories, which became the basis for her 1962 novel
Passenger ,
a 1963 film , and
a 1968 opera ?
16 Mar 2018
... that
Camilla Nylund (pictured) appeared as the Countess in
Capriccio by Richard Strauss at the
Frankfurt Opera , staged by
Brigitte Fassbaender , who set the opera in
Occupied France ?
14 Mar 2018
... that
Catherine Rückwardt , who was
Generalmusikdirektorin at the
Staatstheater Mainz for a decade and one of only four women in such a position in Germany, conducted a recording of the First Symphony by
Hans Rott ?
8 Mar 2018
... that
Marcel Cordes , a German baritone known for Italian opera, appeared as the King in the first recording of
Carl Orff 's
Die Kluge ?
6 Mar 2018
... that the lyric soprano
Anny Felbermayer , who performed 54 roles at the
Vienna State Opera , created the role of Xanthe in
Die Liebe der Danae by Richard Strauss at the 1952
Salzburg Festival ?
1 Mar 2018
... that the bass
Dmitry Belosselskiy appeared internationally in title roles, as
Boris Godunov ,
Macbeth ,
Simon Boccanegra , and
Ivan Susanin ?
22 Feb 2018
... that
Siegfried Lorenz , the first lyrical
baritone of the
Staatsoper Unter den Linden , recorded 151 songs by
Schubert and sang "with an enviable control of line and dynamics", according to
Alan Blyth ?
12 Feb 2018
... that the third opera by
Alessandro Solbiati , Il suono giallo , is based on
Wassily Kandinsky 's experimental play
The Yellow Sound and premiered in Bologna in 2015?
11 Feb 2018
... that in
Nazi Germany ,
Karl Maria Zwißler conducted major works by composer
Igor Stravinsky regarded as
degenerate music , including the ballet
The Firebird and the German premiere of
Dumbarton Oaks ?
9 Feb 2018
... that when soprano
Lucy Crowe became ill, her replacement
Sabina Puértolas had only three hours to rehearse before performing at the
Royal Opera House in London?
3 Feb 2018
... that
Ilona Durigo , one of the leading concert contraltos of her time, performed in the first recording of Bach's
St Matthew Passion , conducted by
Willem Mengelberg ?
31 Jan 2018
... that
Colette Lorand made her debut as Gounod's
Marguerite in 1945, created Reimann's
Regan in 1978, and retired as Janáček's
Emilia Marty in 1983?
27 Jan 2018
... that the English tenor
Mark Milhofer appeared as
Mozart's Ferrando in Beijing and Moscow, and as
Poppea 's nurse in Berlin, dressed as a parody of
Riff Raff ?
18 Jan 2018
... that
Diego Fasolis conducted
L'incoronazione di Poppea at the reopened
Staatsoper Unter den Linden , adding music by other composers of
Monteverdi 's time?
16 Jan 2018
... that soprano
Cristina Pasaroiu played
Manon in boots, even in bed with her lover?
13 Jan 2018
... that
Wolfgang Stockmeier made around 150 recordings of organ music, taught at three music academies, and composed an opera on a libretto by
Gabriele Wohmann ?
12 Jan 2018
... that the Italian mezzo-soprano
Armanda Degli Abbati appeared as
Ortrud in Rome and as
Amneris in Rio de Janeiro, had an affair with a Russian revolutionary, and trained Estonian singers?
4 Jan 2018
... that the dramatic soprano
Catherine Foster , a former midwife, appeared as
Brünnhilde at the
Bayreuth Festival celebrating Wagner's bicentenary?
3 Jan 2018
... that
Chiyuki Urano , a soloist and choir member of the
Bach Collegium Japan , recorded songs by Russian amateur composers including
Diaghilev with pianist
Lera Auerbach ?
30 Dec 2017
... that the musicologist
Willi Gundlach , who founded the chamber choir of
Dortmund University , trained volunteers to sing a
Bach cantata in one day, including Part I of Bach's
Christmas Oratorio ?
25 Dec 2017
... that
Peter G. Davis wrote after a performance of
Risurrezione that
Fiora Contino (pictured) "may be the last conductor on earth with the music of
Alfano and his generation in her bloodstream"?
18 Dec 2017
... that
Manfred Jung is remembered as Siegfried in Bayreuth's
Jahrhundertring , but also sang all other tenor roles in
The Ring ?
14 Dec 2017
... that mezzo-soprano
Mechthild Georg , a voice teacher at the
Musikhochschule Köln , performed
music by C. P. E. Bach at the first
Rheingau Musik Festival ?
27 Nov 2017
... that the musicologist
Beatrix Borchard researched female musicians such as
Clara Schumann ,
Amalie Joachim , and
Pauline Viardot , and worked for the
Goethe-Institut in Portugal, Romania, and China?
27 Oct 2017
... that the first opera by
Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini premiered at the
Theater Erfurt , the second at the
Theater Basel , and the third at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2017?
26 Oct 2017
... that mezzo-soprano
Patricia Johnson appeared as
Eboli at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin , and created the roles of a
Nabokov Princess and a
Henze Baroness ?
18 Oct 2017
... that
Christof Loy received the
Der Faust award for staging Mozart's
Così fan tutte at the Frankfurt Opera?
12 Oct 2017
... that
Nicholas Nabokov composed an opera
Love's Labour's Lost , setting the same play by Shakespeare as the fictional hero of Mann's
Doctor Faustus , "in a spirit of the most artificial mockery"?
4 Oct 2017
... that when operatic soprano
Cynthia Clarey 's voice lowered with age, she took up
cabaret singing instead?
4 Oct 2017
... that Wolfgang Rihm's opera
Dionysos , with a libretto by Rihm using only words by
Nietzsche , was first performed at the
Salzburg Festival and called
premiere of the year ?
2 Oct 2017
... that coloratura soprano
Joan Carroll appeared as Alban Berg's
Lulu more than 100 times, including the U.S. premiere at the
Santa Fe Opera ?
30 Sep 2017
... that after baritone
Johannes Martin Kränzle recovered from
MDS , he made his debut at the
Bayreuth Festival in 2017 as
Beckmesser , staged by
the festival's first Jewish director ?
29 Sep 2017
... that American soprano
Pamela Coburn appeared as Mozart's
Countess in Vienna and New York, and as Ellen, the friend of
Peter Grimes , in Munich and at the
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino ?
28 Sep 2017
... that in
Telemaco , one of
Alessandro Scarlatti 's last operas,
Minerva enters in a chariot which holds a
string orchestra with trumpets?
22 Sep 2017
... that the
Styriarte music festival publicly screened Mozart's
Coronation Mass , conducted by
Nikolaus Harnoncourt , from the church of
Stainz (organ loft pictured) ?
21 Sep 2017
... that the Swiss mezzo-soprano
Elisabeth Glauser performed in the
Jahrhundertring in Bayreuth, and created the role of Babette in Henze's
The English Cat ?
20 Sep 2017
... that the clarinetist Jörg Widmann composed
Babylon , an opera in seven scenes, on a commission from the
Bavarian State Opera to a libretto by
Peter Sloterdijk ?
19 Sep 2017
... that
Hanno Müller-Brachmann appeared as Papageno in
Claudio Abbado 's award-winning recording of
Die Zauberflöte , and recorded Mahler's
Des Knaben Wunderhorn with
Michael Gielen ?
18 Sep 2017
... that the opera
Das Schloß by
Aribert Reimann , on his own libretto after
Kafka's novel , premiered in 1992 at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin ?
18 Sep 2017
... that 19th-century concert singer
Sarah Mundell Crane was the mother of silent movie actor
Harry Ogden Crane ?
17 Sep 2017
... that
Don Checco , composed by
Nicola De Giosa , was one of the greatest successes in the history of Neapolitan
opera buffa and a favourite of
King Ferdinand II ?
17 Sep 2017
... that from 1981, Swiss set designer
Marco Arturo Marelli also directed operas, and in 2010 staged the premiere of Reimann's
Medea at the Vienna State Opera?
16 Sep 2017
... that
Caroline Stein appeared as Mozart's
Queen of the Night at the
Berlin State Opera , and sang his
Mass in C minor and Alban Berg's
Altenberg Lieder at
The Proms ?
15 Sep 2017
... that baritone
Georg Nigl , who names as his favourite roles Monteverdi's
Orfeo , Mozart's
Pagageno , and Alban Berg's
Wozzeck , created the title role of Dusapin's
Faustus, the Last Night ?
14 Sep 2017
... that
Reinhard Peters conducted several new operas and
Wilhelm Killmayer 's Tre Canti di Leopardi , and a number of his recordings were chosen for the CD compilation Musik in Deutschland 1950–2000 ?
12 Sep 2017
... that the
Theater Chemnitz has staged "rediscovered" operas, such as Meyerbeer's
Vasco da Gama , in the opera house (pictured) ?
11 Sep 2017
... that
Gerhild Romberger , an award-winning contralto and professor of voice, was a soloist in Mahler's
Second Symphony at the
Rheingau Musik Festival ?
9 Sep 2017
... that
Wolfgang Fortner composed the chamber opera
In seinem Garten liebt Don Perlimplin Belisa
after Lorca for the
Schlosstheater Schwetzingen , where it opened the
Festival in 1962?
8 Sep 2017
... that the premiere of the opera
Wintermärchen by
Philippe Boesmans , based on Shakespeare's
The Winter's Tale , featured jazz-rock music by the Belgian group
Aka Moon ?
7 Sep 2017
... that according to reviewers, soprano
Simone Schneider of the
Staatsoper Stuttgart "expresses
Alcestis ' agitation, nobility and joy with a moving simplicity" and "was a headstrong, vibrant
Empress "?
5 Sep 2017
... that the Polish composer
Krzysztof Penderecki co-wrote the German libretto of
Ubu Rex , his only
opera buffa , based on the French play
Ubu Roi ?
5 Sep 2017
... that
Carol Smith appeared as Verdi's
Eboli ,
Amneris and
Azucena at the
Opernhaus Zürich , and recorded his
Mrs. Quickly in German?
1 Sep 2017
... that
Elisabeth Kulman , Gora in the premiere of Reimann's
Medea at the
Vienna State Opera , changed from soprano to mezzo, and from opera singer to concert singer?
1 Sep 2017
... that
Joseph and
Amalie Joachim (pictured) received
two songs from
Johannes Brahms , one to begin their marriage, the other decades later to repair it?
29 Aug 2017
... that
Maria Riccarda Wesseling appeared as Gluck's
Orfeo in Paris and at the
Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus , and as Henze's
Phaedra in Berlin?
28 Aug 2017
... that the
Stadttheater Minden , a municipal theatre without an ensemble, received international attention for its
Wagner opera project?
27 Aug 2017
... that
Marcus Bosch conducted a performance of Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde at the
Staatstheater Nürnberg that was shown live in 50 cinemas in Germany and Austria?
26 Aug 2017
... that
Vera Nemirova staged
Lulu at the
Salzburg Festival and
The Ring for the
Frankfurt Opera ?
23 Aug 2017
... that
Aribert Reimann (pictured) composed
Medea for the
Vienna State Opera , based on the drama by
Franz Grillparzer ?
22 Aug 2017
... that the composer
Giselher Klebe wrote the libretto for his opera
Die tödlichen Wünsche based on Balzac's
La Peau de chagrin ?
21 Aug 2017
... that award-winning soprano
Christiane Karg appeared as
Sophie at the
Frankfurt Opera , the
Semperoper and
La Scala , and in Mahler's
Second Symphony at the
Rheingau Musik Festival ?
20 Aug 2017
... that French composer
Pascal Dusapin wrote the English
libretto for his opera
Faustus, the Last Night , which premiered
in Germany in 2006?
18 Aug 2017
... that the opera
Alceste , composed by
Anton Schweitzer with a libretto by
Wieland , is regarded as a milestone of German opera?
16 Aug 2017
... that the
Theater Bonn opened a new opera house in 1965?
13 Aug 2017
... that the Slovenian soprano
Sabina Cvilak (pictured) was Puccini's
Mimi in
Washington , Wagner's
Sieglinde in
Wiesbaden , and performed Britten's
War Requiem in
London on the composer's centenary?
10 Aug 2017
... that
Céleste Mogador may have been the inspiration for the title character in Georges Bizet's opera
Carmen ?
8 Aug 2017
... that
Melusine , the second opera by
Aribert Reimann , premiered at the
Schlosstheater Schwetzingen in 1971 and was revived in 2016 by
students in Berlin for the composer's 80th birthday?
7 Aug 2017
... that
Theater Magdeburg 's opera house (pictured) is a re-built operetta and variety theatre destroyed in World War II?
5 Aug 2017
... that
Michael Boder conducted new operas, including Penderecki's
Ubu Rex for the
Munich Opera Festival , Henze's
Phaedra in Berlin, and Reimann's
Medea in Vienna?
3 Aug 2017
... that at age 18,
Daniel Schiebeler wrote the libretto for
an opera by Telemann based on an episode from Cervantes'
Don Quixote , which he could read in Spanish?
3 Aug 2017
... that
Gertrude Förstel was Sophie when
Der Rosenkavalier was first performed in Vienna, and sang in the premieres of
Tiefland and Mahler's
Eighth Symphony ?
30 July 2017
... that when the
Theater Münster opened in 1956, it was regarded as the first new theatre in Germany after World War II?
28 July 2017
... that contralto
Ruth Siewert appeared as
Erda not only
in Bayreuth , but also at
La Scala ,
La Fenice , and
La Monnaie ?
27 July 2017
... that
Paula Murrihy , who appeared in operatic title roles such as
Dido ,
Carmen ,
Hänsel and the
Rosenkavalier , sang
Lieder with viola and piano for the
Hessischer Rundfunk ?
23 July 2017
... that
Nicole Chevalier was awarded
Der Faust for her performance of the four female characters in Offenbach's
Les Contes d'Hoffman at the
Komische Oper Berlin ?
22 July 2017
... that the story of
Hannah Norsa (pictured) has been described as "an archetypal tale of how stage stardom might lead to social transformation"?
22 July 2017
... that in the
John Gay version of
Achilles , the hero is introduced as a
cross-dresser ?
21 July 2017
... that
Marc Soustrot conducted a staging of both Debussy's cantata
La Damoiselle élue and Honegger's oratorio
Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher at the
Frankfurt Opera in 2017?
21 July 2017
... that the bass
Oskar Czerwenka appeared in 1,084 performances at the
Vienna State Opera , and his home was integrated into a state music school (pictured) that was named after him?
21 July 2017
... that
Uwe Eric Laufenberg , General Manager of the
Staatstheater Wiesbaden , presented his staging of Wagner's
Der Ring des Nibelungen at the
Internationale Maifestspiele in 2017?
19 July 2017
... that in the opera
Don Quichotte auf der Hochzeit des Comacho ,
Georg Philipp Telemann (pictured) characterized the noble people by elements from the
opera seria , and the peasants by Spanish folk music?
18 July 2017
... that
Lioba Braun , who became known appearing as
Brangäne in Bayreuth in 1994, was the first soloist to record Reger's
Die Weihe der Nacht ?
14 July 2017
... that
Matthias von Stegmann made German
voice-overs for
The Simpsons , staged Wagner's
Ring Cycle for children, and directed the first production of Wagner's
Rienzi at the
Bayreuth Festival ?
13 July 2017
... that
Frank Beermann conducted the first recording of
Bruno Maderna 's Requiem, and the German premiere of
Péter Eötvös 's opera
Love and Other Demons at the
Chemnitz Opera ?
11 July 2017
... that
Dara Hobbs appeared as Wagner's
Isolde at many venues, including
Theater Bonn ,
Stadttheater Minden , and
Schloss Neuschwanstein ?
10 July 2017
... that
Maria Friesenhausen sang soprano solo with the
NDR Chor in the 1950s and trained students of the
University of Dortmund for an opera performance in 2001?
10 July 2017
... that
Claudia Barainsky performed operatic title roles including
Daphne ,
Lulu ,
Medea , and
Melusine ?
8 July 2017
... that
David Hermann staged
a Mozart opera at the
Salzburg Festival at age 29, and combined
three Krenek operas in
Frankfurt ?
4 July 2017
... that Gottfried von Einem's opera
Der Prozeß , based on
the novel by Franz Kafka , was premiered at the
Salzburg Festival ?
3 July 2017
... that
Margit Neubauer appeared as Sesto in Handel's
Giulio Cesare , conducted by
Nikolaus Harnoncourt , at the start of her 39-year career at the
Frankfurt Opera ?
26 June 2017
... that a recording of Bartók's
Bluebeard's Castle with
Cornelia Kallisch as Judith was nominated for a Grammy Award?
22 June 2017
... that
Andreas Schager was called a "sensation" when he first performed Wagner's
Tristan in
Minden , and went on to
Siegfried at the
Staatsoper Berlin ,
La Scala , and
The Proms ?
14 June 2017
... that the
Kollegienkirche (pictured in 1712) , the church of the
University of Salzburg built by
Fischer von Erlach , was the venue for a
Hofmannsthal premiere and a
Sciarrone opera ?
8 June 2017
... that the short satirical opera
Das geheime Königreich (The Secret Kingdom ) by
Ernst Krenek premiered in
Wiesbaden in May 1928 ?
7 June 2017
... that the
Hochschule für Musik Mainz collaborated with the
Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden to stage a production of Scarlatti's
La Giuditta earlier this year?
3 June 2017
... that mezzo-soprano
Eva Randová was nominated for the
Laurence Olivier Award for her performance as the Kostelnička Buryjovka in Janáček's
Jenůfa at the Royal Opera House?
31 May 2017
... that the soprano
Margot Guilleaume recorded the part of Marzelline in Beethoven's
Fidelio in a complete live recording without dialogue in 1948?
27 May 2017
... that
Clotilde Bressler-Gianoli played the titular character in
Carmen in 1907 with "the allurement of sheer wickedness", and was accidentally stabbed on stage?
24 May 2017
... that
Hans Peter Blochwitz , who appeared as Mozart's
Don Ottavio at the Metropolitan Opera, premiered
Hans Zender 's Schubert's "Winterreise" with the
Ensemble Modern in 1993?
22 May 2017
... that
EuropaChorAkademie , a choir formed by students from two universities, participated in an award-winning recording of Bernd Alois Zimmermann's
Requiem für einen jungen Dichter ?
21 May 2017
... that in 1970,
Austrian Post issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring the composer and bass singer
Thomas Koschat ?
19 May 2017
... that
Max Thurn , the founder of the
NDR Chor in 1946, conducted a series of
Bach cantatas and prepared the choir for a live recording of
Isang Yun 's Om mani padme hum in 1964?
17 May 2017
... that
The Great Friendship had distinctly unfriendly consequences?
8 May 2017
... that the contralto
Anna Erler-Schnaudt performed in the premiere of Mahler's
Eighth Symphony in 1910?
7 May 2017
... that
Annelies Van Parys has composed music for
Muziektheater Transparant , including her first opera, Private Views , which premiered in 2015?
4 May 2017
... that the
NDR Chor performed in Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony for the opening of the
Elbphilharmonie ?
28 Apr 2017
... that
Ursula Zollenkopf , a
contralto of the
NWDR Chor , performed solo and choral parts in a posthumous
Schoenberg opera premiere and in
an Easter cantata by Bach ?
16 Apr 2017
... that mezzo-soprano
Claudia Mahnke appeared as Dido in
Les Troyens by Berlioz, and according to a reviewer, in the final 25 minutes convincingly ranged from hurt vulnerability to furious despair?
4 Mar 2017
... that Belgian mezzo-soprano
Jeanne Deroubaix was a soloist in the premiere of
Stravinsky 's
Threni , and performed with
Boulez in his
Le marteau sans maître at
The Proms ?
31 Mar 2017
... that the soprano
Leonore Kirschstein appeared as Alice Ford, with
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as
Falstaff ?
29 Mar 2017
... that the historic characters in
Françoise de Rimini , the last opera by
Ambroise Thomas , include not only
Francesca da Rimini , but also
Dante and
Virgil ?
27 Mar 2017
... that when the
Beethoven Orchester Bonn was founded as a professional orchestra in
Beethoven 's hometown in 1907,
Richard Strauss conducted his own works? (
25 Mar 2017 )
... that the American
contralto
Margarethe Bence appeared as
Marcellina at the
Salzburg Festival , as
Erda in
Bayreuth , and in a premiere at the
Schwetzingen Festival ? (
24 Mar 2017 )
... that the opera
Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen (Murderer, Hope of Women ) was based on a play by
an expressionist artist and was performed with stage set and choreography by
a Bauhaus artist ? (
23 Mar 2017 )
... that mezzo-soprano
Tanja Ariane Baumgartner has portrayed such characters as Schoeck's
Penthesilea , and
Cassandre in
Les Troyens ? (
22 Mar 2017 )
... that when
Siegfried Wagner wrote the libretto for his opera
An allem ist Hütchen schuld! , he used themes from many fairy tales? (
18 Mar 2017 )
... that
Albert Horne conducted Gershwin's
Porgy and Bess for the
Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden , with the chorus of the
Cape Town Opera and the
Wiesbaden orchestra ? (
15 Mar 2017 )
... that the mezzo-soprano
Iris Vermillion , who became known for Mozart roles with
Harnoncourt in 1988, received a prize for her portrayal of Schoeck's
Penthesilea at the
Semperoper 20 years later? (
15 Mar 2017 )
... that the soprano
Émilie Ambre was portrayed by artist
Édouard Manet in the title role of Bizet's
Carmen (pictured) ? (
13 Mar 2017 )
... that the soprano
Erna Ellmenreich appeared in the premieres of
Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss and of Hindemith's
Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen , the latter causing a scandal? (
8 Mar 2017 )
... that during the last decade,
Lance Ryan appeared as
Siegfried at three
Bayreuth Festivals ? (
2 Mar 2017 )
... that
Dirk Kaftan conducted Schönberg's
Gurre-Lieder , recorded
Jenůfa with the
Graz Opera , and led Bruckner's
Fourth Symphony in seven concerts of the
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie ? (
20 Feb 2017 )
... that Swedish rock band
Mecki Mark Men played with both
Jimi Hendrix and the
Royal Swedish Opera ? (
19 Feb 2017 )
... that
August Buchner , a professor of poetry and rhetoric at the
University of Wittenberg , wrote the libretto for a lost ballet-opera by
Heinrich Schütz ? (
14 Feb 2017
... that after the ballet dancer
Franziska Romana Koch sang in the opera
Alceste which was composed for her,
its librettist celebrated her performance in a poem?
11 Feb 2017
... that
Tilo Medek set Lenin's
Decree on Peace for speaking voice and four percussionists, and wrote an opera based on
a Böll novel ?
6 Feb 2017
... that the bass
Thomas Thomaschke appeared as Wagner's
Hunding at
La Scala , as Mozart's
Sarastro in
Glyndebourne , and recorded Bach's
Mit Fried und Freud with
Harnoncourt ?
2 Feb 2017
... that
Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca wrote the libretto for
Solimano , first set by
Hasse and produced in Dresden with live elephants and camels?
26 Jan 2017
... that the science fiction novella
Paradises Lost was adapted as an opera?
25 Jan 2017
... that
Daniel Catán 's opera
Il Postino is set in Italy but sung in Spanish? (
29 Oct 2016 )
... that the contralto
Dorothy Gill was so popular during the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company 's visit to New York in 1934 that American fans petitioned for her return? (
19 Oct 2016 )
... that the soprano
Katharine Fuge took part in
John Eliot Gardiner 's
Bach Cantata Pilgrimage , both as a member of the
Monteverdi Choir and as a soloist? (
13 Oct 2016 )
... that
Elin Rombo (pictured) played Sister Blanche in Poulenc's
Dialogues of the Carmelites in a 2011 production at the Royal Swedish Opera? (
30 September 2016 )
... that
Petra Lang , who performed the parts of
Brangäne and
Ortrud at the
Bayreuth Festival as a mezzo-soprano, was the Isolde of 2016? (
26 August 2016 )
... that
Kari Lövaas appeared in the premiere of Orff's
De temporum fine comoedia at the
Salzburg Festival ? (
11 July 2016 )
... that
Nikolaus Hillebrand , who as a boy was a member of the
Regensburger Domspatzen , and recorded with them as a soloist on Bach's
St John Passion in 1979 and
Dittersdorf 's Requiem in 2009? (
19 May 2016 )
... that
Hans-Dieter Bader performed the title role of Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's opera
Sly , recorded live at the
Staatsoper Hannover , "as written", while
Plácido Domingo had to cut and change the part? (
3 May 2016 )
... that soprano
Tamara Wilson won the
Richard Tucker Award , "one of the most prestigious prizes in opera"? (
28 Apr 2016 )
... that the contralto
Caroline Trevor , who has been a member of
The Tallis Scholars for over three decades, broke a tradition of nine centuries when she became a singer at
St Paul's Cathedral ? (
27 Apr 2016 )
... that an
Earnest performance necessitates the rhythmic smashing of forty dinner plates? (
15 Apr 2016 )
... that upon its 1641 premiere in Venice, the opera
La finta pazza was performed twelve times in seventeen days? (
5 Apr 2016 )
... that soprano
Margareta Hallin could have performed internationally, but decided to stay in her homeland instead? (4 Apr 2016, not archived)
... that the bass-baritone
Jacques Villisech recorded
Bach cantatas , including the
Actus tragicus , the
Hunting Cantata , and the secular solo cantata
Amore traditore ? (
3 Apr 2016 )
... that
Michael Finnissy has
reimagined parts of every opera of
Giuseppe Verdi ? (
29 Mar 2016 )
... that the soprano
Rotraud Hansmann performed six parts in three Monteverdi operas conducted by
Nikolaus Harnoncourt , including Euridice in
L'Orfeo ? (
28 Mar 2016 )
... that
Metropolitan Opera tenor
Andrea Velis starred in the United States premieres of four different operas by
Benjamin Britten ? (
27 Mar 2016 )
... that the soprano
Emily Van Evera appeared with the
Taverner Consort at
The Proms in Bach's
St Matthew Passion ? (
25 Mar 2016 )
... that
Louisa Melvin Delos Mars was one of the first black women to achieve recognition as a composer? (
25 Mar 2016 )
... that the mezzo-soprano
Pamela Dellal , who recorded music by
Hildegard von Bingen and
Fanny Mendelssohn , translated all texted works by
Bach ? (
21 Mar 2016 )
... that the soprano
Greta De Reyghere recorded
Bach's motets ,
Mozart's vespers , and music by the Belgian composers
Joseph Ryelandt and
Joseph-Hector Fiocco ? (
19 Mar 2016 )
... that the premiere of Arthur Honegger's first opera,
Antigone , was staged in sets by
Picasso and costumes by
Coco Chanel ? (
17 Mar 2016 )
... that
Delores Ziegler , who teaches voice at the
University of Maryland , appeared as Dorabella in Mozart's
Così fan tutte for her debut at
La Scala , and in the film by
Ponnelle and
Harnoncourt ? (
10 Mar 2016 )
... that
Hana Blažíková is a soprano with the
Bach Collegium Japan , conducted by
Masaaki Suzuki , for the project to record the complete
Bach cantatas ? (
8 Mar 2016 )
... that the contralto
Elisabeth Schärtel , known for performing many Wagner parts at the
Bayreuth Festival , sang Verdi's
Meg Page alongside
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Falstaff? (
6 Mar 2016 )
... that
Antonia Fahberg , a lyric soprano of the
Bavarian State Opera for 25 years, recorded Bach with
Karl Richter , including
an aria described as "a beguiling and beautifully restrained performance"? (
2 Mar 2016 )
... that the 1835 opera
La casa disabitata , composed by
Princess Amalie of Saxony , received its first modern performance in 2012 after its previously lost score was discovered in a library in Moscow? (
2 Mar 2016 )
... that
Astrid Schirmer appeared in roles by Richard Wagner, both Venus and Elisabeth in his
Tannhäuser , and in the Bayreuth
Jahrhundertring as both Ortlinde and Sieglinde? (
22 Feb 2016 )
... that
Maria Carbone appeared in 1931 as Desdemona in a complete recording of Verdi's
Otello , one of her only two recordings? (
22 Feb 2016 )
... that
Anna Korondi appeared at the
Bavarian State Opera as Zdenka in
Arabella by Richard Strauss and in a leading role in the premiere of
Aribert Reimann 's Bernarda Albas Haus ? (
21 Feb 2016 )
... that the 1753 opera
Ciro in Armenia was created by
Maria Teresa Agnesi Pinottini , one of the earliest female Italian opera composers? (
21 Feb 2016 )
... that when
Ilse Hollweg recorded the part of Blonde in Mozart's
Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Sir
Thomas Beecham , she was one of two soloists who also spoke the dialogue? (
20 Feb 2016 )
... that
Simone Ballard performed the title role in the premiere of Arthur Honegger's
Antigone at
La Monnaie ? (
19 Feb 2016 )
... that the soprano
Friederike Sailer appeared in the premiere of
Werner Egk 's Der Revisor at the
Schwetzingen Festival , conducted by the composer? (
18 Feb 2016 )
... that no more than twelve people at a time can ascertain what is
found and lost at a London hotel? (
14 Feb 2016 )
... that opera singer
Virgilio Lazzari was a leading
bass with the
Chicago Civic Opera from 1918–32 and the
Metropolitan Opera from 1933–50? (
11 Feb 2016 )
... that
Ilse Gramatzki appeared as a
Rhinemaiden in the
Jahrhundertring at the
Bayreuth Festival , and in Zimmermann's
Die Soldaten in
Frankfurt and
Brussels ? (
9 Feb 2016 )
... that
Yvonne Ciannella , who performed the title roles of Donizetti's
Lucia di Lammermoor and Puccini's
Suor Angelica , recorded Telemann's cantata Ino with "dramatic colouring"? (
6 Feb 2016 )
... that
Yolanda Marculescu , prima donna of the
Romanian National Opera of Bucharest ,
defected to the U.S. in 1968 and founded the International Festival of the
Art Song in Milwaukee, Wisconsin? (
5 Feb 2016 )
... that
Gertrude Pitzinger , who toured Europe and the United States singing
Lieder , recorded the alto part of Mozart's
Requiem , conducted by
Ferenc Fricsay ? (
30 Jan 2016 )
... that bass-baritone
Louis D'Angelo sang in the world premieres of seven operas at the
Metropolitan Opera , including Puccini's
Gianni Schicchi ? (
29 Jan 2016 )
... that
Operaphone Records did not release recordings of
operas ? (
29 Jan 2016 )
... that
Bach composed the cantata for the Sunday after
Epiphany ,
Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen , BWV 32 , as a dialogue of the Soul and Jesus, using elements of contemporary opera? (
10 Jan 2016 )
... that opera singer
Camellia Johnson performed at
Donald Trump 's wedding ceremonies to
Marla Maples and
Melania Knauss ? (
22 Dec 2015 )
... that in 2000
Midori Suzuki was a soprano in
Sigiswald Kuijken's recording of Bach's Mass in B minor which uses one voice per part? (
14 Dec 2015 )
... that Chinese opera singer
Ao Li has won both the
Operalia, The World Opera Competition and the
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions ? (
12 Dec 2015 )
... that
baritone
Liao Changyong won first prize in three different international singing competitions in 1997? (
8 Dec 2015 )
... that only a year after joining the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at age 21,
Eileen Sharp (pictured) was promoted to be the company's principal
mezzo-soprano ? (
7 Dec 2015 )
... that
tenor
Robert White swallowed a bug while singing the best high note of his career? (
6 Dec 2015 )
... that Chinese soprano
Guanqun Yu won the Belvedere International Singing Competition and placed 2nd in
Operalia, The World Opera Competition ? (
4 Dec 2015 )
... that soprano
Ying Fang has won the Golden Bell Award, the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, and the
Lincoln Center Segal Award ? (
4 Dec 2015 )
... that voice teacher
Beverley Peck Johnson told actor
Kevin Kline that he had to choose between her and cigarettes if he wanted to be her pupil? (
3 Dec 2015 )
... that in the past three years,
Odyssey Opera has performed the Boston premieres of
Korngold 's
Die tote Stadt and
Massenet 's
El Cid ? (
2 Dec 2015 )
... that
Zhou Xiaoyan was described by
The New York Times as "China's First Lady of Opera"? (
27 Nov 2015 )
... that
Dominik Wörner , winner of the 2002
International Bach Competition , recorded
Lieder from Vienna written in the
fin de siècle period, including works by
Berg ,
Schönberg ,
Schreker and
Wolf ? (
4 Nov 2015 )
... that actress
Maria Möller is a classically trained
mezzo-soprano and soloist? (
29 Oct 2015 )
... that
Philip Baxter was chairman of the
Australian Atomic Energy Commission and the
Sydney Opera House Trust ? (
23 Sep 2015 )
... that
Michael Schopper performed as a bass soloist in the first
recording of Bach's St Matthew Passion with
period instruments conducted by
Nikolaus Harnoncourt ? (
24 Aug 2015 )
... that
Wilke te Brummelstroete performed the alto parts in Volume I of the
Bach Cantata Pilgrimage which received the 2005
Gramophone Award Record of the Year? (
22 Aug 2015 )
... that soprano
Rosa Lamoreaux , who recorded Bach's
Mass in B minor with
The Bach Choir of Bethlehem and at the
Carmel Bach Festival , won the 2009
Wammie as classical vocal soloist? (
19 Aug 2015 )
... that the German tenor
Markus Brutscher performed the part of Saul in
Reinhard Keiser 's oratorio Der siegende David at the
Ruhrtriennale 2006? (
15 Aug 2015 )
... that dramatic soprano
Evelyn Herlitzius appeared as
Elektra , staged by
Patrice Chéreau at the
Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2013, reviewed as "a creature of mesmerising intensity"? (
9 Aug 2015 )
... that soprano
Susanne Rydén combined music by various Baroque composers in the musical show Christina's Journey , in which she sang, recited, and danced? (
8 August 2015 )
... that
Michael Rayner worked in his family's motor car business before starring in
Gilbert and Sullivan roles with the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company ? (
8 August 2015 )
... that mezzo-soprano
Ruth Sandhoff performed a soprano part in
the Magnificat by
Johann Sebastian Bach and an alto part in
his son's Magnificat ? (
21 July 2015 )
... that
contralto
Hildegard Rütgers recorded
Bach's Magnificat with Christmas interpolations with
Helmuth Rilling ? (
17 July 2015 )
... that
Hedy Graf performed soprano parts in premieres of
oratorios by Swiss composers? (
16 July 2015 )
... that
Constanze Backes performed the leading female part in
Joseph Schuster 's rediscovered opera Il Marito Indolente ? (
15 July 2015 )
... that
Orlanda Velez Isidro was Madame Mao in a Dutch production of John Adams'
Nixon in China ? (
12 July 2015 )
... that the soprano
Romy Gundermann and her husband received a medal from
Aschaffenburg for expanding music awareness and adding to the town's cultural heritage? (
12 Jul 2015 )
... that soprano
Josepha Duschek , who premiered
Ah! perfido , advertised it as "an Italian scena written by Beethoven for
Mad. Duschek"? (
7 June 2015 ) (
12 June 2015 )
... that the mezzo-soprano
Marga Schiml (pictured) , an academic voice teacher in
Karlsruhe , appeared as a
Rhinemaiden and a
valkyrie in the
Jahrhundertring ? (
20 May 2015 )
... that the first American
grand opera was written for soprano
Ann Childe Seguin ? (
20 May 2015 )
... that the tenor
Llewellyn Cadwaladr created the role of Frederic in the first performance of
The Pirates of Penzance in 1879? (
13 May 2015 )
... that
Sophie's choice took an hour less in Washington than in London? (
7 May 2015 )
... that there is no evidence that
an English Flowermaiden was
Richard Wagner 's nemesis? (
24 April 2015 )
... that
Dennis Marks survived
life with an idiot to film
the diary of one who disappeared ? (
21 April 2015 )
... that
Jeannette Zarou performed the title role in the stage premiere of
Healey Willan 's opera Deirdre ? (
17 April 2015 )
... that the contralto
Maria Radner , who died in the
Germanwings plane crash , performed Wagner's
Wesendonck Lieder at his villa, Wahnfried? (
11 April 2015 )
... that contralto
Jenny Twitchell Kempton sang in the first performance of Mendelssohn's oratorio
Elijah in Boston? (
8 April 2015 )
... that Sebastiano Biancardi, suspected of embezzlement, left his family and became a successful librettist known as
Domenico Lalli ? (
7 April 2015 )
... that
Figaro's divorce will take place in
Cardiff more than two centuries after his marriage? (
29 March 2015 )
... that the premiere of
Erik Bergman 's only full-length opera,
Det sjungande trädet (The Singing Tree ), was delayed for over a year because of its complex staging requirements? (
27 March 2015 )
... that
Margaret Kennedy (pictured as
Captain Macheath ) was the first person to perform
Thomas Arne 's song "
A-Hunting We Will Go "? (
17 March 2015 )
... that contralto
Marga Höffgen , known as a Bach singer for
Karajan and as
Erda in
Bayreuth , recorded Max Reger's
Requiem compositions ? (
17 March 2015 )
... that mezzo-soprano
Marie-Louise Gilles appeared in trousers roles in
Wiesbaden and as a valkyrie in
Bayreuth ? (
11 March 2015 )
... that Italian soprano
Teresina Brambilla was known for performing leading parts in operas by
Amilcare Ponchielli , whom she married? (
10 March 2015 )
... that the opera
La Loca (The Madwoman ) was written as a vehicle for
Beverly Sills in honor of her 50th birthday? (
6 March 2015 )
... that
Corrado Miraglia , who created the role of Ismaele in Verdi's opera
Nabucco , became a soloist at the
Milan Cathedral when he retired from the stage? (
1 March 2015 )
... that Ralph Benatzky wrote the libretto and music for
Meine Schwester und ich , a "more intellectual, more cabaret-style" operetta which premiered in Berlin in 1930? (
25 February 2015 )
... that although
Aulis Sallinen (pictured) composed
Kullervo for the opening of Helsinki's
new national opera house , it was first performed in Los Angeles? (
24 February 2015 )
... that
Giuseppina Brambilla , one of five opera-singer sisters, was a
prima donna in Barcelona and Odessa? (
16 February 2015 )
... that
Francisco D'Andrade (pictured) appears in his signature role
Don Giovanni in three paintings by
Max Slevogt ? (
5 February 2015 )
... that in
Roger Scruton 's
musical vision of the eccentric love-life of
Violet Gordon-Woodhouse , a leading lady is sung by a
baritone ? (
4 February 2015 )
... that
The sacred duck was seen widely across Germany until
the Third Reich silenced it? (
2 February 2015 )
... that music from Joaquin Turina's opera
Margot (libretto cover pictured) about a Parisian courtesan has become a popular piece during the processions of
Holy Week in Seville ? (
28 December 2014 )
... that the opera house for the
Dresden court ,
Opernhaus am Taschenberg (pictured) , opened in 1667 and was dedicated as a church in 1708? (
17 December 2014 )
... that
Hans Wallat conducted Wagner's
Der Ring des Nibelungen ninety times? (
16 December 2014 )
... that bass
Michael Pospíšil and his ensemble Ritornello recorded music from the hymnal Capella Regia Musicalis , "one of the jewels of Czech musical history"? (
29 October 2014 )
... that the composer
Joseph Maria Wolfram became mayor of
Teplice ? (
20 October 2014 )
... that
Gabriela Eibenová (pictured) flew from Prague to Frankfurt to fill in for a soprano in Bach's
Mass in B minor in
St. Martin, Idstein , a year ago? (
30 September 2014 )
... that Romanian opera singer and film actress
Maria Forescu died in the
Buchenwald concentration camp ? (
19 August 2014 )
... that countertenor
David Erler was one of five singers invited by
amarcord for the performance of Monteverdi's
Vespers as the annual Marienvesper of the
Rheingau Musik Festival in
Eberbach Abbey ? (
15 August 2014 )
... that
Gerd Nienstedt performed 14 different roles, including the dragon in
Siegfried , during 15 consecutive summers at the
Bayreuth Festival ? (
14 August 2014 )
... that
Erich Wenk sang a "rage aria" in Bach's dramma per musica
Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen ? (
14 August 2014 )
... that
Giacomo Orefice 's 1901
opera
Chopin , based very loosely on
Chopin 's life, has been called "a
kitsch contribution to the last vestiges of late 19th-century
romanticized
bohemianism "? (
10 August 2014 )
... that
Klesie Kelly , soprano and academic voice teacher in Cologne, recorded love songs for voices and instrumental soloists with tenor
Ian Partridge ? (
10 August 2014 )
... that over 210,000 tickets were sold in the 1867
lottery in which Chicago's
Crosby's Opera House (pictured) was one of the prizes? (
7 August 2014 )
... that in celebration of the tercentenary of the birth of
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach , tenor
Markus Schäfer performed in his oratorio Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu at the
Rheingau Musik Festival ? (
6 August 2014 )
... that soprano
Ada Cherry Kearton was married to wildlife photographer
Cherry Kearton and recounted their travels in her autobiography On Safari ? (
5 August 2014 )
... that
Siegfried Köhler conducted Wagner's
Rienzi and premiered operas by
Volker David Kirchner at the
Staatstheater Wiesbaden (pictured) ? (
30 July 2014 )
... that according to one reviewer, the productions of the
Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company "can match a
West End show"? (
1 July 2014 )
... that just after
Frederick Federici sang the final note as
Mephistopheles in Gounod's
Faust , descending through a trap door to hell, he died? (
24 June 2014 )
... that after originating the role of Lady Sangazure in
The Sorcerer ,
Mrs Howard Paul walked out of the cast of
H.M.S. Pinafore when her part was reduced? (
16 May 2014 )
... that
Lyndsie Holland played the
Gilbert and Sullivan contralto roles with the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company ? (
25 April 2014 )
... that soprano
Kristīne Opolais made two
Met Opera debuts, as Puccini's
Cio-Cio-San and
Mimi , within a day? (
19 April 2014 )
... that texts by the lawyer and successful opera librettist
Christian Heinrich Postel are part of Bach's
St John Passion ? (
13 April 2014 )
... that soprano
Carmen Reppel performed several parts in the
Jahrhundertring , Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle staged by
Chéreau , and sang in
Siegfried Wagner 's
Schwarzschwanenreich ? (
11 April 2014 )
... that baritone
Eike Wilm Schulte , who performed more than 100 roles since 1966, stepped in at the
Bayreuth Festival as Gunther in
Götterdämmerung ? (
6 April 2014 )
... that
Yulia Makhalina and
Ulyana Lopatkina are part of "the basketball team", a group of tall and slender
Kirov/Mariinsky ballerinas? (
3 April 2014 )
... that
Alice Renavand , a star (étoile ) at the
Paris Opera Ballet , has been described as "having the beauty of the devil"? (
2 April 2014 )
... that soon after starting her career at the
Met ,
Gwendolyn Killebrew appeared as a valkyrie in Wagner's
Die Walküre in a live broadcast alongside
Birgit Nilsson in the title role? (
1 April 2014 )
... that soprano
Norma Sharp performed Mozart's
Countess at her debut at
La Scala and the
voice of the forest bird in
Bayreuth ? (
31 March 2014 )
... that opera singer
Paul Hansen was also a copper-engraver and silent film star? (
28 March 2014 )
... that
Dominique Khalfouni , once a star (
étoile ) of the
Paris Opera Ballet , regretted her decision to leave the company she still loves deeply? (
26 March 2014 )
... that soprano
Nadine Secunde was praised for "formidable acting skills" in the title role of Dmitri Shostakovich's
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk ? (
26 March 2014 )
... that aged 15 and never having seen a live opera,
Alessandra Marianelli placed second in the Cascinalirica singing competition and made her professional opera debut the following year? (
24 March 2014 )
... that
Irénée Berge composed the opera Corsica and
silent film music? (
22 March 2014 )
... that soprano
Lucy Crowe , performing Janáček's
Cunning Little Vixen at the
Glyndebourne Festival , was described as "a powerhouse of foxy ingenuity"? (
17 March 2014 )
... that
Simone Osborne , "one of Canada's most sought-after sopranos",
busked on Toronto's streets to afford singing lessons? (
13 March 2014 )
... that
Swan Lake was shown live in 100 French cinemas, with
Steffi Scherzer , a dancer of the
Berlin State Opera for 28 years, in the double role of Odette/Odile? (
13 March 2014 )
... that
Rosina Galli (pictured) was the
prima ballerina at
La Scala Theatre Ballet before she became the première danseuse at the
Metropolitan Opera House ? (
4 March 2014 )
... that during its centenary season, the
Theater Kiel premiered an opera,
Cristóbal Halffter 's Lázaro , in the 1907 Opernhaus (pictured) ? (
27 February 2014 )
... that baritone
Franz Grundheber performed the title role in Alban Berg's
Wozzeck in Paris and Berlin, staged by
Patrice Chéreau and filmed in 1994? (
22 February 2014 )
... that the climax of the opera
L'ultimo giorno di Pompei by
Giovanni Pacini is the
eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 ? (
20 February 2014 )
... that Swedish soprano
Erika Sunnegårdh , who has sung at the
Metropolitan Opera , said that her voice was "like a wild horse"? (
28 January 2014 )
December
November
October
September
August
... that
Pavol Gábor , a tenor with the
Slovak National Theatre who had an international career and died on 28 August 2003, was Britten's
Puk and
Albert Herring ?
... that
Prométhée , a large-scale work with spoken and musical sections by
Gabriel Fauré , was premiered at Arènes de
Béziers on 27 August 1900 by almost 800 performers?
... that the
Lautten Compagney played Monteverdi's
Vespers for the
Rheingau Musik Festival 's annual Marienvesper , which was sung by
ensemble amarcord and guests?
... that even in her thirties,
Scottish
coloratura soprano
Anne Sharp was able to pass as a
teenager , performing the role of Emmie Spatchett in
Albert Herring at the first
Aldeburgh Festival ?
... that conductor
Roland Bader recorded late choral works by
Max Reger , including his
Hebbel Requiem , and the First Symphony by
Richard Wetz ?
... that the premiere of Stockhausen's
Mittwoch aus Licht on 22 August 2012 by the
Birmingham Opera showed "string quartets in helicopters and passages of dazzling virtuosity"?
... that
Robert Hale , born 22 August 1938, recorded Wotan in a video of
Der Ring des Nibelungen with
Sawallisch , and
Handel's Messiah with
John Eliot Gardiner ?
... that the musicians of the chamber orchestra
Kammerorchester Basel accompanied
Andreas Scholl in Bach cantatas and also sang the
closing chorale ? (
21 August 2013 )
... that
Gian Carlo Menotti 's
Maria Golovin , premiered on 20 August at the
Expo '58 in Brussels, was described in the
New York Times as "a love story that should touch the hearts of sentimentalists”?
... that Mozart composed the role of Osmin in
Die Entführung aus dem Serail for
Ludwig Fischer , born 18 or 19 August 1745?
... that
Aleksander Orlov , born 18 August 1873 and in the 1920s principal conductor of the
Kiev Opera , led
Yehudi Menuhin 's first recording of Beethoven's
Violin Concerto ?
... that Wagner's
Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) (scene pictured) premiered on 17 August 1876 at the
Bayreuth Festival as part of the first performance of the Ring Cycle ?
... that Verdi and librettisto
Francesco Maria Piave derived
Aroldo , premiered on 16 August 1857, from their earlier criticised
Stiffelio ?
... that
Hanna Schwarz , born 15 August 1943, performed at the
Bayreuth Festival the part of Fricka in the centenary
Ring production?
... that
Ferruccio Tagliavini (pictured) , born 14 August 1913, was one of the leading
tenore di grazia of his time and recorded the duke in Verdi's
Rigoletto alongside
Giuseppe Taddei ?
... that the first performance of Wagner's cycle
Der Ring des Nibelungen began in
Bayreuth on 13 August 1876 with the
Vorabend ("ante-evening")
Das Rheingold (set design pictured) ?
... that
L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe by
Hans Werner Henze (pictured) , inspired by Persian legends, premiered on 12 August 2003 at the
Salzburg Festival ?
... that Eurovision Song Contest singer
Ellen Winther , born 11 August 1933, was employed for 30 years by the
Royal Danish Theatre as a singer and an actress?
... that
Love and Other Demons by
Péter Eötvös (pictured) , premiered on 10 August 2008 at the
Glyndebourne Festival , is in
English ,
Latin ,
Spanish and
Yoruba ?
... that
Mozart wrote a cat duet for
The Philosopher's Stone ? (
9 August 2013 )
... that the tenor voice of
César Vezzani , likely born 8 August 1888, a leading exponent of French
grand opera , was described as "healthy and brilliant, somehow typically Corsican"?
... that the most famous aria by
Alfredo Catalani (pictured) , who died 7 August 1893, is part of
La Wally and features in the cult film Diva ?
... that the lavish instrumentation of
Reinhard Keiser
Octavia , premiered on 5 August 1705 at the
Oper am Gänsemarkt , has the first recorded use of
horns in an opera and five
bassoons ?
... that the Austrian premiere of
Béla Bartók 's one-act opera
Bluebeard's Castle took place at the
Salzburg Festival on 4 August 1978, 60 years after the work's premiere?
... that at the time of her much-heralded 1926 debut, 19-year-old
Marion Talley (pictured) was the youngest
prima donna to perform at the
Metropolitan Opera ? (
2 August 2013 )
... that the
Staatstheater Darmstadt opened a new theatre building in 1972? (
1 August 2013 )
July
... that the
Staatstheater Mainz and the
University of Mainz collaborated on the program "Mathematics and Physics in the World of Sound"? (
31 July 2013 )
... that in the
Opernhaus Wuppertal production of
The Rite of Spring (revival pictured) , choreographed by
Pina Bausch , the dancers performed on a stage covered with soil? (
30 July 2013 )
... that
Franz von Suppé 's operetta
Fatinitza stars a Russian army lieutenant who, while dressed as a woman, wins the love of a hot-tempered elderly general?
... that the opera
Die Hamletmaschine by
Wolfgang Rihm has been described as "a total theatre of sound and nonnarrative, ritualistic drama"? (
29 July 2013 )
... that
Henri Duponchel , born 28 July 1794, was in turn a French architect, interior designer,
costume designer , stage designer,
stage director , managing director of the
Paris Opera , and a
silversmith ?
... that
Theodore Morrison 's opera
Oscar on the life of
Oscar Wilde premiered on 27 July 2013, by the
The Santa Fe Opera (pictured) .
... that
Krzysztof Meyer 's opera
Cyberiada is based on a series of humorous science fiction stories by
Stanisław Lem ?
... that librettist
Terry Teachout described the collaboration with composer
Paul Moravec for
The Letter , premiered at the
Santa Fe Opera on 25 July 2009: "... we do want it to move fast and hit hard"?
... that
Friedrich Meyer-Oertel staged the
Ring Cycle at the
Opernhaus Wuppertal and the premiere of
Wolfgang Rihm 's
Die Hamletmaschine at the
Nationaltheater Mannheim ? (
24 July 2013 )
... that
Francesco Cilea , born 23 July 1866, composed
Adriana Lecouvreur , premiered with
Angelica Pandolfini and
Enrico Caruso in leading parts?
... that the "fantasy opera"
Gormenghast by
Irmin Schmidt (pictured) was performed at the UNESCO
World Heritage Site
Völklingen Ironworks ? (
22 July 2013 )
... that when the opera Miss Fortune by
Judith Weir premiered on the stage in the lake of the
Bregenzer Festspiele on 21 July 2011, its "cantabile voices" were compared to
Britten 's?
... that
Hans Sommer , born 20 July 1837, composed operas on
fairy tales such as Loreley and taught mathematics as the director of the
Braunschweig University of Technology ?
... that
The Rising of the Moon , a comedy by
Nicholas Maw about British soldiers stationed in Ireland during the
Irish famine . premiered on 19 July 1970 at the
Glyndebourne Festival ?
... that architect
Giuseppe Piermarini , born 18 July 1734, is remembered for building the
Teatro alla Scala (pictured) , but only the general plan and the facade remain of his design?
... that the title role of Boris Blacher's last opera,
Yvonne, Prinzessin von Burgund , is performed by a mute dancer? (
17 July 2013 )
... that the title role in
The Lodger by
Phyllis Tate to a
libretto by
David Franklin after
the 1913 novel , first performed on 16 July 1960, is
Jack the Ripper ?
... that the first opera by
Harrison Birtwistle , born 15 July 1934, was
Punch and Judy , first performed at the 1968
Aldeburgh Festival ?
... that
Karl Erb , born 13 July 1877, created the title role of Hans Pfitzner's
Palestrina and has been considered the ideal
Evangelist in Bach's
St Matthew Passion ?
... that
Wagnerian dramatic soprano
Kirsten Flagstad , born 12 July 1895, has been termed "Singer of the Century"?
... that baritone
Hermann Prey , born 11 July 1929, was Figaro for
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle twice, in a 1972 TV film
Il barbiere di Siviglia and in a 1976 film
Le nozze di Figaro ?
... that in the first recording of
Maria Callas as
Norma ,
Ebe Stignani , born 10 July 1903, sang the part of Adalgisa?
... that
Bluthochzeit (Blood Wedding),
Wolfgang Fortner 's opera based on
García Lorca 's play
Bodas de sangre , premiered in 1957 at the
Cologne Opera (pictured) ? (
9 July 2013 )
... that the Chilcott Award of the
Royal Philharmonic Society is named for
Susan Chilcott , born 8 July 1963, who interpreted Ellen Orford in Britten's
Peter Grimes at
La Monnaie ?
... that
Elena Obraztsova , born 7 July 1939, played the title role of
Carmen opposite
Plácido Domingo in
Franco Zeffirelli 's television production?
... that
Peter Glossop , born 6 July 1928, made his début at
La Scala as Verdi's
Rigoletto and appeared at the Salzburg Festival in 1970 in the role of Iago in
Otello ?
... that
Paul Daniel , born 5 July 1958, conducted at the
Opera North neglected operas including Schreker's
Der Ferne Klang , Korngold's
Violanta , and Britten's
Gloriana ?
... that
Brigitte Fassbaender , born 3 July 1939, performed Brangäne in a recording of Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde conducted by
Carlos Kleiber (pictured) , born 3 July 1930?
... that
Karel Strakatý , born 2 July 1804, portrayed more than 253 bass roles at the
Stavovské divadlo and first interpreted the
Czech national anthem?
June
... that baritone
Gerhard Faulstich takes an "unpretentious, conversational approach" to the
part of Jesus in his recording of Bach's
St Matthew Passion ?
... that
Emile Renan , born 28 June 1913, was the first singer to sound a note on the stage of the
New York City Opera as the Sacristan in the inaugural
Tosca in 1944?
... that the
Cincinnati Opera (hall pictured) , the second-oldest opera company in the United States, opened with
Friedrich von Flotow 's
Martha on 27 June 1920?
... that
Salome performs the "
Dance of the Seven Veils " and kisses the severed head of
John the Baptist (music pictured) ?
... that
Semyon Kotko , premiered on 23 June 1940 at the
Stanislavsky Opera Theatre , is one of only two operas by
Sergei Prokofiev on a
Soviet subject?
... that
Étienne Méhul (pictured) , born 22 June 1763, "the most important
opera composer in France during the
Revolution ", was the first composer called a
Romantic ?
... that the character
Hans Sachs (performer pictured) in Wagner's
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , premiered on 21 June 1868, is based on an important historical
master singer ?
... that the
Prince of Wales attended the premiere of
La Navarraise by
Jules Massenet (pictured) , his "answer" to Italian
verismo , at
Covent Garden on 20 June 1894?
... that baritone
Robert Leonhardt was released from the
Metropolitan Opera when it was determined he was an
enemy alien ? (
19 June 2013 )
... that Spanish opera singer
Montserrat Caballe was
declared persona non grata in Azerbaijan ? (
16 June 2013 )
... that
Leonard Bernstein reworked
A Quiet Place , after the premiere on 17 June 1983 drew the comment '"To call the result a pretentious failure is putting it kindly"'?
... that
Death in Venice by
Benjamin Britten (pictured) , was first performed at
Snape Maltings on 16 June 1973 in sets by
John Piper , the
librettist 's husband?
... that in
Gavin Bryars '
Doctor Ox's Experiment , about an experiment with gas that makes people chaotic, premiered on 15 June 1998 at the
London Coliseum by the
English National Opera ?
... that
Simon Mayr , born 14 June 1763, composed almost 70 operas including
Ginevra di Scozia for the inauguration of the
Regio Teatro Nuovo ?
... that
Elisabeth Schumann (pictured) , born 13 June 1888 and famous for performing
Sophie by
Richard Strauss (pictured) , was the first female Honorary Member of the
Wiener Philharmoniker ?
... that
Camille Saint-Saëns reflected
Japonism , using "oriental"
pentatonic harmony in
La princesse jaune (The Yellow Princess), premiered on 12 June 1872?
... that
Richard Strauss , born 11 June 1864, was not permitted to study Wagner's music as a boy and bought a score of
Tristan und Isolde (opening pictured) at age 16?
... that Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde (opening pictured) , termed by the composer "eine Handlung" (an action), and reputedly unperformable, premiered at the
Munich Opera on 10 June 1865?
... that
Peter Pears performed the part of
Nebuchadnezzar in
Benjamin Britten 's Parable for Church Performance
The Burning Fiery Furnace in the premiere on 9 June 1966?
... that
Neues vom Tage , premiered 8 June 1929, at the
Kroll Opera House , became notorious for a scene with naked Laura singing in the bath about the wonders of modern plumbing?
... that
Richard Jones , born 7 June 1953, directed
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk for the
Royal Opera House and
The Trojans for the
ENO , winning the
Olivier Award for Best Opera production in 2005?
... that
The Greek Passion by
Bohuslav Martinů (pictured) on his own
libretto based on
Nikos Kazantzakis ' novel, premiered at the
Zurich Opera on 6 June 1961, after the composer's death?
... that contralto
Marjorie Thomas , born 5 June 1923, created the role of Hermia in Britten's
A Midsummer Night's Dream and sang Bach's
Mass in B Minor at the
Vatican ?
... that
Tom Sutcliffe , born 4 June 1943, was countertenor soloist in the first
period instrument recording of the
St Matthew Passion and wrote the obituary of
Luciano Pavarotti for
The Guardian ?
... that
Inga Nielsen , born 2 June 1946, known for portraying
Konstanze and
Salome , excelled as the woman in
Erwartung , Ursula in
Mathis der Maler and Jenny in
Mahagonny ?
... that
Margaret Matzenauer , born 1 June 1861, made her debut at the
MET as Amneris in Verdi's
Aida alongside
Enrico Caruso , and appeared as Eboli in the first production there of
Don Carlo ?
May
... that the
Teatro Massimo Bellini (pictured) is named after the local-born
Vincenzo Bellini and was inaugurated on 31 May 1890 with his
Norma ?
... that
Bedřich Smetana 's
The Bartered Bride , first performed at the
Provisional Theatre on 30 May 1866, was part of his quest to create a truly Czech operatic genre?
... that
Pierre Monteux (pictured) , who first conducted
Le Sacre du printemps on 29 May 1913, was the principal conductor of the French repertoire at the
MET from 1917?
... that
Claudio Monteverdi later said that writing his second
opera
L'Arianna , first performed on 28 May 1608 as part of a wedding at the court of
Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga , almost killed him?
... that
Elizabeth Harwood , born 27 May 1938 and a soprano with the
Sadler's Wells Opera from 1961, was described by
The Times as "looked well on stage and sang with a sense of fun"?
... that
Ernst Märzendorfer , born 26 May 1921, conducted the New York premiere of
Capriccio and was the first to record all 107 symphonies of
Joseph Haydn ?
... that the
Teatro Colón (pictured) , opened in
Buenos Aires on 25 May 1908 with Verdi's
Aïda , is acoustically considered to be amongst the five best concert venues in the world?
... that when
Heinrich Marschner 's successful
German Romantic opera
Hans Heiling premiered on 24 May 1833, the
librettist
Eduard Devrient performed the title role?
... that the radio drama
Under Milk Wood , announced as finished around 23 May 1953 by author
Dylan Thomas , was the base for an opera that premiered in
Innsbruck in 2006?
... that the
foundation stone of the
Bayreuth Festspielhaus (pictured) was laid on 22 May 1872,
Richard Wagner 's 59th birthday?
... that
Martin Krumbiegel sang the tenor part in
Bach's cantata
Erschallet, ihr Lieder (Resound, ye songs) and his "Pipe Aria"? (
21 May 2013 )
... that
Bomarzo by
Alberto Ginastera about the 16th century Italian eccentric
Pier Francesco Orsini was premiered at the
Opera Society of Washington on 19 May 1967 because the Argentine president had banned the production in Buenos Aires?
... that
Francesco Maria Piave , born 18 May 1810, wrote ten libretti for Verdi, from
Ernani to
La forza del destino , and one for
Michael William Balfe (pictured) ?
... that
Vincent , an opera by
Einojuhani Rautavaara on a libretto by the composer, of scenes from the life of the artist
Vincent van Gogh , was first performed at the
Helsinki Opera House on 17 May 1990?
... that
Owen Wingrave , an opera for television by
Benjamin Britten on a libretto by
Myfanwy Piper , was recorded at
Snape Maltings and first broadcast on BBC2 on 16 May 1971?
... that the Irish composer
Michael William Balfe (pictured) , born 15 May 1808, conducted Italian Opera at
Her Majesty's Theatre , including the first performances of Verdi's works in London?
... that the
Teatro Comunale di Bologna , the first major opera house to be constructed with public funds, was inaugurated on 14 May 1763 with
Gluck 's
Il trionfo di Clelia , written for the occasion?
... that
Apollo et Hyacinthus , Mozart's first opera composed at age eleven, was first performed on 13 May 1767 at the Great Hall of the
Salzburg University ?
... that
Doris Soffel , born 12 May 1948, performed Sesto in
Mozart 's
La clemenza di Tito at the
Royal Opera House in 1982 and went to sing Wagner parts such as Ortrud (pictured) ?
... that
Turandot , an opera with spoken dialogue by
Ferruccio Busoni on his own libretto in
German based on the
play by Gozzi , was first performed in
Zurich on 11 May 1917 (poster pictured) ?
... that baritone
Karl Hill , born 9 May 1831, sang the role of Alberich in the first performance of Wagner's
Ring Cycle at
Bayreuth in 1876, and created Klingsor in
Parsifal ?
... that the opera
Marco Polo by the Chinese-born composer
Tan Dun , premiered at the
Munich Biennale on 7 May 1996, uses
sitar ,
pipa ,
sheng ,
tabla and
Tibetan horns and bells?
... that the title character of
Ernst Krenek 'a opera in one act
Der Diktator , premiered on 6 May 1928 at the
Staatstheater Wiesbaden (pictured) , is loosely based on
Mussolini ?
... that the opera
May Night by
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (pictured) , based on
Nikolai Gogol 's story "
May Night, or the Drowned Maiden ", was first performed at the
Mariinsky Theatre ?
... that
Cesira Ferrani , born 4 May 1863, created two iconic Puccini roles,
Manon Lescaut in 1893 and Mimì in
La bohème in the original 1896 production?
... that
Lorin Maazel 'a opera
1984 , premiered on 3 May 2005 at the
Royal Opera House , was described in the
Daily Telegraph as "operatic fast food"?
... that
Valery Gergiev , born 2 May 1953, director of the
Mariinsky Theatre , initiated and conducted in 2003 the first complete cycle of Wagner's
Ring staged in Russia for over 90 years?
... that
Jean Pierre Solié (pictured) , known as a tenor and later baritone at the
Opéra-Comique , composed the opera Les fous de Médine , performed for the first and last time on 1 May 1790?
April
... that
Edvard Fliflet Bræin , who died on 30 April 1976, composed the opera Anne Pedersdotter , first performed at
Den Norske Opera and inspired by the
witch trial against
Anne Pedersdotter ?
... that
Felix Mendelssohn 's
Singspiel
Die Hochzeit des Camacho (Camacho's Wedding ), begun when he was 15, was first publicly performed at the Berlin Schauspielhaus on 29 April 1827?
... that mezzo-soprano
Germaine Cernay , born 28 April 1900, performed
Werther 's Charlotte and Mozart's
Requiem ?
... that a London review of Gounod's
Roméo et Juliette , first performed at the
Théâtre Lyrique on 27 April 1867, noted: "One remembers the work as a series of very pretty duets" (pictured) ?
... that
Else Gentner-Fischer , born 26 April 1883, performed the role of Sophie in the 1911 premiere of
Der Rosenkavalier in
Frankfurt and created in 1918 Carlotta in
Die Gezeichneten ?
... that
Kenneth Spencer , born 25 April 1913 (or 1911?), known for singing
Ol' Man River in the 1946 Broadway revival of
Show Boat , spent 14 years performing in Germany?
... that
Norman Tucker , born 24 April 1882, the head of the
Sadler's Wells Opera from 1948 to 1966, made fresh translations of repertoire works?
... that
Albert Coates born 23 April 1882, praised for conducting Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde at
Covent Garden in 1914, performed the first recording of Bach's
Mass in B minor in 1929?
... that the subtitle of
Naïs , a
pastorale héroïque by
Jean-Philippe Rameau first performed on 22 April 1749, was changed from Le triomphe de la paix to Opéra pour La Paix ?
... that
baritone
Berthold Possemeyer performed songs by
John Dowland ,
Gerald Finzi and
Thomas Morley in a parody chamber musical after Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream ? (
21 April 2013 )
... that
John Eliot Gardiner (pictured) , born 20 April 1943, made his opera debut at the
English National Opera with Mozart's
The Magic Flute in 1969 and was Music Director of the
Opéra National de Lyon from 1983 to 1988?
... that
Max von Schillings , born 19 April 1868, chief conductor at the
Berlin State Opera , married
Barbara Kemp , who had sung the title role of his
Mona Lisa ?
... that
Catherine Malfitano (pictured as Violetta) , born 18 April 1948, performed
Tosca opposite
Plácido Domingo , broadcast live from the
Roman settings of the opera?
... that
Thomas L. Thomas , who died 17 April 1983, made his debut at the
Metropolitan Opera in 1937 as Silvio in
Pagliacci , but turned down the offer of a seven-year contract?
... that
Josef Greindl , who died 16 April 1923, performed the part of Marke in the 1952 recording of
Tristan und Isolde , conducted by
Furtwängler with
Kirsten Flagstad as Isolde?
... that
Gloria , premiered on 15 April 1907 at
La Scala with
Salomea Krusceniski (pictured) in the title role, proved to the last staged opera by
Francesco Cilea ?
... that
Lakmé by
Léo Delibes , first performed on 14 April 1883 by the
Opéra Comique , captures the
ambience of the Orient seen through Western eyes?
... that despite health problems,
Kathleen Ferrier performed in Handel's
Messiah on 13 April 1952, the 140th anniversary of the work's first performance?
... that
Leoš Janáček (pictured) knew that
From the House of the Dead , adapted from
Dostoyevsky's novel , would be his last opera (premiered on 12 April 1930 after his death)?
... that
Danielle de Niese , born 11 April 1973, was the youngest singer of the Young Artists Studio at the
MET , where she debuted at the age of 19 as
Barbarina ?
... that
Karlheinz Stockhausen 's
Sonntag aus Licht , the last-composed of seven operas that comprise the cycle
Licht (Light), was staged first on 9 and 10 April 2011?
... that
Ralph Vaughan Williams (pictured) wrote the
libretto for his opera
Sir John in Love , first professionally performed on 9 April 1946 at
Sadler's Wells Theatre ?
... that
Harold C. Schonberg defended the expressive liberties of
Franco Corelli , born 8 April 1821, a
spinto tenor with movie-star looks, as "its own kind of logic"?
... that
Johannes Schaaf , born 7 April 1933, directed the films
Tattoo and
Momo , and Mozart's
Idomeneo and
Così fan tutte at the
Vienna State Opera with
Nikolaus Harnoncourt ?
... that
Luigi Cherubini 's
Les Abencérages, ou L'étendard de Grenade was first performed at the
Opéra on 6 April 1813 with
Napoleon and his wife in the audience?
... that the
operetta
Die Fledermaus (The Bat ) by
Johann Strauss , based on the
farce Das Gefängnis (The Prison ) by
Roderich Benedix , premiered on 5 April
1874 at the
Theater an der Wien ?
... that mezzo-soprano and voice teacher
Blanche Marchesi (pictured) , born 4 April 1863, was the daughter of
Mathilde Marchesi , who also taught
Nellie Melba and
Emma Eames ?
... that
Daniel Catán , born 3 April 1949, was the first Mexican composer to have an opera produced in the U.S. when
San Diego Opera showed his
Rappaccini's Daughter in 1994?
... that conductor and opera house director
Kurt Herbert Adler , born 2 April 1905, said: "Tradition is what you resort to when you don't have the time and money to do it right."?
... that the U.S. premiere of Milhaud's
Le pauvre matelot was on 1 April 1937 at the
Philadelphia Academy of Music , in a double bill with the premiere of Menotti's
Amelia Goes to the Ball ?
March
... that
Stanislao Gastaldon 's
Mala Pasqua! (Evil Easter!) (libretto pictured) was premiered at the
Teatro Costanzi , six weeks before Mascagni's
Cavalleria rusticana based on the same play?
... that the first production of
Ghost Patrol , a
chamber opera composed by
Stuart MacRae , won the 2013
South Bank Sky Arts Award for Opera? (
29 March 2013 )
... that tenor
Martin Lattke performed with the
ensemble amarcord in the
Frauenkirche Dresden Bach's lost
St Mark Passion in a reconstruction by
Diethard Hellmann ? (
29 March 2013 )
... that tenor
Ben Davies (pictured) , who died 28 March 1943, performed in 1902 in the Peace Concert at
The Crystal Palace , commemorating the
South African War ?
... that
Giacomo Puccini 's
La rondine (The Swallow ), originally planned as a
Viennese operetta , was first performed at the
Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo on 27 March 1917?
... that
Paul Hindemith 's early one-act opera
Sancta Susanna , first performed on 26 March 1922 at the
Frankfurt Opera , depicts the descent of a nunnery into sexual frenzy?
... that composer
Johann Adolph Hasse , born 25 March 1699, was immensely popular in his time, known for his
operas and a pivotal figure in the development of
opera seria ?
... that
Maria Malibran (pictured) , born 24 March 1808, who performed with the first Italian troupe in New York, was admired by
Rossini ,
Donizetti and
Chopin ?
... that
Monica Sinclair , born 23 March 1925, a contralto with the
Royal Opera, Covent Garden , recorded Handel's
Messiah alongside
Jennifer Vyvyan ,
Jon Vickers and
Giorgio Tozzi ?
... that the opera Diarmid by
Hamish MacCunn , born 22 March 1868 and a lifelong champion of Scottish music, was produced at
Covent Garden in 1897?
... that the
grand opera in five acts and seven
tableaux
Ascanio by
Camille Saint-Saëns (pictured) , based on the 1843
historical novel by
Alexandre Dumas, père , premiered on 21 March 1890?
... that the opera
Die Soldaten by
Bernd Alois Zimmermann , born 20 March 1918, which is regarded as one of the most
important operas of the 20th century, is based on a play by
Lenz ?
... that
Lauritz Melchior , the
Wagner tenor of his time, who died on 19 March 1973, made his debut in the baritone role of Silvio in
Pagliacci at
Det Kongelige Teater in 1913?
... that baritone
Alfred Poell , born 18 February 1900, performed in Bach's
Mass in B minor alongside
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and
Kathleen Ferrier ?
... that a contemporary comment praised Verdi's
Attila , premiered on 17 March 1846 at
La Fenice , as suitable for the "political education of the people"?
... that mezzosoprano
Christa Ludwig , born 16 March 1928, made her debut in 1946 as
Orlovsky at the
Frankfurt Opera , and made her farewell appearance at the
MET as
Fricka in 1994?
... that soprano
Elisabeth Röckel (pictured) , born 15 March 1793, a friend of
Ludwig van Beethoven , was probably not the namesake of
Für Elise but saved a lock of his hair?
... that tenor
Franco Lo Giudice , born 14 March 1893, an exponent of the works of
Riccardo Zandonai , was described as a "fiery, strong tenor" who "excelled in
verismo parts"?
... that the opera trilogy based on
Svend Aage Madsen 's novel Tugt og Utugt I Mellemtiden , by
John Frandsen , born 13 March 1956, premiered in 1998 at the
Aarhus Summer Opera?
... that Donizetti's
Marino Faliero , inspired by
Lord Byron 's
drama , premiered on 12 March 1835 at the
Théâtre-Italien on a commission by
Rossini ?
... that
Alberto Franchetti
quoted German and student's popular songs in his most successful opera
Germania , premiered on 11 March 1902 at
La Scala ?
... that in the first version of the
chamber opera
In the Penal Colony , based on
the short story by
Franz Kafka , composer
Philip Glass (pictured) included the character of Kafka as narrator? (
11 March 2013 )
... that soprano
Vina Bovy made her debut at the
Opéra-Comique on 9 March 1925 and sang in Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony under
Toscanini in New York in 1938?
... that
Royal Tunbridge Wells has a
church dedicated to King Charles I that had no
vicar for 33 years, an
opera house that became a pub, and a
rugby club whose alumni include an
RFU regional administrator and aftershave-drinking
Colin Smart ? (
8 March 2013 )
... that the original producers of
Offenbach 's
The Tales of Hoffmann relocated its second act to
Venice to include "
Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour " (the
Barcarolle ), the opera's most famous piece? (
5 March 2013 )
... that the appearances of
Maria Malibran (pictured) in
Nicola Vaccai 's opera
Giovanna Gray marked the last time she performed at
La Scala ? (
6 March 2013 )
... that the
satirical opera
The Love for Three Oranges by
Sergei Prokofiev (pictured) , who died 5 March 1953, was first performed at the
Auditorium Theatre in Chicago?
... that
Ellen Gulbranson (pictured) , born 4 March 1863, made her first appearance at the
Bayreuth Festival in 1896 in the role of Brünnhilde and went on to sing annually there until 1914?
... that
Georges Bizet 's
Carmen (pictured) premiered at the
Opéra-Comique on 3 March 1875, and at first was not particularly successful?
... that
Luigi Rossi 's
Orfeo premiered at the
Théâtre du Palais-Royal on 2 March 1647 as one of the earliest operas staged in
France ?
... that
Gian Carlo Menotti 's first full-length opera
The Consul was recorded a month after the premiere on 1 March 1950 with the original cast and conductor?
February
... that
Félix Vieuille , who died 28 February 1953, created the role of Arkel in Debussy's
Pelléas et Mélisande at the
Opéra-Comique in 1902, and went on to sing the part there 208 times?
... that
Cyrano by
Walter Damrosch to an English
libretto by
William James Henderson based on
Edmond Rostand 's
play premiered at the
Metropolitan Opera on 27 February 1913 (libretto pictured) ?
... that
Felix Draeseke , who died 26 February 1913, attended an early performance of Wagner's
Lohengrin and composed the operas Herrat (1879) and Gudrun (1884, after the medieval epic)?
... that
The Mines of Sulphur ,
Richard Rodney Bennett 's first full-length opera, composed in 1963 and dedicated to
Benjamin Britten , premiered on 24 February 1965 at
Sadler's Wells Theatre .
... that when
Nellie Melba (pictured) , who died 23 February 1931, sang the role of Nedda in
Pagliacci at
Covent Garden in 1893, the composer said that the role had never been so well played before.
... that Giovanni Bononcini's
Griselda , based on Boccaccio's
The Decameron (
X, 10 ), premiered on 22 February 1722, four years after an opera on the same libretto by the composer's brother
Antonio Maria Bononcini ?
... that
Ulf Schirmer , director of the
Oper Leipzig , conducted
Richard Wagner 's early opera
Die Feen as part of the Wagner Year 2013 , to be performed in concert at the
Bayreuth Festival ? (
21 February 2013 )
... that
Carl Orff 's
Die Kluge premiered at the
Oper Frankfurt on 20 February 1943 in a design by Helmut Jürgens who also set the stage in 1948 in Munich (pictured) ?
... that
Pavel Ludikar , who died 19 February 1970, portrayed first
Karl V in Krenek's opera and was director of the
Neues deutsches Theater in Prague until it was closed due to
Nazi occupation?
... that
Marianna Barbieri-Nini (pictured) , born 18 February 1818, created the role of Lady Macbeth in Verdi's
Macbeth in 1847 at the
Teatro della Pergola )?
... that
Mathilde Mallinger , born 17 February 1847, was recommended to the
Munich Hofoper by
Richard Wagner and made her debut there in as Bellini's
Norma ?
... that
François-Joseph Gossec (pictured) , who died 16 February 1829, composed the divertissement-lyrique Le triomphe de la République, ou Le camp de Grandpré in 1794?
... that
Giuseppe Verdi 's biographer
Mary Jane Phillips-Matz once characterized the modern
opera business as "monstropera"? (
15 February 2013 )
... that
mezzo-soprano singer
Jaklin Çarkçı can speak six languages? (
14 February 2013 )
... that
Walter Midgley , born 13 February 1913, became Principal Tenor at the
Royal Opera House , Covent Garden after World War II, making his debut as Calaf in
Turandot ?
... that personal choice of
George Gershwin (pictured) for the performer of Porgy in
Porgy and Bess was
Todd Duncan , born 12 February 1903, who played the role more than 1,800 times?
... that tenor
Richard Kubla , born 11 February 1890, sang the principal role in the revised version of
Alexander von Zemlinsky 's
Kleider machen Leute at the
Deutsches Theater Prague ?
... that
Inga Nielsen , who died 10 February 2008, created in 1983 the "title role" of Minette in Henze's
Die englische Katze at the
Schlosstheater Schwetzingen , repeated at the
Santa Fe Opera ?
... that in the sacred opera
Der Thurm zu Babel by
Anton Rubinstein (pictured) , first performed on 9 February 1870, the chorus begins to sing in three different languages?
... that Swedish
Hovsångare
Franziska Stading , who died 8 February 1836, was given a contract as premier actress when she debuted at
Drottningholm Palace Theatre in 1779?
... that
Deems Taylor 's
Peter Ibbetson was premiered at the
MET on 7 February 1931 and appeared until 1935 when the starring singers
Lucrezia Bori and
Edward Johnson retired?
... that the
melodramma eroico
Tancredi by
Gioachino Rossini (pictured) premiered at
La Fenice on 6 February 1813, right after the composer's
Il signor Bruschino on 27 January?
... that
Jussi Björling , born 5 February 1911, known as the "Swedish
Caruso ", recorded in 1952 the complete
Il trovatore , with
Zinka Milanov ?
... that soprano
Marie Sundelius (pictured) , born 4 February 1884, created in 1918 roles of Puccini's Il Trittico , the Monitress in
Suor Angelica and Ciesca in
Gianni Schicchi ?
... that
Semiramide , to a
libretto by
Gaetano Rossi based on
Voltaire 's tragedy and first performed at
La Fenice on 3 February 1823, was
Gioachino Rossini 's final Italian opera?
... that
Martina Arroyo , one of the
Metropolitan Opera 's leading sopranos, born 2 February 1937, helped break down the barriers of racial prejudice in the opera world?
... that
Marie Antoinette could not keep her promise to
Antonio Sacchini of a better production of
Œdipe à Colone , but it was performed on 1 February 1787 after the composer's death?
January
... that the
grand opera
Ivanhoe (pictured) with music by
Arthur Sullivan premiered at the
Royal English Opera House on 31 January 1891 for a consecutive run of 155 performances?
... that
Francis Poulenc , who died on 30 January 1963, composed three operas,
Les mamelles de Tirésias in 1947,
Dialogues of the Carmelites in 1957 and the
monodrama
La voix humaine in 1959?
... that
Karl Scheidemantel (pictured) , born 29 January 1859, created the role of Herr von Faninal in
Der Rosenkavalier by
Richard Strauss ?
... that French composer
Ferdinand Hérold , born 28 January 1791, is best known for the ballet
La fille mal gardée and the
overture to the
opera
Zampa ?
... that
Knut Schoch appeared as the
tenor soloist on many volumes of
Pieter Jan Leusink 's complete recording of the
Bach cantatas with the Holland Boys Choir, including cantatas
BWV 1 ,
2 ,
3 , ...
198 ? (
27 January 2013 )
... that
Der Rosenkavalier by
Richard Strauss to a
libretto by
Hugo von Hofmannsthal premiered on 26 January 1911 in Dresden under the baton of
Ernst von Schuch (pictured) ?
... that tenor
Marcello Giordani , born 25 January 1963 in
Augusta , sang at
Covent Garden in 1997 as Gabriele Adorno in
Simon Boccanegra , in the final opera performances of
Georg Solti ?
... that
Dmitri Shostakovich 's
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District , first performed on 24 January 1934, was banned by the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union for almost thirty years?
... that the Austrian tenor
Karl Beck became a master baker after his singing career, which included creating the title role in
Wagner 's opera
Lohengrin , was cut short by a deterioration in his voice? (
23 January 2013 )
... that
A Princess of Kensington , an English
comic opera by
Edward German , premiered at the
Savoy Theatre on 22 January 1903 (protagonists pictured) and ran for 115 performances?
... that
Plácido Domingo , born 21 January 1941, one of
The Three Tenors , conductor and director of the
Los Angeles Opera , plans to add two roles in 2013 to the 140 he performed?
... that
Alfredo Catalani (pictured) inserted an aria, Chanson Groënlandaise , composed in 1878, in his opera
La Wally , first performed at
La Scala on 20 January 1892?
... that
Ernst Krenek 's
Leben des Orest , premiered at the
Neues Theater in
Leipzig on 19 January 1930, had 13 productions by 1933, when the Nazis banned Krenek from German stages?
... that
Myfanwy Piper , who died on 18 January 1997, wrote several opera
libretti for
Benjamin Britten (
Death in Venice ) and
Alun Hoddinott (
The Trumpet Major )?
... that
Le maschere ,
Pietro Mascagni 's homage to
Rossini , was premiered simultaneously in six Italian opera houses on 17 January 1901:
La Scala , the
Teatro Carlo Felice , the
Teatro Regio , the
Teatro Costanzi ,
La Fenice , and the
Teatro Filarmonico ?
... that
coloratura soprano
Maria Tauberová , who died on 16 January 2003, sang almost four decades at the
Prague National Theatre , particularly admired for her portrayal of Mozart's
Susanna ,
Despina and
Zerlina ?
... that
Edwardian musical comedy star
Rutland Barrington , born 15 January 1853, created in 1885 his most famous role, that of Pooh-Bah in
Gilbert and Sullivan 's
The Mikado (pictured) ?
... that the last opera by
Fabio Campana , born 14 January 1819, Esmeralda , premiered in
Saint Petersburg in 1869, followed by London performances with
Adelina Patti in the title role?
... that
soprano
Rachel Nicholls , a performer of
Wagner 's
Brünnhilde , sang in Bach's
dialogue cantata
Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen (Dearest Jesus, my desire) "a clear Lutheran analogy to a love duet"? (
13 January 2013 )
... that Czech
Heldentenor
Karel Burian , born 12 January 1870 appeared as Tristan in the Hungarian première of Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde ?
... that
The Bartered Bride (Prodaná nevěsta ) by
Bedřich Smetana (score title page pictured) ) was first performed outside its native land at the
Mariinsky Theatre on 11 January 1871?
... that
Richard Strauss conducted an orchestra to supply the music for the premiere of the silent film
Der Rosenkavalier at the Dresden
Semperoper on 10 January 1926?
... that the premiere of
Titon et l'Aurore by
Jean-Joseph de Mondonville (pictured) on 9 January 1753 played an important role in the so-called
Querelle des Bouffons ?
... that American bass
Giorgio Tozzi , born 8 January 1923, sang in the recording of Sir
Thomas Beecham 's version of Handel's
Messiah in 1959?
... that
Elisabeth Höngen , born 7 December 1906, performed Lady Macbeth in a 1943 recording of Verdi's
Macbeth of the
Vienna State Opera , conducted by
Karl Böhm ?
... that
Mafalda Favero , born 6 January 1903, made her debut at
La Scala as Eva in
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , conducted by
Arturo Toscanini in 1929.
... that the music of French opera composer
Auguste Mermet (pictured) , born 5 January 1810, has been described as "direct, attractive, unadventurous, and noisy"?
... that baritone
André Baugé , born 4 January 1893, sang at the
Opéra-Comique and appeared in La Route est belle , one of the first
films with sound ?
... that
Henriette Sontag , born 3 January 1806, was the soprano soloist in the first performances of Beethoven's
Symphony No. 9 and
Missa Solemnis at age 18?
... that the city of
Hamburg 's
Oper am Gänsemarkt (pictured) , built after plans of
Girolamo Sartorio , opened on 2 January 1678 with
Johann Theile 's sacred opera Adam und Eva ?
... that before it was moved to the
opera house , the post office in
Jamestown, Ohio sometimes changed locations once per week? (
1 January 2013 )
December
... that Australian
bass-baritone
Horace Stevens was also a dentist, teacher, tennis player,
sculler , and
World War I Army officer? (
30 December 2012 )
... that
Marcel Prawy , born 29 December 1911, from 1972 the chief-dramaturg at the
Vienna State Opera , regularly introduced opera on
ORF with knowledge and humor?
... that Italian soprano
Rita Orlandi-Malaspina , born 28 December 1937, made her debut at the
MET in 1968 as Amelia in Verdi's
Simon Boccanegra with
Cornell MacNeil in the title role?
... that on 27 December 1877,
W. S. Gilbert sent a plot sketch for
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor to
Arthur Sullivan who was on holiday on the
French Riviera ?
... that
Tomaso Albinoni 's
Didone abbandonata (Dido Abandoned ), premiered on 26 December 1724 at the
Teatro San Cassiano , was the first opera based on a
Metastasio libretto performed in Venice?
... that
Hans Pfitzner (pictured) composed
Das Christ-Elflein (The Little Elf of Christ , sometimes given as The Little Christmas Elf ) first as
incidental music , then in 1917 as an
opera ? (
25 December 2012 )
... that
Andrew McKinley ,
David Aiken , and
Leon Lishner created the parts of the
Three Kings in the world premiere of
Menotti 's Christmas opera
Amahl and the Night Visitors which was broadcast live by
NBC to an audience of millions on
Christmas Eve 1951? (as 2010)
... that Australian mezzo-soprano
Rosina Raisbeck , who died on 23 December 2006, appeared as Akhrosimova in Prokofiev's
War and Peace , the first opera at the
Sydney Opera House ?
... that
Frank Corsaro , born 22 December 1924, made his
Metropolitan Opera debut staging in 1984 Handel's
Rinaldo with
Marilyn Horne and
Samuel Ramey ?
... that Menotti's
Help, Help, the Globolinks! was commissioned by the
Hamburg State Opera and first performed in German on 21 December 1968 in a double bill with
Amahl and the Night Visitors ?
... that French singer and composer
Joseph Legros , who died 20 December 1793, sang the role of
Orpheus at the premiere of the 1774 version of Gluck's
Orfeo ed Euridice ?
... that
Fritz Reiner (pictured) , born in Hungary on 19 December 1888, was preparing the
MET 's new production of Wagner's
Götterdämmerung at the time of his death?
... that
Tchaikovsky 's lyric opera in one act
Iolanta , on the life of
Yolande de Bar , was premiered on 18 December 1892 in a double bill with his
Nutcracker ?
... that
Domenico Cimarosa (pictured) , born 17 December 1749, composed more than eighty operas including
Il matrimonio segreto (1792)?
... that
James McCracken , born 16 December 1926, was "the most successful dramatic tenor yet produced by the United States and a pillar of the
Metropolitan Opera during the 1960s and 1970s"?
... that conductor
John Crosby , who died on 15 December 2002, was the founding general director of The
Santa Fe Opera ?
... that
Giacomo Puccini 's
Il trittico , his set of three contrasting one-act operas,
Il tabarro ,
Suor Angelica , and
Gianni Schicchi (pictured) , premièred at
the Met on 14 December 1918?
... that
Jules Massenet 's
Le portrait de Manon , a sequel to his
Manon in one act, received its United States premiere at
The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on 13 December 1897?
... that
Ludwig Suthaus , born 12 December 1906, sang the
"Heldentenor" parts in late recordings of Wagner's works by
Wilhelm Furtwängler ?
... that the second version of the Christmas opera
Das Christ-Elflein by
Hans Pfitzner premiered on 11 December 1917 at the
Semperoper ?
... that dramatic soprano
Susan Bullock , born 9 December 1958, won the
Kathleen Ferrier Award in 1984, which led to her being offered roles by the
English National Opera ?
... that
The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria , the twelfth comic opera collaboration between
Gilbert and Sullivan . premiered on 7 December 1889 and ran for 554 performances?
... that
bass-baritone
Hans Hotter (pictured) , who died on 6 December 2003, was admired for the power, beauty, and intelligence of his singing, especially in
Wagner operas.
... that tenor
José Cura , born 5 December 1962, conducted
Cavalleria Rusticana and then stepped on stage after intermission to sing Canio in
I Pagliacci at the
Hamburg State Opera ?
... that the
tragédie mise en musique
Médée , premiered on 4 December 1693, is the only opera Charpentier (pictured) wrote for the
Académie Royale de Musique ?
... that after the
Manhattan Opera Company opened on 3 December 1906 with a performance of
Norma , the greatest stars of the era appeared, including
Nellie Melba ?
... that the
grand opera
Samson et Dalila by
Camille Saint-Saëns was first performed at the
Großherzogliches Theater (pictured) on 2 December 1877 in a
German translation?
... that
New Zealand -born mezzo-soprano
Heather Begg , born 1 December 1932, most active mostly in the UK and
Australia , recorded the "Flower Duet" from
Lakmé with
Glenys Fowles ?
November
... that tenor
Peter Hofmann ,
Siegmund of the 1976 Bayreuth Ring who died on 30 November 2010, enjoyed a performance career in
opera ,
rock ,
pop , and
musical theatre ?
... that
Gaetano Donizetti , born 29 November 1797 composed among others about 75 operas, 16 symphonies, 19 string quartets and 193 songs?
... that
Fernand Cortez by
Gaspare Spontini (pictured) , first performed on 28 November 1809, was intended as political
propaganda for
Napoleon 's
invasion of Spain ?
... that
bass-baritone and singing-actor
Michael Devlin , born 27 November 1942 and 70 years today, performed the title role of Bartók's
Bluebeard's Castle with
Jessye Norman at the
MET ?
... that Swiss soprano
Anna Sutter , born 26 November 1871, a member of the
Staatsoper Stuttgart , was murdered by a conductor?
... that
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri by
Gilbert and Sullivan , first produced at the
Savoy Theatre on 25 November 1882,
satirises aspects of British government and law?
... that the versatile German soprano
Lilli Lehmann (pictured) , born 24 November 1848, appeared in the first
Bayreuth Festival
Ring in 1876 as Woglinde and Helmwige?
... that Italian-American lyric
baritone
Frank Guarrera , who died 23 November 2007, appeared at the
Metropolitan Opera in 680 performances, including
Escamillo and
Marcello ?
... that
Pietro Mascagni 's
Iris , first performed at the
Teatro Costanzi on 22 November 1898, is a through-composed opera set in
Japan during legendary times?
... that
Frédéric Chopin was in the audience, when
Giacomo Meyerbeer 's
Robert le diable (pictured) , regarded as one of the first
grand operas , premiered on 21 November 1831 at the
Paris Opéra ?
... that Swedish soprano
Elisabeth Söderström , who died 20 November 2009, performed the title role of
Káťa Kabanová , "establishing by an infinity of subtle touches and discreet, sensitive singing ... the most human character in the drama"?
... that although the plot of Rameau's
pastorale héroïque
Acante et Céphise, ou La sympathie , first performed on 19 November 1751, has been described as "puerile", it "evokes ... a score of remarkable imagination"?
... that Austria bass-baritone
Richard Mayr , born 18 November 1877, performed
Ochs (pictured) and created the role of Barak in
Die Frau ohne Schatten ?
... that the one-act
operetta by
Alfred Cellier
Dora's Dream was revived on 17 November 1877 at the
Opera Comique as a
curtain raiser to
The Sorcerer ?
... that Verdi's
Stiffelio , first performed on 16 November 1850 at the
Teatro Grande (pictured) , excited censorship, involving a
Protestant minister with an adulterous wife?
... that
Angelo Maria Amorevoli , who died in
Dresden on 15 November 1798), began singing in
opera seria by
Antonio Vivaldi when he was just thirteen?
... that
Christel Goltz , an intense singing-actress with a clear and powerful voice, particularly associated with
Salome and
Elektra , died on 14 November 2008?
... that
Gioachino Rossini , who wrote 39 operas full of "inspired song-like melodies" and was nicknamed "The Italian
Mozart ", died on 13 November 1868?
... that
Slovak
lyric coloratura soprano
Lucia Popp , born 12 November 1939, performed at the
Vienna State Opera and the
Metropolitan Opera , and was a highly regarded
lieder singer?
... that
Edward German (pictured) , who died on 11 November 1936, is best remembered for his
incidental music and as a successor to
Arthur Sullivan in English
comic opera ?
... that of more than 100 different operas in the
Repertory of the Vienna Court Opera under Gustav Mahler , he had conducted more than 600 performances when he resigned on 10 November 1907?
... that
Welsh
bass-baritone
Bryn Terfel , born 9 November 1965, performed his first
Falstaff in 1999 at the
Lyric Opera of Chicago , reprised in the inaugural production at the
Royal Opera House ?
... that
Alberto Erede , born 8 November 1909, was in 1968 the first Italian conductor at the
Bayreuth Festival since
Arturo Toscanini .
... that
Jaromír Weinberger 's
Švanda the Bagpiper , using
Czech folk material, was translated into 17 languages and performed at the
MET on 7 November 1931?
... that
Elisabeth Grümmer , who died on 6 November 1986, performed Donna Anna in
Don Giovanni with
Wilhelm Furtwängler in Italian and with
Ferenc Fricsay in German?
... that
Shirley Verrett , who died on 5 November 2010, successfully transitioned into
soprano roles in the late 1970s, including Selika in Meyerbeer's
L'Africaine and Judith in Bartok's
Bluebeard's Castle ?
... that the
Civic Opera House opened on 4 November 1929, has an
Art Deco interior and is now the home of the
Lyric Opera of Chicago ?
... that
Vincenzo Bellini , born 3 November 1801 in
Catania , the quintessential composer of
bel canto opera, was named "the Swan of Catania"?
... that
Patrice Chéreau , born 2 November 1944, staged the 1976 centenary production of
Der Ring des Nibelungen (pictured) , conducted by
Pierre Boulez ?
... that
Ernest Blanc , born 1 November 1923, sang with a brilliant upper register and impeccable diction, and was one of the few post war French singers to have enjoyed an international career?
October
... that the
Lyric Opera House in
Baltimore, Maryland , was inaugurated on 31 October 1894 with a performance by the
Boston Symphony Orchestra and
Australian opera singer
Nellie Melba ?
... that the
pastorale héroïque in one act
Daphnis et Eglé by
Jean-Philippe Rameau (pictured) , first performed on 30 October 1753 at
Fontainebleau , contains 23 dance airs?
... that Mozart's
Don Giovanni , billed as a
dramma giocoso for a mixing of serious and comic action, was premiered at the
Teatro di Praga ) on 29 October 1787?
... that American operatic contralto
Claramae Turner created the role of Madame Flora in
Gian Carlo Menotti 's
The Medium in 1946?
... that
Hans Werner Henze (pictured) , who died 27 October 2012, composed the operas
Der Prinz von Homburg and
Der junge Lord in collaboration with poet
Ingeborg Bachmann ?
... that
Maria Callas was compared to soprano
Giuditta Pasta (pictured) , born 26 October 1797, considered among the greatest of
opera singers?
... that Mexican
mezzo-soprano
Oralia Domínguez (born 25 October 1925) performed in 1951 at the
Palacio de Bellas Artes the role of Amneris alongside
Maria Callas ,
Mario del Monaco and
Giuseppe Taddei ?
... that
Jean-Philippe Rameau 's opera
Castor et Pollux , first performed on 24 October 1737, made the reputation of librettist
Pierre-Joseph-Justin Bernard as a salon poet?
... that lyric tenor
Orville Harrold (died 23 October 1933) (pictured) created the role of Captain Dick Warrington in
Victor Herbert 's operetta
Naughty Marietta in November 1910?
... that Hungarian soprano
Esther Réthy (born 100 years ago on 22 October 1912) was a principal artist at the
Vienna State Opera for over a decade and a frequent performer at the
Salzburg Festival ?
... that World War II memoirist
Kirsten Brunvoll , who survived
Ravensbrück and
Auschwitz , saw
her husband (Jonas Sr.) and
oldest son (Jonas Jr.) survive
Sachsenhausen , while
her youngest son (Gunnar) was trained as a pilot in Canada? (
14 October 2012 )
... that tenor
Michael Pollock , born 20 October, began his career
Off-Broadway and became a member of the
New York City Opera ?
... that
Richard Temple (pictured) , an English
opera singer, actor and stage director, best known for his performances in
Gilbert and Sullivan operas, died 100 years ago?
... that Wagner's grandson
Wieland Wagner (died 17 October 1966) is credited as an initiator of
Regietheater , as a stage director and designer in Bayreuth?
... that
Niccolò Piccinni 's
tragédie lyrique
Didon , first performed at
Fontainebleau on 16 October 16 1783, influenced
Berlioz 's opera
Les troyens ?
... that "A Bucolic Tragedy in One Act"
Daphne by
Richard Strauss (pictured) premiered on 15 October 1938, conducted by
Karl Böhm , to whom it was dedicated?
... that
Riccardo Zandonai 's
Conchita premièred at the
Teatro dal Verme on 14 October 1911 with soprano
Tarquinia Tarquini , who later married Zandonai in 1917?
... that the French premiere of Puccinis's
Tosca was staged at the
Opéra-Comique on 13 October 1903 by
Victorien Sardou ?
... that the
Bavarian court theatre (pictured) opened on 12 October 1753 with
Giovanni Battista Ferrandini ' s Catone in Utica ?
... that
Carolyn Sampson was the first soprano to record all of Bach's aria
BWV 1127 , which had been lost until 2005? (
11 October 2012 )
... that
Joan Sutherland ,
DBE (died 10 October 2010) (pictured) was dubbed La Stupenda by a
La Fenice audience in 1960 for Handel's
Alcina ?
... that German
soprano
Irmgard Seefried (born 9 October 1919) sang at the
Salzburg Festival almost every year from 1946 to 1964?
... that Austrian
theater and
opera director
Walter Felsenstein (pictured) (died 8 October 1975) took care of research and balance of dramatic and musical values?
... that Gounod's
Polyeucte finally premiered at the
Palais Garnier on 7 October 1878 but was a failure?
... that
Jenny Lind (pictured) , the "Swedish Nightingale", who
toured America beginning in 1850, was born on 6 October 1820?
... that Gluck's
Orfeo ed Euridice to a
libretto by
Ranieri de' Calzabigi , an
azione teatrale and his first "reform" opera, was first performed on 5 October 1762?
... that the powerful yet agile voice
dramatic soprano
Thérèse Tietjens (pictured) , (died 3 October 1877) was said to span seamlessly a range of three octaves?
... that Swedish tenor
Set Svanholm (born 2 September 1904) was considered the leading
Tristan and
Siegfried of the decade after World War II.
... that soprano
Erzsébet Házy (born 1 October 1929) was particularly admired for her portrayal of the title heroine in Puccini’s
Manon Lescaut ?
September
... that soprano
Erzsébet Házy (born 1 October 1929) was particularly admired for her portrayal of the title heroine in Puccini’s
Manon Lescaut ?
... that Bizet's opera
Les pêcheurs de perles (pictured) was first performed on 30 September 1863 at the
Théâtre Lyrique in Paris?
... that
The Olympians by
Arthur Bliss to a
libretto by
J. B. Priestley , was first performed at the
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 29 September 1949, conducted by
Karl Rankl , directed by
Peter Brook ?
... that
coloratura soprano
Dolores Wilson created the title role in the world premiere of
Douglas Moore 's
The Ballad of Baby Doe at the
Central City Opera in 1956?
... that
Isidore Godfrey (pictured) was musical director of the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for 39 years?
... that Donizetti's
Lucia di Lammermoor (pictured) premiered on 26 September 1835 at the
Teatro di San Carlo in Naples.
... that
Giuseppe Nessi was the leading
comprimario tenor at
La Scala (pictured) between 1921 and 1959?
... that baritones
Ettore Bastianini and
Cornell MacNeil were both born on September 24?
... that Wagner's
Das Rheingold received its premiere at the
National Theatre in Munich on 22 September 1869, with
August Kindermann (pictured) in the role of
Wotan ?
... that bassoonist
Victor Bruns composed the chamber opera Minna von Barnhelm after
the play by Lessing.
... that tenor
Martin Petzold , a former member of the boys' choir
Thomanerchor and a singer of
Bach's Evangelist parts with the group, co-published 800 Years Thomana ? (
13 September 2012 )
... that after
Eleanor Evans was appointed as Stage Director of the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1949, a large number of performers, including
Martyn Green ,
Ella Halman and
Radley Flynn , left in the following years? (
4 December 2009 )
... that
Franz Liszt 's abandoned opera
Sardanapale was in part inspired by
Eugène Delacroix 's painting, The
Death of Sardanapalus (pictured) ? (
5 December 2009 )
... that both
Charles Dibdin and
Ira Aldridge were famed for their portrayals of the black servant Mungo in the
comic opera
The Padlock ? (
14 November 2005 )
... that the
libretto for
Howard Hanson 's
opera
Merry Mount was written without a composer in mind? (
4 November 2006 )
... that famous tenor
Antonio Giuglini (pictured) used to
jaywalk through traffic on
London 's
Brompton Road while flying his
kite ? (
13 November 2007 )
... that in
1882
impresario
Alfred Schulz-Curtius organized the first performance ever in the
UK of
Wagner's 's epic
operatic
Ring Cycle ? (
12 November 2007 )
... that the
Théâtrophone service (1890-1932) allowed the subscribers to listen to opera and theatre performances over the telephone lines? (
25 November 2007 )
... that one of the first known instances of a composer specifically calling for the use of a
bass violin , the predecessor of the modern
cello , was in the opera
Orfeo by
Claudio Monteverdi ? (
21 November 2007 )
August
... that
soprano
Meagan Miller , accustomed to wearing US$10,000 gowns on stage in her opera performances, chose to wear her mother's simple gown for her summer 2008 wedding? (
6 November 2008 )
... that after retiring from the stage opera singer
Emma Carelli managed the
Rome Opera House for almost 15 years? (
7 November 2008 )
... that
Julian Konstantinov , the brother of
Bulgarian volleyball team captain
Plamen Konstantinov , is an
opera singer? (
21 November 2008 )
... that
soprano
Cesira Ferrani originated two of the most iconic roles in
opera history, Mimì (pictured) in the world premiere of
Puccini 's
La bohème and the title role in the premiere of Puccini's
Manon Lescaut ? (
23 November 2008 )
... that although
opera singer
Rita Fornia began her career as a
coloratura soprano , her voice lowered and darkened causing her to sing mostly
mezzo-soprano roles? (
21 November 2008 )
... that
opera superstar
Giuseppe Cremonini 's career was tragically cut short upon his sudden death at the age of 36? (
22 November 2008 )
... that although
Antonio Maria Bononcini 's (pictured ) 1718
opera
Griselda was successful, his older brother,
Giovanni Bononcini , composed a
more popular version in 1722? (
27 November 2008 )
... that 2012 Australian Paralympic
wheelchair tennis player
Ben Weekes has played piano at the
Sydney Opera House ? (
20 August 2012 )
... that
Italian
mezzo-soprano
Flora Perini (pictured) originated the role of the Princess in the world premiere of
Puccini 's
Suor Angelica at the
Metropolitan Opera in 1918? (
23 November 2008 )
... that before becoming a famous
opera singer,
Ines Maria Ferraris had a career as a concert
pianist beginning at the age of 12? (
27 November 2008 )
... that the
opera
Griselda by
Vivaldi (pictured ) is based on the folklore character
Griselda as told by
Giovanni Boccaccio in the
The Decameron ? (
27 November 2008 )
... that the
Woodland Opera House was the first
opera house to serve the
Sacramento Valley ? (
29 November 2008 )
... that
soprano
Ruth Holton sang at
Bach 's church on the 250th anniversary of his death? (
6 November 2009 )
... that the iconic
Sydney Opera House sits on
Bennelong Point ? (
21 October 2004 )
... that the painting
The Face on the Barroom Floor , in
Central City, Colorado , was inspired by a
poem , and that it in turn inspired a chamber opera? (
11 October 2006 )
... that
English
opera singer and
actress
Florence Perry (pictured ) was best known for her performances with the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the late
19th century ? (
10 October 2007 )
... that the Vienna "pocket opera"
Wiener Taschenoper took children to
John Cage 's A House Full of Music and adults on Stockhausen's
Michael's Journey Around the Earth ? (
3 August 2012 )
... that both
Herbert Witherspoon and
Göran Gentele died before the opening nights of their first seasons as general directors of the
Metropolitan Opera ? (
23 October 2006 )
... that
Helene Wildbrunn (pictured) , a celebrated
Wagnerian soprano at the
Vienna State Opera and
La Scala , began her career in 1907 as a
contralto at the
Stadttheater Dortmund ? (
2 August 2012 )
July
... that
Icelandic
operatic
soprano Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir, better known as
Diddú , began her singing career in the 1970s with a
folk and
pop group ? (
6 October 2007 )
... that
Hilde Rössel-Majdan , for decades a
contralto with the
Vienna State Opera (pictured) , recorded with
Hermann Scherchen music by Bach including his
solo cantata
Widerstehe doch der Sünde , BWV 54 ? (
27 July 2012 )
... that the 1955 novel
Teneke by
Turkish author
Yaşar Kemal was adapted into an
Italian
opera of the same title by
Fabio Vacchi in 2007? (
8 October 2007 )
... that the
Don Cesar
beach resort in
Florida is named after the
title character in
William Vincent Wallace 's 1845 opera
Maritana ? (
14 October 2007 )
... that in eighteen years,
baritone
William Walker performed over 360 times at
New York's
Metropolitan Opera ? (
16 October 2007 )
... that
English actor, singer and playwright
Arthur Williams (pictured) , best remembered for his
comic operas ,
Edwardian musical comedies and musical
burlesques , played over 1,000 roles in his career? (
24 October 2007 )
... that the
opera
Les vêpres siciliennes (1885) by
Giuseppe Verdi was based in part on the
medieval
Sicilian tract
Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia (1290)? (
6 October 2008 )
... that
operatic
soprano
Celestina Boninsegna (pictured) sang her first leading role at the unusually young age of 15? (
28 October 2008 )
... that an intense rivalry between composers
Francisco Asenjo Barbieri and
Emilio Arrieta helped rekindle the popularity of
Spanish opera during the mid 19th century? (
29 October 2008 )
... that
Puerto Rican
tenor
Antonio Paoli 's birthplace, the
Casa Paoli (pictured) , was a wedding gift to his parents, who already had five children together at the time of their marriage? (
25 October 2009 )
... that
Süreyya Opera House in
Istanbul , built in 1927 as a
musical theater but used all the time as a cinema, gained its intended status only in 2007 after redevelopment? (
30 October 2008 )
... that his fine
bass voice turned
Leonid Kharitonov from a poor villager in
Siberia into a renowned singer performing all around the Soviet Union? (
14 October 2009 )
... that
Clara Dow (pictured) was one of the last principal sopranos personally trained by
W. S. Gilbert at the
Savoy Theatre ? (
28 October 2009 )
... that American
countertenor
Bejun Mehta began his musical career as a
boy soprano , praised by
Leonard Bernstein ? (
29 October 2009 )
... that the
Cork Opera House in
Ireland was built in
1855 , burned down in
1955 , and rebuilt in
1963 ? (
8 September 2004 )
... that the
librettoes for
Tchaikovsky 's
operas
Vakula the Smith and
Cherevichki were adapted from
Gogol 's stories by the poet
Yakov Polonsky ? (
12 September 2006 )
June
... that
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov referred to his opera
Kashchey the Immortal as a "short autumnal fairy tale", as opposed to
Snegurochka , a "spring fairy tale"? (
16 September 2006 )
... that
Carnegie Medal -winning children’s author
Berlie Doherty has written the
libretti for three
operas ? (
19 September 2007 )
... that
Mexican
soprano
Ángela Peralta (picture) once sang
Donizetti 's opera
Maria di Rohan in a theatre improvised from a disused sand pit in
La Paz, Baja California ? (
3 September 2008 )
... that a
riot erupted at the opening night of
Adelia , an
opera by
Gaetano Donizetti , because an unscrupulous promoter sold too many tickets? (
4 September 2008 )
... that
opera singer
Nell Rankin used her pet
jaguar , King Tut, as a negotiating tool at the
Metropolitan Opera ? (
5 September 2008 )
... that
La púrpura de la rosa is the first known
opera to be written in and performed in the
Americas ? (
9 September 2008 )
... that the
French one-act opera
Le trompeur trompé had its première given as 14
Thermidor an VIII, since the
French Republican Calendar was still in use? (
18 September 2008 )
... that in 1896, baritone
Anton Sistermans premiered first Gustav Mahler's
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen in Berlin, then
Vier ernste Gesänge by Johannes Brahms in Vienna? (
2 June 2012
May
... that German conductor
Konrad Junghänel and his vocal ensemble Cantus Cölln won the
Gramophone Award for the first complete recording of Monteverdi's collection
Selva morale e spirituale ? (
31 May 2012 )
... that according to
The New York Times , opera producer
Robert Lepage and opera house general manager
Peter Gelb "cut heroic figures in an epic adventure" in the 2012
documentary
Wagner's Dream ? (
29 May 2012 )
... that
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was the soloist in a recording of
Max Reger 's
Requiem with the
Monteverdi-Chor Hamburg in 1990? (
4 April 2012 )
... that
Partenope was the first
opera written by an
American -born
composer ? (
25 September 2008 )
... that
Mei Baojiu is the leader of the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe? (
19 May 2012
... that
soprano
Ursula Schröder-Feinen appeared at the
Bayreuth Festival as
Senta ,
Brünnhilde ,
Ortrud and, with "intensity, ... freshness and spontaneity", as Kundry in
Parsifal ? (
16 May 2012
... that
French
choral music
composer
Ernest Boulanger , son of
Opéra-Comique
mezzo-soprano
Marie Halligner (pictured) , received the
Grand Prix de Rome in 1835, as did his daughter,
Lili , in 1913? (
16 May 2012 )
... that
Udo Zimmermann 's
opera ,
Die weisse Rose tells the story of
Hans and
Sophie Scholl , a brother and sister who were
guillotined by the
Nazis for leading a non-violent resistance group? (
25 September 2008 )
... that the
opera
King Arthur by Henry Purcell (pictured) is unusual because the principal characters do not sing, rather they recite
dialogue accompanied by
music ? (
1 August 2005 )
... that the
Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater (pictured) , in
Lviv ,
Ukraine combines details of the
Renaissance and
Baroque architecture? (
13 August 2006 )
... that
The Majestic (pictured) in
Singapore was a
opera house built by
tin and
rubber
magnate
Eu Tong Sen in 1928 for his wife who was a
Cantonese opera fan? (
9 August 2007 )
... that the
Finnish company
YIT was responsible for the construction of the
Finnish National Opera house, the
Helsinki Fair Centre and
Cirrus , the
tallest high-rise building in Finland ? (
12 August 2007 )
... that
Antonio Bagioli , musical director for one of the first Italian
opera companies to tour the United States, stayed behind for love, rather than continuing on to
Cuba ? (
17 August 2007 )
... that
Felix Mendelssohn (pictured) walked out in disgust in the middle of the 1827 premiere of his
opera
Die Hochzeit des Camacho , and cancelled the remaining performances? (
3 August 2008 )
April
... that the latest
opera by composer
Andy Vores is a 2008
chamber opera adaptation of
Jean-Paul Sartre 's
No Exit ? (
12 August 2008 )
... that the
Manila Grand Opera House also served as a
theater ,
residence ,
cinema and
nightclub before its original building was demolished and re-constructed as a
hotel ? (
17 August 2008 )
... that
Alberto Bimboni and
Charles Sanford Skilton received the
Bispham Memorial Medal Award for
American opera for their operas on
American Indian subjects? (
20 August 2008 )
... that 17th-century Italian
composer
Filippo Acciaiuoli was also an inventor of machines used for theatrical effects in operas and plays? (
28 August 2008 )
... that
The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five , a
science fiction novel by
Doris Lessing , was adapted for the
opera in 1997 by
Philip Glass (pictured) ? (
18 August 2008 )
... that
baritone
Earl Wrightson won an
Emmy Award for hosting the 1950s
CBS Sunday afternoon television show The American Musical Theater ? (
6 August 2009 )
... that
lyric soprano
Lois Hunt was introduced to then
Vice President
Lyndon Johnson while he was wearing a pair of green silk pajamas embroidered with his initials? (
6 August 2009 )
... that
George Gershwin selected
tap dance innovator
John W. Bubbles to play a major role in his opera
Porgy and Bess , even though he did not
read music ? (
4 July 2005 )
... that the first performance of
Glinka 's opera
A Life for the Tsar (
1836 ) was conducted by
Catterino Cavos (pictured) , who composed an opera on the same subject 20 years before Glinka? (
7 July 2006 )
... that composer
Veniamin Fleishman was killed early in
WWII before he could complete his opera
Rothschild's Violin , but that his teacher
Dmitri Shostakovich rescued his sketches from besieged
Leningrad , and completed the opera? (
9 July 2006 )
... that the
Austrian government gave the American
soprano
Teresa Stich-Randall the title of Kammersängerin given to esteemed artists? (
28 July 2007 )
... that
Antonio Salieri 's opera
Europa riconosciuta was recently (2007) revived for the re-opening of
La Scala in
Milan , after not being seen for 226 years after it premiered? (
24 July 2007 )
... that, in addition to having a passion for opera,
dramatic soprano
Othalie Graham (pictured) enjoys music by
Prince and Jamaican reggae musician
Jimmy Cliff ? (
24 July 2007 )
... that
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company star
Donald Adams could only perform in his own
Gilbert and Sullivan for All theatre group on his nights off? (
1 July 2008 )
March
... that
Sebastian Weigle , named "Conductor of the Year" by
Opernwelt three times between 2003 and 2006, performed Wagner's
Ring Cycle at the
Frankfurt Opera ? (
21 March 2012 )
... that
lyric coloratura soprano
Harolyn Blackwell replaced
opera diva
Kathleen Battle (pictured) when she famously got fired from the
Metropolitan Opera ? (
4 July 2008 )
... that an unknown manuscript of
opera
libretto by writer
Mikhail Bulgakov was found in
Isaak Dunayevsky ' s archive after his death in
1955 ? (
5 June 2006 )
... that
Francesca Caccini 's
La liberazione di Ruggiero , which premiered in
1625 , was the first
opera written by a woman? (
17 June 2006 )
... that
Russian composer
Ella Adayevskaya took her
pseudonym from the notes played by the
kettledrum in
Mikhail Glinka 's opera
Ruslan and Ludmila ? (
25 June 2006 )
... that
American
tenor
Charles Anthony has sung with the
Metropolitan Opera for 52 consecutive seasons, which is unparalleled in company history? (
25 June 2006 )
... that
Pauline Duvernay (pictured) rose apparently naked from a cauldron surrounded by demons in
Fromental Halévy 's
opera -
ballet
La tentation ? (
22 March 2012 )
... that the performance of
La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina in
Warsaw in 1628 (pictured) was the earliest
performance of an
Italian
opera outside of
Italy ? (
12 June 2007 )
... that
Tunisian writer, actor, and director of theatre
Mohamed Driss paid tribute to the historian
Ibn Khaldoun by writing an
opera in his honor? (
2 June 2008 )
... that in 1656, German
violinist
Thomas Baltzar helped premiere
The Siege of Rhodes , thought to have been the first all-sung
English
opera ? (
6 June 2008 )
... that
Lorin Maazel (pictured) was 75 years old when his first opera,
1984 , had its world premiere in 2005? (
9 June 2008 )
... that
Carlisle Floyd decided to adapt
Olive Ann Burns ' novel
Cold Sassy Tree into
an opera after his sister gave him a copy? (
11 June 2008 )
... that
Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù (pictured) , founded in 1720, was the first modern
opera
theatre in
Greece ? (
27 June 2008 )
... that the
birth of public radio broadcasting was a live concert from the
Metropolitan Opera House with
Enrico Caruso as one of the opera singers? (
28 June 2008 )
... that
lyric tenor
Evan Gorga , who created the role of Rodolfo in the original production of
Giacomo Puccini 's opera
La bohème , reprised the role in several productions, then retired at the age of 34? (
29 June 2008 )
... that
Russian opera in the 18th century was dominated by
Italian
composers and
singers ? (
2 June 2006 )
... that
soprano
Deborah Voigt lost over 100 pounds (45 kg) by means of
gastric bypass surgery after she was fired in the "
Covent Garden incident"? (
9 June 2009 )
... that although
opera
contralto
Ernestine Schumann-Heink (pictured) had a son fighting on the other side, she toured the
United States to raise money for the USA in
World War I ? (
2 May 2004 )
... that
William Bergsma wrote an
opera about a dog who turned into a man in 1920s
Moscow as the result of a crazy experiment? (
25 May 2005 )
... that, in the
1940s , the female fans of the Soviet tenor
Sergei Lemeshev (pictured) , often quarrelled with the fans of his rival,
Ivan Kozlovsky ? (
31 May 2006 )
... that
The Haunted Manor is the most famous and popular of Polish
operas ? (
15 May 2007 )
February
... that
Robert the Devil , an operatic parody by
W. S. Gilbert of
Meyerbeer's opera
Robert le diable , ends with the devil being punished by becoming part of the exhibit at
Madame Tussaud's ? (
7 May 2008 )
... that
A Bayou Legend by
William Grant Still was the first
opera composed by an
African American to be broadcast on television? (
17 May 2008 )
... that
Verna Arvey got her first break as an
opera
librettist after poet
Langston Hughes left his libretto for the production Troubled Island unfinished? (
17 May 2008 )
... that
Troubled Island is an opera about the
Haitian revolution leader
Jean-Jacques Dessalines , who crowned himself emperor after independence was declared? (
24 May 2008 )
... that
Thomas Jefferson Ramsdell built the
opera house where
James Earl Jones started his career? (
25 May 2008 )
... that Berlin's
Theater des Westens (pictured) was the stage for Diaghilev's
Ballets Russes with
Anna Pavlova , the premiere of Henze's opera
König Hirsch , and the premiere in German of
My Fair Lady ? (
18 February 2012 )
... that the
Neoclassical
Hollywood Masonic Temple (pictured) has been used as a
Masonic Lodge ,
opera house , and
nightclub , and is now the home of the
Jimmy Kimmel Live! television show? (
29 May 2008 )
... that
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 's
opera seria
Idomeneo is set on the island of
Crete following the
Trojan War ? (
24 April 2004 )
... that
Beijing opera did not originate in
Beijing but in the
Chinese provinces of
Anhui and
Hubei ? (
26 April 2004 )
... that
Myer Lyon ,
hazzan of the
Great Synagogue of London , doubled as opera star Michael Leoni (pictured) whose contract excused him on the
Sabbath ? (
10 April 2008 )
... that
Gaetano Donizetti 's
opera
Le duc d'Albe didn't receive its first performance until more than 40 years after his death? (
28 April 2007 )
... that the
Auditorium Building in
Chicago, Illinois was intended to rival
New York City 's
Metropolitan Opera House ? (
30 March 2004 )
... that
Jonathan Harvey visited
Chamonix to
sample a
thunderclap for use in his
opera
Wagner Dream ? (
13 February 2012 )
... that
Catherine the Great wrote several comedies and an opera
libretto for the productions of the
Hermitage Theatre (pictured) in
Saint Petersburg ? (
7 March 2006 )
... that when it was shown at the
Metropolitan Opera ,
Diana von Solange by
Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was so poorly received that three hundred people signed a
petition demanding that it be removed from the repertory? (
1 March 2007 )
January
... that the
Bardavon 1869 Opera House in
Poughkeepsie is the oldest continuously operating theater in
New York State ? (
3 March 2007 )
... that in exchange for shutting down the
Manhattan Opera Company and refraining from producing
opera in the
United States for ten years,
Oscar Hammerstein I (pictured, left) received over a million dollars from the
Metropolitan Opera ? (
3 March 2007 )
... that
Johan van der Meer conducted the first
historically informed performance in the Netherlands of Bach's
St Matthew Passion in 1973, with
Marius van Altena as the
Evangelist and
Max van Egmond as the
Vox Christi ? (
20 January 2012 )
... that
Mikhail Sokolovsky 's 1779
opera
The miller who was a wizard, a cheat and a matchmaker was for many years mistakenly attributed to
Yevstigney Fomin ? (
17 January 2012 )
... that
Richard Strauss (pictured) helped the
German composer
Heinz Tiessen obtain a job at the
Berlin State Opera in 1917? (
12 March 2007 )
... that the
Balık sisters from
Turkey claim to be the only
identical twins who are both professional
opera singers? (
22 March 2007 )
... that 18th-century
operatic star
Anna Maria Strada was known as "the Pig" on account of her ugliness? (
24 March 2007 )
... that
Lionello Cecil sang the lead
tenor part in the first complete microphone recording of
Verdi 's
La traviata in 1928? (
3 March 2010 )
... that in the late 1860s, the
soprano
Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa (pictured) and her husband
Carl Rosa founded the Parepa-Rosa English Opera Company, which introduced
opera to places in the
United States that had never staged it before? (
3 February 2008 )
... that
Paul Feyerabend 's (pictured) autobiography
Killing Time contains descriptions of his careers as an officer in the
Wehrmacht , an
operatic tenor , and a
philosopher of science ? (
24 February 2011 )
... that
opera singer
Rosemary Kuhlmann was an assistant to the international vice-president of
PepsiCo for 16 years from the age of 56, despite intending to stay for only four months? (
25 February 2008 )
... that American
lyric soprano
Helen Jepson was first soprano on the original recording of
Porgy and Bess ? (
15 January 2008 )
... that
opera singer
Jessie Bartlett Davis (pictured) volunteered to pay for the publishing of the
parlor song "
I Love You Truly ", the first song written by a woman to sell one million copies? (
23 January 2008 )
December
... that
Jean Nouguès is believed to have written the first
opera specifically composed for
gramophone recording? (
10 December 2009 )
... that the "Hymn" for
tenor in the
cantata ,
Hodie , by
Ralph Vaughan Williams was composed because the originator of the part asked that he might be given more to sing? (
24 December 2006 )
... that
Bantcho Bantchevsky committed
suicide during a nationally-broadcast performance from the
Metropolitan Opera ? (
5 December 2006 )
... that French baritone
Jean-Vital Ismaël (
caricature pictured ) , who sang in the premieres of
Bizet 's
Les pêcheurs de perles and
Gounod 's
Mireille , had left home at age 16 to become a street singer? (
28 December 2011 )
... that
Gardiner considers
Bach the "best writer of dramatic declamation ... since
Monteverdi " for the dialogue in his
cantata for the
Second Day of Christmas ,
Selig ist der Mann, BWV 57 ? (
26 December 2010 )
... that
Georges Bizet dedicated his song "Rêve de la bien-aimée" ("Dream of the beloved") to the Belgian
coloratura soprano
Léontine de Maësen ? (
25 December 2011 )
... that
Andrew McKinley ,
David Aiken , and
Leon Lishner created the parts of the
Three Kings in the world premiere of
Menotti 's Christmas opera
Amahl and the Night Visitors (inspiration pictured) which was broadcast live by
NBC to an audience of millions on
Christmas Eve 1951? (
24 December 2010 )
... that the
Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City was host to the world-famous opera singer
Enrico Caruso who sang "
The Star-Spangled Banner " from the window of his room on
Armistice Day ? (
6 December 2006 )
... that the
MET 's new (2006)
opera
The First Emperor by
Tan Dun has been in development for ten years? (
10 December 2006 )
... that
American
composer
Stephen Paulus gained fame with a
1982
opera based on
The Postman Always Rings Twice , one of his nine operas? (
20 December 2006 )
... that mezzo-soprano
Martina Koppelstetter has recorded
Lieder by
Rudi Spring for BR,
Bavarian Radio ? (
20 December 2011 )
... that
Norman Lebrecht found in the opera
Doctor Ox's Experiment by
Gavin Bryars (pictured) "lyrical ideas flowering from a
Straussian seed-bed" but
Rupert Christiansen compared it to
Chinese water torture ? (
19 December 2011 )
... that
Are You There? was widely promoted because of its score by
Ruggero Leoncavallo (pictured) , best known for his opera
Pagliacci , but the first-night audience were incensed when it turned out to have very little music? (
7 December 2007 )
... that
Lawrence Turner , who presented a
Parliamentary petition calling for
W. S. Gilbert 's
copyright on the
libretti of
Gilbert and Sullivan
operas to be extended indefinitely, was the grandson of comic actor
George Grossmith who starred in them? (
14 December 2007 )
... that
Philip Pullman 's novel
Clockwork was
adapted into an
opera for children? (
15 December 2007 )
... that the former
Grand Opera House (pictured) in
Seattle, Washington ,
USA is now a car park? (
26 December 2007 )
... that the role of Osmin in the
German opera
The Abduction from the Seraglio was tailor-made by
Mozart for his friend
Ludwig Fischer ? (
29 December 2007 )
... that in spite of her great reputation in Europe,
operatic
soprano
Lucienne Bréval had limited success in America as critics thought her singing lacked polish? (
1 December 2008 )
... that
Voltaire 's tragedy Olimpie premiered in 1762 and Henze's opera
Elegie für junge Liebende in 1961 at the
Schlosstheater Schwetzingen (pictured) ? (
12 December 2011 )
... that
Aleksandr Pushkin 's 1827 poem
The Gypsies inspired some eighteen
operas and six
ballets , including
Rachmaninoff 's
Aleko ? (
29 December 2008 )
... that
Jones Hewson played leading roles with the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1896 to 1901 but died in 1902 at the age of 27? (
29 December 2008 )
... that
operatic
soprano
Romilda Pantaleoni (pictured) sang the role of Desdemona in the original 1887 production of
Giuseppe Verdi 's
Otello ? (
17 December 2008 )
... that
tenor
Albert Reiss sang in 1,070 performances at the
Metropolitan Opera ? (
24 December 2008 )
... that after performing with the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for three decades,
Anna Bethell became its Stage Director in 1947? (
4 December 2009 )
... that the
Lope de Vega Theater (pictured) in
Seville has twice been flooded by the
Guadalquivir river ? (
6 December 2011 )
... that one part of
Mendelssohn’s operetta
Son and Stranger comprises only a few bars, all on the note F, because the composer’s brother-in-law,
Wilhelm Hensel , had no ability as a singer? (
1 December 2009 )
November 2011
... that
Reinhard Febel composed an opera on
Caspar Hauser , Sekunden und Jahre des Caspar Hauser , which premiered in 1992 at the
Opernhaus Dortmund ? (
230 November 2011 )
... that
The Pretty Druidess was in 1869 the last of
W. S. Gilbert 's early
operatic burlesques , written before the
Gilbert and Sullivan operas? (
22 November 2010 )
... that
mezzo-soprano
opera singer
Martha Lipton performed
401 times at the
Metropolitan Opera ?
7 November 2010 )
... that
Robert Wilson was a principal
tenor with the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1930s before beginning a 25-year concert, variety and radio career? (
5 November 2010 )
... that following the London premiere of
Fabio Campana 's
opera Esmeralda in 1870,
The Saturday Review pronounced it "irredeemably bad"? (
5 October 2010 )
... that
New York City Opera percussionist
Howard Van Hyning bought a set of 13
gongs made specially for use in performances of
Puccini's opera
Turandot (poster pictured) ? (
19 November 2010 )
... that
Prenkë Jakova wrote
Mrika , the first
Albanian
opera , which premiered in 1958? (
11 October 2010 )
... that
soprano
Dolores Wilson lamented that "the
Italian I'd learned by studying
operas enabled me to talk intelligently only about poisons and suicide and tragic love affairs"? (
14 October 2010 )
... that
Philip Michael Faraday authored a standard book on property taxes before writing comic operas, including the
curtain raiser to
H.M.S. Pinafore ? (
6 September 2010 )
... that
operatic
soprano
Shirlee Emmons won an
Obie Award for her portrayal of
Susan B. Anthony in the 1956
Off-Broadway revival of
Virgil Thomson 's
The Mother of Us All ? (
10 September 2010 )
... that the operatic mezzo-soprano
Adelaide Borghi-Mamo (pictured) sang the part of Azucena in the French premiere of
Verdi 's
Il trovatore at the
Théâtre-Italien in Paris in 1854? (
10 September 2010 )
... that, after a 15-year career as a principal with the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company ,
Peggy Ann Jones moved to
musicals , including in the original cast of
The Phantom of the Opera ? (
14 September 2010 )
... that
John Stewart , a regular tenor with the
New York City Opera and then the
Frankfurt Opera , recorded the part of Oronte in
Handel 's
Alcina opposite
Cristina Deutekom in Carnegie Hall in 1974? (
17 November 2011 )
... that Tsar
Alexander II of Russia had a
monument erected in
an English churchyard to commemorate
Finnish
prisoners of war whose story inspired a
2007 opera ? (
15 September 2010 )
... that the first
Klingon language opera,
’u’ , premiered at
The Hague on 9 September 2010 (pictured) ? (
16 September 2010 )
... that a song by the 16th c.
Bengali
Vaishnava padavali poet
Govindadasa was included in an opera written under a disguised name by
Rabindranath Tagore ? (
16 September 2010 )
... that tenor
William Brown , who performed for presidents Kennedy and Johnson, created the role of Lieutenant Jean l'Aiglon in Hugo Weisgall's
Nine Rivers from Jordan ? (
10 November 2011 )
... that American
musicologist and critic
Joseph Kerman described
Puccini 's opera
Tosca as "a shabby little shocker"? (
19 September 2010 )
... that it took until 2010 for
Franz Schreker 's (pictured) opera
Die Gezeichneten , premiered in 1918 in
Frankfurt , to appear in the
Western Hemisphere as The Stigmatized ? (
14 August 2010 )
... that the first American performance of
Leoncavallo 's opera
Pagliacci was conducted by
Gustav Hinrichs with
Giuseppe Campanari singing the role of Tonio? (
28 September 2010 )
... that artist and sculptor
Samuel Rabin was also a professional wrestler and opera singer who appeared in
The Scarlet Pimpernel and won a bronze medal in
wrestling at the 1928 Summer Olympics ? (
30 September 2010 )
... that Austrian composer
Franz Schreker 's (pictured) most successful opera
Der Schatzgräber was performed 354 times in over fifty cities between 1920 and 1925? (
14 August 2010 )
... that according to official
North Korean sources, the opera
The Flower Girl was written exclusively by North Korean leader
Kim Il-sung ? (
3 July 2010 )
... that American
mezzo-soprano
Susanne Mentzer created the role of the mother of Yueyang in
Tan Dun 's opera
The First Emperor at the
Metropolitan Opera in 2006? (
30 May 2010 )
... that although
Aniceto Ortega had a distinguished career as a physician and surgeon in
Mexico , he is also remembered today for his 1871
opera
Guatimotzin ? (
9 April 2010 )
October 2011
... that the composer
Anton Rubinstein (pictured) conducted his own
opera
The Merchant Kalashnikov so badly that the performance had to be stopped? (
12 April 2010 )
... that during his 43 years with the
New York City Opera ,
tenor buffo
Jack Harrold appeared in more than 100 productions? (
30 October 2011 )
... that after a career with the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company ,
baritone
Jeffrey Skitch became Principal of
Elmhurst Ballet School ? (
18 April 2010 )
... that Sir
Henry Bate Dudley (
pictured ) not only chronicled the life of
Gainsborough but also wrote the comic opera The
Flitch of Bacon ? (
1 March 2010 )
... that during a rehearsal of
Pagliacci with the
Florentine Opera in 1998,
tenor
David Rendall sent a
baritone to hospital when his
prop knife failed to collapse? (
2 March 2010 )
... that the
libretto for
Rameau 's first
opera ,
Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), was provided by the seasoned
playwright and librettist
Abbé Pellegrin ? (
4 February 2010 )
... that Chicago-born record producer
Lou Reizner conceived and produced the
orchestral version of
The Who 's
rock opera
Tommy ? (
25 February 2010 )
... that during the
Metropolitan Opera premiere of
The Makropulos Case , tenor
Richard Versalle suffered a fatal heart attack after singing the line "You can only live so long"? (
18 January 2010 )
... that after a falling out in 1877,
Georgina Weldon refused to return
Gounod 's original score for his opera
Polyeucte , forcing him to rewrite it? (
18 January 2010 )
... that
coloratura soprano
Alice Verlet (
pictured ) gave a 1922 opera and song recital at
Carnegie Hall accompanied on violin by a young
Xavier Cugat , who later achieved fame as the "rhumba king"? (
10 January 2010 )
... that Il sogno di Scipione , an
opera by
Luca Antonio Predieri , was first performed in 1735 to celebrate the birthday of
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor ? (
13 October 2011 )
... that
baritone
Konrad Jarnot recorded
lieder by
Richard Strauss , including
Four Last Songs ? (
13 October 2011 )
... that
L'ange de Nisida , an
opera semiseria by
Gaetano Donizetti , was completed but never performed due to the bankruptcy of the theater company Donizetti contracted? (
29 January 2010 )
... that the
Cobb and Frost -designed
Chicago Opera House , built 1884–85, was one of the first buildings constructed using
general contracting ? (
2 January 2009 )
... that
operatic
soprano
Maria Zamboni was the first person to record the title role of
Puccini 's
Manon Lescaut in its entirety? (
10 January 2009 )
... that
Nino Martini appeared in numerous
Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s while simultaneously starring regularly in leading
tenor roles at the
Metropolitan Opera ? (
12 January 2009 )
... that
Alice May starred as a
soprano in
comic opera in the 1870s but toured as a
contralto in the 1880s? (
12 January 2009 )
... that tenor
Ulrich Cordes (
pictured ) was the
Evangelist in Bach's
St Matthew Passion in
St. Martin, Idstein , the
Berliner Philharmonie and the
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels ? (
30 September 2011 )
... that the
Norfolk, Connecticut -based performing arts venue
Infinity Hall was built in 1883 as a combination opera house, barber shop and saloon? (
12 January 2009 )
... that
Tangton Gyelpo , a 15th-century
Nyingma
yogi , physician, treasure finder, and founder of Tibetan opera, is known for building numerous iron chain
suspension bridges in
Tibet ? (
16 January 2009 )
... that American
McCaull Comic Opera Company actress
May Yohé (pictured) , once the owner of the
Hope Diamond , died poor? (
1 October 2011 )
... that soon after understudy
Eric Lewis left the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in frustration that
George Grossmith rarely took a day off, Grossmith fell gravely ill? (
20 January 2009 )
September 2011
... that
The Visitors is the only
opera
Mexican composer
Carlos Chávez ever scored? (
23 January 2009 )
... that during a feud with the singer and composer
Francesca Caccini (
pictured ) ,
Andrea Salvadori wrote a poem entitled "Women musicians speak from Hell"? (
29 September 2011 )
... that a reviewer wrote that
Katia Plaschka , "quite accurately described as a high soprano, sings music of stratospheric difficulty" when performing
Luigi Nono 's music? (
23 September 2011 )
... that soprano
Gerlinde Sämann performed with
La Petite Bande Bach's
cantata for the 14th Sunday after
Trinity ,
Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17 ? (
5 September 2010 )
... that
Markus Flaig brought
Handel's
darkness and great light to
St. Martin, Idstein ? (
22 September 2011 )
... that
Marco da Gagliano 's opera
La Flora
(libretto pictured) was first performed on 14 October 1628 to celebrate the marriage of
Margherita de' Medici and
Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma ? (
21 September 2011 )
... that
British actor
Norman Lumsden , who played
J. R. Hartley in the popular 1983
Yellow Pages Fly Fishing advert, was originally an
opera singer who created roles for
Benjamin Britten ? (
24 January 2009 )
... that composer
Egidio Duni was particularly influential in creating a new genre of
opera which blended
Italian opera elements with traditional
French ones? (
25 January 2009 )
... that an electronic opera Raab by the
Czech
composer
Jaroslav Krček was banned by the
communist regime in 1972? (
26 January 2009 )
... that
Maurice Maeterlinck threatened legal action and physical violence against
Claude Debussy after he did not cast Maeterlinck's lover,
Georgette Leblanc , in the title role of their
opera
Pelléas et Mélisande ? (
1 February 2009 )
... that the opera
Pepita Jiménez by
Isaac Albéniz (pictured) has been adapted several times by numerous people into different constructs and languages? (
30 January 2009 )
... that
Miguel Ángel Coria 's first opera, Belisa , based on
Lorca 's play
Amor de Don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín , premiered in 1992 at the
Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid? (
11 September 2011 )
... that
operatic
tenor
Andreas Dippel portrayed the title role in
Alberto Franchetti
Asrael in its United States premiere at the
Metropolitan Opera ? (
2 February 2009 )
... that
Georgette Leblanc
(pictured) portrayed the role of Ariane in the original 1899 play Ariane et Barbe-bleue by
Maurice Maeterlinck and in the
1907 opera adaptation by
Paul Dukas ? (
9 February 2009 )
... that
Isidore de Lara 's
Messaline was the first
opera by an English composer to be produced at
La Scala ? (
4 February 2009 )
... that
operatic
tenor
Gustav Walter portrayed the role of Assad in the world premiere of
Karl Goldmark 's
Die Königin von Saba ? (
4 February 2009 )
... that as a blindfolded child, opera singer
Pauline Joran (pictured) could identify
absolute pitch and the notes of
chords ? (
24 February 2009 )
... that
opera singers
Johann Nepomuk Beck ,
Marie Wilt , and
Hans von Rokitansky all performed in the world premiere of
Karl Goldmark 's
Die Königin von Saba on 10 March 1875? (
10 February 2009 )
... that
Camille Saint-Saëns 's
opera
Hélène was recorded in 2008 after not being heard since 1919? (
5 March 2009 )
... that
Donizetti wrote the title role of his
opera
Adelia for
Giuseppina Strepponi
(pictured) , the second wife of
Giuseppe Verdi ? (
5 March 2009 )
... that
operatic
tenor
Franz Ferenczy portrayed the role of Samson in the world premiere of
Saint-Saëns 's
Samson et Dalila on 2 December 1877? (
6 March 2009 )
August 2011
... that
American
baritone
James Billings has portrayed more than 175
opera roles on stage during his long career? (
10 March 2009 )
... that the 1911
opera
Déjanire by
Camille Saint-Saëns (pictured) was originally an 1898
play accompanied by
symphonic music ,
choruses and a
ballet ? (
6 March 2009 )
... that
mezzo-soprano
Stephanie Novacek created roles in the premieres of two important
operas , the role of
Maria Callas in
Daugherty 's
Jackie O and the role of heroine Jo March in
Adamo 's
Little Women ? (
25 March 2009 )
... that although
La princesse jaune is the third
opera that
Saint-Saëns ’ composed, it was his first opera to actually be mounted on the stage? (
10 March 2009 )
... that
baritone
William Dooley performed the title role in the world premiere of
Marcel Mihalovici 's one character
opera
Krapp, ou, La dernière bande in 1961? (
28 March 2009 )
... that operatic
tenor
Chad Shelton has sung in numerous world premieres, including leading roles in
Mark Adamo 's
Little Women and
Philip Glass 's (pictured)
Appomattox ? (
29 March 2009 )
... that in the center of
Bach's cantata
Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist, BWV 45 , the
voice of Christ appears in a "highly virtuosic aria, half
Vivaldian concerto, half operatic scena"? (
17 August 2011 )
... that
operatic
soprano
Dawn Kotoski won the
Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1990? (
2 April 2009 )
... that hours before the curtain raised on his debut opera
Guntram , composer
Richard Strauss (pictured) was reportedly engaged in a heated discussion of
John Henry Mackay 's
Die Anarchisten ? (
20 April 2009 )
... that
Iván Erőd composed a
Sinfonietta called Minnesota Sinfonietta , an
opera titled Silk Worms , and a
song cycle for soprano and chamber orchestra, named Baby Tooth Songs ? (
17 August 2011 )
... that
soprano
Margaret Lloyd portrayed the role of Lightfoot McClendon in the world premiere of
Carlisle Floyd 's
Cold Sassy Tree at the
Houston Grand Opera in 2000? (
6 April 2009 )
... that
soprano
Sylvia Cecil joined and left the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company three times during her career? (
7 April 2009 )
... that
Ritter Pázmán was the only opera composed by
Johann Strauss II
(pictured) ? (
25 April 2009 )
... that an early
Washington National Opera , unrelated to its modern namesake, presented
Bidu Sayão in her 1936 U.S.
operatic debut with
organ , not
orchestra , accompaniment owing to a financial dispute? (
7 May 2009 )
... that the lead character in the
Mozart
opera
Don Giovanni calls out for a glass of
Marzemino in the final banquet scene before he is carried down to
hell ? (
16 May 2009 )
... that
Mozart built the final scene of his opera
The Magic Flute "upon a solemn
fugato around the chorale
Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein " by
Martin Luther ? (
10 August 2011 )
... that
opera singer
Richard Suart , known for his roles in
Gilbert and Sullivan , has also specialised in
avant-garde modern opera? (
13 May 2009 )
... that
Teresa Saporiti , the
soprano who created the role of Donna Anna in
Mozart 's opera
Don Giovanni , lived to be 106? (
30 May 2009 )
... that
The Amber Witch , an opera by
William Vincent Wallace
(pictured) , was based on a popular
Gothic novel of
the same name , first published in
Britain in 1844? (
5 June 2009 )
... that the
Pyne and Harrison Opera Company paid composer
William Vincent Wallace only 10
shillings for the rights to his opera
Lurline and later made
£ 50,000 from its performances? (
9 June 2009 )
... that
Evelyn Scotney , an
Australian coloratura soprano, sang opposite
Enrico Caruso in his final appearance on the opera stage? (
9 June 2009 )
... that
Pauline Rita played three roles in
Gilbert and Sullivan operas for
Richard D'Oyly Carte , but left his company in 1878 never to return? (
21 June 2009 )
... that as a child,
Swedish opera singer
Hjördis Schymberg and her four sisters performed live music to accompany
silent films ? (
22 June 2009 )
... that
Japanese
tenor
Taro Ichihara made his
Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of the Italian tenor in
Der Rosenkavalier ? (
26 June 2009 )
... that the
Royal Opera House in
Mumbai is
India 's only surviving
opera house ? (
14 July 2009 )
July 2011
... that
Bach 's
solo cantata for alto
Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV 170 for the sixth Sunday after
Trinity , was recorded by
Maureen Forrester ,
Andreas Scholl
(pictured) and
Julia Hamari ? (
11 July 2010 )
... that
Alan Wagner , the first president of the
Disney Channel , was also an
opera critic and radio personality? (
28 June 2009 )
... that
William Michael Rooke 's
opera
Amilie, or the Love Test enabled
New Yorkers of 1838 to appreciate "a broad new
repertoire "? (
5 July 2009 )
... that the
Opera Krakowska , one of the leading
Polish
opera companies , founded in 1954, moved into its first permanent
house
(pictured) only in 2008? (
16 July 2009 )
... that
Sandra Warfield met future husband
James McCracken when they sang the leads in
Samson and Delilah , the same opera in which the couple performed in her
Metropolitan Opera farewell performance? (
16 July 2009 )
... that between 1909 and 1912,
soprano
Margarethe Siems
(pictured) sang leading roles in the world premieres of three operas by
Richard Strauss —
Elektra ,
Der Rosenkavalier and
Ariadne auf Naxos ? (
31 July 2009 )
... that composer
Gian Carlo Menotti considered his
opera
The Island God "a big bore"? (
18 August 2009 )
... that
Jerusalem Delivered , the epic poem by
Torquato Tasso
(pictured) , has inspired at least 100
operas set in the Crusades ? (
29 September 2009 )
... that
American
opera singer
Margaret Harshaw portrayed more
Wagnerian heroines on stage at the
Metropolitan Opera than anyone else in the opera's history? (
2 October 2009 )
... that
Gary Lakes became an
opera singer because a cracked
vertebra sustained as a high school football
defensive tackle derailed his plans for a sports career? (
4 October 2009 )
... that
soprano
Siri Thornhill performed a
Bach cantata for the fourth Sunday after
Trinity ,
Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 177 , at the
Rheingau Musik Festival in the
Eibingen Abbey
(pictured) ? (
26 June 2010 )
... that
Luise Jaide created two roles in
Richard Wagner 's
Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle? (
10 October 2009 )
... that
Marie Wittich
(pictured) , the soprano who created the title role in
Richard Strauss ' opera
Salome , refused to perform the
Dance of the Seven Veils saying "I won't do it. I'm a decent woman."? (
4 August 2009 )
... that the 1975 musical
The Black Mikado was based on
Gilbert and Sullivan 's 1885 opera
The Mikado ? (
27 November 2009 )
... that the
tenor in the
British TV advertisement '
Go Compare ' is played by
Welsh opera singer
Wynne Evans ? (
1 November 2009 )
... that
soprano
Edith Selig recorded the early
Bach cantata
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21 , performed in
Weimar in 1714 on the third Sunday after
Trinity ? (
19 June 2010 )
... that
Jeanne Clemson is credited with both
preserving the
Fulton Opera House
(pictured) in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania , from demolition, and for restoring
live theater to the building? (
1 November 2009 )
... that a
witch-hunt in 1590 inspired
Hans Wiers-Jenssen ' s 1908 play
Anne Pedersdotter , which was the basis for an opera by
Respighi from 1934, a
film from 1943 , and a second opera by
Edvard Fliflet Bræin from 1971? (
3 November 2009 )
... that
English singer and actor
Walter H. Fisher created the role of the Defendant in
Gilbert and Sullivan 's 1875 opera
Trial by Jury ? (
23 November 2009 )
... that in the
requiem mass for
John F. Kennedy ,
Mac Morgan performed the
bass solo of
Mozart 's
Requiem ? (
30 November 2010 )
... that less than two years after
Julia Goss thought she failed her audition, she became the principal soprano of the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company ? (
27 November 2009 )
... that
Giuseppe Verdi did not want
Eugenia Tadolini
(pictured) to sing
Lady Macbeth in his opera
Macbeth because her voice was too beautiful? (
11 September 2009 )
... that
Jan Kobow sang the tenor part of
Bach 's chorale cantata
Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2 , written for the second Sunday after
Trinity of 1724, with
Philippe Herreweghe ? (
13 June 2010 )
... that soprano
Ursula Buckel recorded the
cantata
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 , which Bach had written for the feast of the
Visitation always celebrated on 2 July? (
2 July 2010 )
... that
Queen Victoria was "vastly amused" by a
command performance in 1892 of
La fille du régiment , presented by the
Carl Rosa Opera Company at
Balmoral Castle ? (
25 October 2009 )
June 2011
... that 4,476 tickets were auctioned for the first concert by the "Swedish Nightingale", soprano
Jenny Lind
(pictured) in her
1850–52 tour of the United States? (
25 June 2011 )
... that, with
The Duchess of Dantzic , composer
Ivan Caryll took a break from writing hit
Edwardian musical comedies to produce a
comic opera ? (
4 November 2009 )
... that the original "Three Little Maids from School" in
Gilbert and Sullivan 's 1885 opera
The Mikado were
Sybil Grey ,
Jessie Bond and
Leonora Braham ? (
28 November 2009 )
... that
soprano
Marie Sasse
(pictured) created the role of Elisabeth de Valois in the world premiere of
Giuseppe Verdi 's
Don Carlos ? (
30 October 2010 )
... that
Ingeborg Reichelt performed the soprano part of the
Bach cantata
Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot, BWV 39 , written for the first Sunday after
Trinity of 1726? (
6 June 2010 )
... that soprano
Myrna Sharlow once upstaged acclaimed opera singer
Mary Garden in a performance of a minor role at the
Boston Opera House ? (
5 November 2010 )
... that
John Metcalf 's opera
Tornrak features
Inuit throat singing ? (
9 November 2009 )
... that the career of
soprano
Cornélie Falcon
(pictured) , star of the
Paris Opéra , collapsed after she lost her voice in 1837 performing in the opera
Stradella by
Louis Niedermeyer ? (
23 June 2011 )
... that
Manchester Hydraulic Power supplied the energy to wind the
Town Hall clock , pump the
Cathedral organ and raise the safety curtain at the
Manchester Opera House ? (
22 June 2011 )
... that
baritone
Georges Baklanoff
(pictured) created the title role in
Sergei Rachmaninoff 's
The Miserly Knight at the
Bolshoi Theatre ,
Moscow , in 1906? (
16 October 2010 )
... that
opera singer
Fisher Morgan , a former principal soloist with the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company , ended his career in
pantomime ? (
30 November 2009 )
... that
Italian
operatic
tenor
Lodovico Graziani was described as lacking "dramatic gifts"? (
20 October 2010 )
... that German texts by the blind
Alsatian writer
Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel were the basis of two songs by
Ludwig van Beethoven and
Franz Schubert , and of an opera by
Joseph Haydn ? (
18 June 2011 )
... that
opera singer
Zélie de Lussan
(pictured) sang 2,000 performances in the title role of
Carmen ? (
10 December 2009 )
... that
Italian
tenor
Nicola Zerola
(pictured) began his professional
operatic singing career in 1898 performing in
Ruggero Leoncavallo 's
Pagliacci , but as a
baritone ? (
15 September 2010 )
... that
John Douglas
conducted more than 50
opera productions at
Temple University ? (
14 October 2010 )
... that soprano
Dorothee Mields sang
solo and
tutti in five cantatas composed for
Pentecost by the prolific
Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel , a contemporary of
Bach ?) (
23 May 2010 )
... that Italian
tenor
Vincenzo Calvesi
(pictured) created the role of Ferrando in the world premiere of
Mozart 's
Così fan tutte at the
Burgtheater in Vienna in 1790? (
15 September 2010 )
... that soprano
Adele Stolte recorded the
Bach cantata for
Pentecost
Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172 with the
Thomanerchor conducted by
Erhard Mauersberger ? (
23 May 2010 )
... that the
opera
Die Stadt hinter dem Strom , composed by
Hans Vogt and based on
Hermann Kasack 's
novel of the same name , was first staged at the
Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden in 1955? (
11 June 2011 )
... that millionaire banker Baron
Frédéric Alfred d'Erlanger was also a noted composer who wrote an opera based on
Thomas Hardy 's novel,
Tess of the d'Urbervilles ? (
10 June 2011 )
... that the Italian
operatic tenor
Giuseppe Siboni
(pictured) founded the Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen? (
15 September 2010 )
... that there were two
Carlisle Houses in 18th-century London's
Soho Square ; one housing
Domenico Angelo 's fencing and riding school and another
Madame Cornelys ' masquerades and illegal operas? (
8 June 2011 )
... that the
libretto for
Phyllis Tate 's
opera
The Lodger was written by
singer and broadcaster
David Franklin ? (
7 June 2011 )
... that the solo parts of
Joseph Haydn 's oratorio
Die Schöpfung were performed by
Elisabeth Scholl ,
Daniel Sans and
Andreas Pruys in the Basilika of
Schloss Johannisberg ? (
26 November 2010 )
... that
Italian
operatic
soprano
Angiolina Bosio (pictured) portrayed Gilda in the UK premiere of Verdi's
Rigoletto and Lady Macbeth in the US premiere of Verdi's
Macbeth ? (
14 September 2010 )
... that the vocal quartet of
Monika Frimmer ,
Christa Bonhoff ,
Dantes Diwiak , and
Peter Kooy recorded the Augsburger Tafel-Confect ("Augsburg Table Confectionary") of
Valentin Rathgeber and
Johann Caspar Seyfert ? (
2 November 2010 )
... that the productions of American stage director
Nathaniel Merrill at the
Metropolitan Opera , "such as Dulcamara's arrival via hot-air balloon in
Elisir , kept Met audiences diverted and amused for a generation"? (
2 June 2011 )
... that the tenor
Kurt Huber sang the
Evangelist in
Bach 's Ascension Oratorio
Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11 , composed for the feast of the
Ascension of 275 years ago? (
13 May 2010 )
... that
Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg had two sons with his mistress, the
Berlin Opera star
Mafalda Salvatini
(pictured) ? (
14 September 2010 )
May 2011
... that bass singer
Jakob Stämpfli appears on the recording of the reconstructed secular
Bach cantata
Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a , also called Shepherd cantata ? (
6 May 2010 )
... that
Italian
castrato
Carlo Scalzi
(pictured) performed at the wedding of
Anne, Princess Royal and
William IV, Prince of Orange in
London , 1734? (
13 September 2010 )
... that
mezzo-soprano
opera singer
Olivia Ward won
season 11 of US television show
The Biggest Loser ? (
26 May 2011 )
... that
contralto
Hildegard Laurich performed in Bach's
cantata for Ratswahl (inauguration of the Leipzig town council)
Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille, BWV 120 ? (
2 October 2010 )
... that "Musica proibita" by Italian composer
Stanislao Gastaldon
(pictured) was the first of six songs for which he also wrote the lyrics under the
pseudonym "Flick-Flock"? (
18 May 2011 )
... that opera singer
Edyth Walker portrayed the title heroine in the
UK premiere of
Richard Strauss '
Elektra at
Covent Garden in 1910? (
16 May 2011 )
... that in 1957, at the pinnacle of the
Cold War ,
mezzo-soprano
Blanche Thebom became the first American to perform at the
Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow? (
15 May 2011 )
... that
Lewis Milestone 's
1953
musical
biographical
drama
Melba , about the life of
soprano
Nellie Melba , was the feature film debut of
Metropolitan Opera star
Patrice Munsel ? (
14 May 2011 )
... that
mezzo-soprano
Petra Noskaiová recorded
alto parts with
La Petite Bande in
Bach cantatas such as
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12 for
Jubilate ? (
3 October 2010 )
... that
Rodion Shchedrin ' s opera
Lolita , which uses a Russian-language
libretto based on
Nabokov 's
novel , was performed in German in the presence of the composer and
his wife
(pictured) ? (
14 May 2011 )
... that conductor
Herbert Grossman collaborated with his wife on a popular English language translation of
Puccini 's
Gianni Schicchi ? (
9 May 2011 )
... that opera singer
Maria di Gerlando created the role of Carmela in the 1954 world premiere of
Gian Carlo Menotti 's
The Saint of Bleecker Street ? (
9 May 2011 )
... that
Leoš Janáček
(pictured) dedicated his
opera
Jenůfa and the
cantata
Elegy on the Death of Daughter Olga to the memory of his daughter? (
10 May 2011 )
... that after
soprano
Gianna Galli 's
opera career ended at the age of 40 due to problems with her
vocal cords , she had a second successful career as a talent manager of singers in Italy? (
8 May 2011 )
... that
baritone
Richard Torigi created the role of Silvio de Narni in the world premiere of
Alberto Ginastera 's
Bomarzo in 1967? (
8 May 2011 )
... that the
Dortmunder Philharmoniker , the orchestra of the city of
Dortmund , Germany, for opera and concert, founded in 1887, recorded its first
CD in 2010? (
29 August 2010 )
... that
Italian
castrato
Carlo Scalzi performed at the wedding of
Anne, Princess Royal and
William IV, Prince of Orange in
London , 1734? (
13 September 2010 )
... that in 2011 the annual festival
Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden , founded in 1896 after the model of the
Bayreuth Festival , opened at the
Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
(pictured) with the first performance in German of
Rodion Shchedrin 's opera
Lolita ? (
6 May 2011 )
... that Austrian composer
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (of
Hollywood
film score fame) composed his first opera,
Der Ring des Polykrates , when he was only seventeen years old? (
8 August 2010 )
... that
Erna Berger sang the title role of
Bedřich Smetana 's
The Bartered Bride in a 1955 recording with
Wilhelm Schüchter and the
Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie ? (
10 August 2010 )
... that
contralto
Sonia Prina (
pictured ) performed the title role of
Antonio Vivaldi 's 1727 opera
Orlando furioso at the
Frankfurt Opera , staged as a
rocker ? (
13 September 2010 )
... that bass singer
Harry van der Kamp founded the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam to perform
madrigals of
Carlo Gesualdo and
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck ? (
27 May 2010 )
... that
Camilla Tilling was the
soprano soloist in
Mahler 's
Resurrection Symphony in the opening concert of the
Rheingau Musik Festival 2010, conducted by
Paavo Järvi ? (
14 July 2010 )
April 2011
... that soprano
Nellie Melba and tenor
Agustarello Affré made their debut together at the
Paris Opéra in 1890 as Lucia and Edgardo in
Donizetti 's
Lucia di Lammermoor (
pictured ) ? (
11 September 2010 )
... that
German classical
tenor
Marcus Ullmann has taken part in the recording of all
Lieder of
Franz Schubert , more than 700, set to the poetry of over 115 writers? (
22 July 2010 )
... that American
soprano ,
Anna Fitziu , was the singing instructor for
Shirley Verrett ? (
24 March 2010 )
... that after eight years singing in
Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company ,
Thomas Lawlor went on to perform more than 60 roles for other
opera companies? (
26 April 2011 )
... that
bass-baritone
Franz Kelch sang the role of
Seneca in the
first recording of
Monteverdi ' s opera
L'incoronazione di Poppea (
pictured ) with
Walter Goehr and the
Tonhalle Orchester Zürich ? (
27 May 2010 )
... that French conductor
Louis Antoine Jullien received thirty-six
given names at his baptism? (
8 November 2007 )
... that
Adalbert Kraus performed the tenor part in Bach's
Easter Oratorio Kommt, eilet und laufet (Come, hasten and run)? (
30 March 2010 )
... that
Piper's Opera House (
pictured ) was used by boxing champion
Gentleman Jim Corbett as a training facility in preparation for his title bout with
Bob Fitzsimmons ? (
21 April 2011 )
... that in
Bach 's
St John Passion in the
Philharmonie Luxembourg ,
Christoph Prégardien was the
Evangelist and
Andreas Pruys sang the words of
Christ ? (
13 November 2010 )
... that a deadly
anti-Semitic riot involving approximately 10,000 people erupted in
Warsaw in 1922 in response to a planned concert of
Yiddish song by soprano
Isa Kremer ? (
13 October 2010 )
... that the original walk-in
safe from a bank that once occupied the first floor of the
Wheeler Opera House (
pictured ) in
Aspen, Colorado , is still on display in the lobby? (
17 April 2011 )
... that
Christoph Schlingensief died before the Berlin premiere of the opera which he had staged, Metanoia. Über das Denken hinaus by
Jens Joneleit , conducted by
Daniel Barenboim ? (
18 April 2011 )
... that playwright
Franz Xaver Kroetz turned his controversial play Stallerhof into an opera libretto for
Gerd Kühr , which premiered at the
Munich Biennale ? (
18 April 2011 )
... that
Max van Egmond (
pictured ) recorded the
bass arias of Bach's
St Matthew Passion with
Claudio Abbado and the words of Jesus with
Gustav Leonhardt ? (
2 April 2010 )
... that Sir
Peter Maxwell Davies ’s new
opera about
student activism ,
Kommilitonen! , was intended to be performed by students? (
16 April 2011 )
... that the
Philadelphia Civic Opera Company (
opera house pictured ) started in 1924, but went
bankrupt after the
Wall Street Crash of 1929 ? (
12 March 2010 )
... that the story of Indian mathematician
Srinivasa Ramanujan , the topic of
Sandeep Bhagwati 's opera for the 1998
Munich Biennale , was considered fit for a film? (
13 April 2011 )
... that
Detlev Glanert 's opera Caligula , after the
play by
Albert Camus on the cruel
Roman emperor , was first staged at the
Oper Frankfurt in 2006 (
pictured ) ? (
12 April 2011 )
... that
mezzo-soprano
Claudia Eder sang the parts of the Muse and Nicklausse in Offenbach's
The Tales of Hoffmann on a recording with
Plácido Domingo as
Hoffmann ? (
15 April 2010 )
... that
Andreas Karasiak recorded Bach's
St Matthew Passion , scored for double chorus, with two
boys choirs ,
Knabenchor Hannover and
Thomanerchor ? (
10 April 2010 )
... that soprano
Myrna Sharlow once upstaged acclaimed opera singer
Mary Garden in a performance of a minor role at the
Boston Opera House ? (
5 November 2010 )
... that baritone
Wolfgang Schöne premiered the role of the tomcat "Tom, Minette's lover" in the opera
Die englische Katze of
Hans Werner Henze (pictured) at the
Schwetzingen Festival ? (
17 April 2010 )
... that soprano
Janis Martin appeared at the
Zurich Opera as Isolde in
Wagner 's
Tristan und Isolde ? (
6 November 2010 )
... that the bass-baritone
Gustav Hölzel was dismissed from the
Vienna State Opera because he changed the words of a song that he was singing in the role of
Friar Tuck ? (
17 September 2009 )
... that
tenor
Kurt Equiluz was the
Evangelist in the first
recording of Bach's
St John Passion on
period instruments with the
Concentus Musicus Wien ,
Vienna ? (
10 April 2010 )
... that soprano
June Card appeared as Freia and Gutrune in
Wagner 's
Der Ring des Nibelungen , conducted by
Michael Gielen and staged by
Ruth Berghaus at the
Frankfurt Opera ? (
27 August 2010 )
... that the
Munich Biennale is an
opera festival created in 1988 by
Hans Werner Henze (
pictured ), focused on opera premieres of young composers? (
1 April 2011 )
March 2011
... that
Violeta Dinescu composed the children's opera Der 35. Mai based on
The 35th of May, or Conrad's Ride to the South Seas by
Erich Kästner ? (
11 November 2009 )
... that when Scottish soprano
Muriel Dickson toured with the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to New York City in 1934–1935, she was invited to join the
Metropolitan Opera ?
... that
Pina Bausch and conductor
Thomas Hengelbrock staged Gluck's
Orfeo ed Euridice in Paris and the ancient theater in
Epidaurus (
pictured ) ? (
24 March 2010 )
... that the debut in
Carnegie Hall of tenor
James Taylor was in the premiere of the
Levine completion of Mozart's
Great Mass in C minor ? (
28 March 2010 )
... that American
soprano
Lauren Flanigan premiered the title role of
Hugo Weisgall 's opera
Esther at the
New York City Opera in 1993? (
22 October 2010 )
... that the
Opernhaus Dortmund (
pictured ) was opened in 1966 with
Der Rosenkavalier , performed in
Dortmund first in 1911? (
28 August 2010 )
... that a gala performance of
The Rose of Castille was given on 21 January 1858 as part of the nuptials of
Queen Victoria 's daughter,
Princess Victoria , and
Prince Frederick William of Prussia ? (
2 July 2010 )
... that within ten years
bass singer
Klaus Mertens recorded all vocal works of
Johann Sebastian Bach with the
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir ? (
14 January 2010 )
... that
Louis Gruenberg 's
The Emperor Jones was available to premiere at
New York City 's
Metropolitan Opera because an opera by a
Jew about a
black was not wanted in
Berlin in 1933? (
26 December 2010 )
... that
opera
singers
Marguerite Bériza (
pictured ) and
Orville Harrold appeared in 1917 at the
Ravinia Festival in both Mascagni's
Cavalleria rusticana and Massenet's
Manon ? (
15 October 2010 )
... that
Jens-Daniel Herzog staged the opera
Intermezzo of
Richard Strauss , with
Christiane Kohl as Christine, "the composer's formidable and frequently hysterical wife"? (
20 March 2011 )
... that former chief music critic of
The New York Times
Donal Henahan was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism in 1986? (
17 March 2011 )
... that soprano
Annette Dasch appeared as Elettra in Mozart's
Idomeneo at the reopening of the
Cuvilliés Theatre , where that opera had been premiered in 1781? (
23 March 2010 )
... that the Italian
castrato
Domenico Annibali (
pictured) made a sensational debut at the
Royal Opera House in London in the title role of
Handel 's opera
Poro ? (
12 September 2010 )
... that singers
Anne Sofie von Otter and
Christian Gerhaher recorded music written in the
concentration camp of Terezín by artists such as
Ilse Weber ,
Hans Krása ,
Pavel Haas and
Viktor Ullmann ? (
19 March 2010 )
... that soprano
Ada Adini , a singer of
Verdi 's
Gilda and
Leonora , appeared as
Brünnhilde in the Italian premiere of
Wagner 's
Die Walküre at
La Scala in 1893? (
12 September 2010 )
... that after
Rosa Ponselle created the role of Carmelita in
Joseph Breil 's "Lyric Tragedy in One Act"
The Legend (
libretto pictured ) at the
Met , she burned her copy of the
score ? (
24 December 2010 )
... that
temperance activist
Carrie Nation was the subject of a
1966 opera by
Douglas Moore , starring
mezzo-soprano
Beverly Wolff ? (
12 March 2011 )
... that soprano
Joanne Lunn appeared as Helena in
Benjamin Britten 's
A Midsummer Night's Dream , conducted by
John Eliot Gardiner and directed by
David Pountney ?(
30 January 2011 ) original hook Bach cantata
... that, in 1869,
Johannes Brahms conducted the
chamber opera
Le dernier sorcier (The Last Sorcerer ), composed by
Pauline Viardot to a French
libretto by
Ivan Turgenev ? (
11 March 2011 )
... that the 1859 symphonic work Hiawatha composed by
Robert Stoepel (
pictured ) is based on
Longfellow 's epic poem
The Song of Hiawatha ?(
10 March 2011 )
... that
Gioachino Rossini 's opera
Tancredi premiered in 1813 at
Teatro La Fenice in
Venice with
Adelaide Malanotte performing in the title role?? (
20 September 2010 )
... that even in her thirties,
Scottish
coloratura soprano
Anne Sharp was able to pass as a
teenager , performing the role of Emmie Spatchett in
Albert Herring at the first
Aldeburgh Festival ? (
8 March 2011 ) International Women's day
... that
mezzo-soprano
Débria Brown (
pictured ) created the role of
Tituba in the world premiere of
Robert Ward 's
Pulitzer-winning opera,
The Crucible , at the
New York City Opera in 1961?
22 October 2010 )
... that baritone
Günter Reich recorded the part of
Moses in
Schoenberg 's opera
Moses und Aron with both
Michael Gielen and
Pierre Boulez ?
27 August 2010 )
... that the 1641 edition
Selva morale e spirituale by
Claudio Monteverdi is considered his "most significant anthology of liturgical works since the
Vespers in 1610 "? (
27 February 2011 )
... that the
Musiktheater im Revier (
pictured ) in
Gelsenkirchen staged a new musical for the 100th anniversary of the soccer club
FC Schalke 04 in 2004? (
6 February 2011 )
... that
Fritz Lehmann conducted the first modern production of
Handel 's
Tolomeo (autograph pictured) , on 19 June 1938 at the
Göttingen International Handel Festival ? (
26 February 2011 )
... that
soprano
Erminia Frezzolini (
pictured ) created the title role in
Verdi 's opera
Giovanna d'Arco at
La Scala in 1843 opposite her husband,
Antonio Poggi , as
Charles VII of France ? (
9 September 2010 )
... that the
baritone
Andreas Schmidt created the part of Ryuji in
Hans Werner Henze 's opera
Das verratene Meer in 1990 at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin ? (
13 June 2010 )
... that the opera
Didone abbandonata (Dido Abandoned ) of
Domenico Sarro , successful in 1724, was revived by
harpsichordist ,
conductor and
musicologist
Ludger Rémy ? (
4 June 2010 )
February 2011