Showing posts with label opera singers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label opera singers. Show all posts
Thursday, May 5, 2022
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Saturday, April 2, 2022
Monday, April 1, 2019
The Information was taken from Wikipedia/
Maria Callas, Commendatore OMRI (Greek: Μαρία Κάλλας; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. Critics praised her bel canto technique, wide-ranging voice and dramatic gifts. Her repertoire ranged from classical opera seria to the bel canto operas of Donizetti, Bellini and Rossini; further, to the works of Verdi and Puccini; and, in her early career, to the music dramas of Wagner. Her musical and dramatic talents led to her being hailed as La Divina.
Born in New York City and raised by an overbearing mother, she received her musical education in Greece and established her career in Italy. Forced to deal with the exigencies of wartime poverty and with myopia that left her nearly blind onstage, she endured struggles and scandal over the course of her career. She turned herself from a heavy woman into a svelte and glamorous one after a mid-career weight loss, which might have contributed to her vocal decline and the premature end of her career. The press exulted in publicizing Callas's allegedly temperamental behaviour, her supposed rivalry with Renata Tebaldi and her love affair with Aristotle Onassis. Her dramatic life and personal tragedy have often overshadowed Callas the artist in the popular press. However, her artistic achievements were such that Leonard Bernstein called her "The Bible of opera"; and her influence was so enduring that, in 2006, Opera News wrote of her: "Nearly thirty years after her death, she's still the definition of the diva as artist—and still one of classical music's best-selling vocalists."
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Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Bio from Wikipedia
Mirusia Louwerse (born 29 March 1985) is an Australian soprano. She performs as Mirusia and is seen by one online source as "The Unconventional Pop Star".
Louwerse was born in Brisbane, Australia, and attended Ormiston College. She graduated in December 2006 from the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane obtaining a Bachelor of Music in Performance in Classical Voice. In 2006, Louwerse became the youngest ever winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Opera Award and went on to record a debut album entitled She Walks in Beauty.
Her aunt, who lives in the Netherlands, contacted André Rieu to tell him about her niece's talent. He listened to her voice on her website and phoned her straight away and two days later she was standing before him in his studio ready to sing.
She has been touring with Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu since 2007 as soprano soloist. She is of Dutch descent and can speak Dutch fluently. In May 2008, André Rieu and Louwerse released an album entitled Waltzing Matilda in Australia which made it to the number one position on the Australian music charts and went platinum within ten days.[citation needed] On Rieu's DVD I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg (2009) she sings the title song "Ich hab' mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren", as well as "Zwei kleine Italiener", "In mir klingt ein Lied", and (with Carla Maffioletti and the Berlin Comedian Harmonists) "Adieu, mein kleiner Gardeoffizier".
Louwerse, January 2011
Her album Always & Forever was released in Australia on 8 October 2010, and went straight to #1 on the ARIA classical charts[citation needed] and #17 on the ARIA pop charts. It was released in The Netherlands in December 2010 and reached #26 on the Dutch pop charts.[citation needed] Her DVD Always & Forever was released in March 2011 and stayed at the #1 position on the ARIA DVD charts for 4 weeks.[8] In 2012 Louwerse won the ARIA #1 Chart Award for Always & Forever and was the only classical artist to receive such an award.
Louwerse is an ambassador for the Australian Children's Music Foundation[10] and believes strongly that if children are exposed to music or are involved in music, they will grow up to be better human beings. In 2010 and 2012, Louwerse participated in two concerts to raise funds for the ACMF, which raised more than $100,000 for music in schools in Australia.[citation needed] She is the Star Ambassador for the Dutch Social Network Foundation, who help raise funds for sick children and their parents and source important medical equipment and treatments through social networking.
In 2013, Mirusia performed with Andre Rieu at the Coronation Concert of the New King of The Netherlands King Willem Alexander. [12] In this same year, to celebrate Benjamin Britten's 100th birthday, she performed under the baton of John Curro with the Queensland Youth Symphony Britten's War Requiem in the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
Her latest releases have been a CD and DVD entitled 'Beautiful That Way' filmed live in Maastricht, and 2014 sees the release of her new album 'My Favorite Things'.
Andre Rieu - Ave Maria (Maastricht 2008) DIGITAL TV
André Rieu Live in Brazil 2013 - Full Concert in HD
Friday, May 1, 2015
Yma Sumac (/ˈiːmə ˈsuːmæk/; September 13, 1922 – November 1, 2008) was a Peruvian soprano. In the 1950s, she was one of the most famous proponents of exotica music.
She became an international success based on her extreme vocal range, which was said to be "well over five octaves" or otherwise was claimed to span over five octaves, at the peak of her singing career. Yma Sumac recorded an extraordinarily wide vocal range of slightly over four octaves from E2 to B♭7 (approximately 107Hz to 3,7kHz). She was able to sing notes in the low baritone register as well as notes above the range of an ordinary soprano. Both low and high extremes can be heard in the song Chuncho (The Forest Creatures) (1953). She was also apparently able to sing in an eerie "double voice". In 1954 classical composer Virgil Thomson described her voice as "very low and warm, very high and birdlike", noting that her range "is very close to five octaves, but is in no way inhuman or outlandish in sound". In 2012, audio recording restoration expert John H. Haley favorably compared Sumac's tone to opera singers Isabella Colbran, Maria Malibran and Pauline Viardot. He described Sumac's voice as not having the "bright penetrating peal of a true coloratura soprano", but having in its place "an alluring sweet darkness ...virtually unique in our time".
Yma Sumac - Bo mambo
El cóndor pasa (Huayno) - Yma Sumac
Yma Sumac - Magic
Yma Sumac - Vírgenes del Sol 1944
YMA SUMAC - "Taita Inti" (Original Short Clip From The 1950s)
YMA SUMAC "Ataypura, Chunco y Tumpa" (Giaguaro 006)
Yma Sumac - Goomba Bomba
YMA SUMAC in Hollywood, 1964 Inca Love Song & Earthquake (Tumpa) complete
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Published on Aug 9, 2012
Recorded live on stage on the eve of one of the worlds greatest sporting events, The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994 re-unites four of classical musics premiere and most popular talents. The legendary tenors José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, together with conductor Zubin Mehta, celebrated the finale to soccers 1994 World Cup with a concert described as probably the biggest single musical event in history.
Brought together for the 1990 World Cup in Italy, The 3 Tenors and Mehta joined forces again, this time in Los Angeles Dodger Stadium on July 16th 1994 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Music Center Opera Chorus, to perform a selection of operatic arias and international favorites specially orchestrated by composer/arranger Lalo Schifrin. The result is an outstanding program, reflecting a unique event, featuring three legendary performers who share a united passion for opera and soccer.
Tracklist:
01. 0:00:18 Orchestra / The national anthem of the USA
02. 0:01:48 Orchestra / Candide Overture. Bernstein
03. 0:06:25 Jose Carreras / O Souverain, O Juge, O Pere
04. 0:11:38 Placido Domingo / Quando le sere al placido. Verdi
05. 0:16:59 Luciano Pavarotti / Pourquoi Me Reveiller. Massanet
06. 0:20:07 Jose Carreras / With A Song In My Heart. Rodgers
07. 0:23:53 Placido Domingo / Granada. Lara
08. 0:27:57 Luciano Pavarotti / Non Ti Scordar Di Me. De Curtis
09. 0:31:45 The 3 Tenors / My Way
10. 0:36:00 The 3 Tenors / Moon River
11. 0:37:39 The 3 Tenors / Because
12. 0:40:05 The 3 Tenors / Singin' in the Rain
13. 0:42:41 Orchestra / Marche Hongroise. Berlioz
14. 0:47:31 Jose Carreras / Tu, Ca Nun Chiagne. De Curtis
15. 0:50:42 Placido Domingo / Amor, vida de mi vida. Torroba
16. 0:54:44 Luciano Pavarotti / Ave Maria. Schubert
17. 0:58:59 Jose Carreras / E lucevan le stelle. Puccini
18. 1:02:07 Placido Domingo / Vesti la giubba. Leoncavallo
19. 1:05:09 Luciano Pavarotti / Nessun Dorma. Puccini
20. 1:09:10 The 3 Tenors / America
21. 1:10:09 The 3 Tenors / All I Ask Of You
22. 1:12:09 The 3 Tenors / Funiculi, Funicula
23. 1:13:29 The 3 Tenors / Sous Les Ponts De Paris
24. 1:15:31 The 3 Tenors / Brazil
25. 1:16:58 The 3 Tenors / Be My Love
26. 1:18:47 The 3 Tenors / Marechiare
27. 1:22:02 The 3 Tenors / Lippen Schweigen
28. 1:24:40 The 3 Tenors / Santa Lucia Luntana
29. 1:28:04 The 3 Tenors / Those Were The Days
30. 1:30:30 The 3 Tenors / Te Quiero Dijiste
31. 1:33:59 The 3 Tenors / Torna A Surriento
32. 1:37:57 The 3 Tenors / La Donna E Mobile
33. 1:40:20 The 3 Tenors / Libiamo Ne' Lieti Calici
Music
"Morning Time (Chill Out Mix)" by Two In florence (Google Play • AmazonMP3 • iTunes)
Category
Music
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Mario Lanza (born Alfred Arnold Cocozza; January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an American tenor, actor, and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s.
Lanza began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16. After appearing at the Hollywood Bowl in 1947, Lanza signed a seven-year film contract with Louis B. Mayer, the head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who saw his performance and was impressed by his singing. Prior to this, the adult Lanza had sung only two performances of an opera. The following year (1948), however, he would sing the role of Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly in New Orleans.
His movie debut was in That Midnight Kiss (1949) with Kathryn Grayson and Ethel Barrymore. The following year, in The Toast of New Orleans, his featured popular song "Be My Love" became his first million-selling hit. In 1951, he played the role of Enrico Caruso (1873–1921), his tenor idol, in the biopic, The Great Caruso, which produced another million-seller with "The Loveliest Night of the Year" (a song which used the melody of Sobre las Olas). The Great Caruso was the top-grossing film that year.]
The title song of his next film, Because You're Mine, was his final million-selling hit song. The song went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. After recording the soundtrack for his next film, The Student Prince, he embarked upon a protracted battle with Studio Head Dore Schary arising from artistic differences with director Curtis Bernhardt, and was eventually dismissed by MGM.
Lanza was known to be "rebellious, tough, and ambitious", and during most of his film career, he suffered from addictions to overeating and alcohol which had a serious effect on his health and his relationships with directors, producers and, occasionally, other cast members. Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper writes that "his smile, which was as big as his voice, was matched with the habits of a tiger cub, impossible to housebreak". She adds that he was the "last of the great romantic performers". He made three more films before dying of an apparent pulmonary embolism at the age of 38. At the time of his death in 1959 he was still "the most famous tenor in the world". Author Eleonora Kimmel concludes that Lanza "blazed like a meteor whose light lasts a brief moment in time".
Early years
Born Alfredo Arnold Cocozza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was exposed to classical singing at an early age by his Abruzzese-Molisan Italian parents. His mother, Maria Lanza, was from the town of Tocco da Casauria a province of Pescara in the region of Abruzzo. His father, Antonio Cocozza, was from the town of Filignano a province of Isernia in the region of Molise. By the age of 16, his vocal talent had become apparent. Starting out in local operatic productions in Philadelphia for the YMCA Opera Company while still in his teens, he later came to the attention of longtime (1924–1949) principal Boston Symphony conductor Serge Koussevitzky, who in 1942 provided young Cocozza with a full student scholarship to the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, Massachusetts. Reportedly, Koussevitzky would later tell him, "Yours is a voice such as is heard once in a hundred years."
Opera career
His opera debut, as Fenton in Otto Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor (in English), came at the Berkshire Music Festival in Tanglewood on August 7, 1942, after a period of study with conductors Boris Goldovsky and Leonard Bernstein. This was when Cocozza adopted the stage name Mario Lanza, for its similarity to his mother’s maiden name, Maria Lanza.
His performances at Tanglewood won him critical acclaim, with Noel Straus of The New York Times hailing the 21-year-old tenor as having "few equals among tenors of the day in terms of quality, warmth and power". Herbert Graf subsequently wrote in Opera News (October 5, 1942), "A real find of the season was Mario Lanza [...] He would have no difficulty one day being asked to join the Metropolitan Opera." Lanza sang Nicolai's Fenton twice at Tanglewood, in addition to appearing there in a one-off presentation of Act III of Puccini's La bohème with the noted Mexican soprano Irma González, baritone James Pease and mezzo-soprano Laura Castellano. Music critic Jay C. Rosenfeld wrote in The New York Times of August 9, 1942, "Irma González as Mimì and Mario Lanza as Rodolfo were conspicuous by the beauty of their voices and the vividness of their characterizations." In an interview shortly before her own death in 2008, González recalled that Lanza was "very correct, likeable, with a powerful and beautiful voice".
Lanza as Giuseppe Verdi's Otello
His budding operatic career was interrupted by World War II, when he was assigned to Special Services in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He appeared in the wartime shows On the Beam and Winged Victory. He also appeared in the film version of the latter (albeit as an unrecognizable member of the chorus). He resumed his singing career with a concert in Atlantic City with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in September 1945 under Peter Herman Adler, subsequently his mentor. The following month, he replaced tenor Jan Peerce on the live CBS radio program Great Moments in Music on which he made six appearances in four months, singing extracts from various operas and other works.
He studied with Enrico Rosati for fifteen months, and then embarked on an 86-concert tour of the United States, Canada and Mexico between July 1947 and May 1948 with bass George London and soprano Frances Yeend. Reviewing his second appearance at Chicago's Grant Park in July 1947 in the Chicago Sunday Tribune, Claudia Cassidy praised Lanza's "superbly natural tenor" and observed that "though a multitude of fine points evade him, he possesses the things almost impossible to learn. He knows the accent that makes a lyric line reach its audience, and he knows why opera is music drama."
In April 1948, Lanza sang two performances as Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly for the New Orleans Opera Association conducted by Walter Herbert with stage director Armando Agnini. Reviewing the opening-night performance in the St. Louis News (April 9, 1948), Laurence Oden wrote, "Mario Lanza performed ... Lieutenant Pinkerton with considerable verve and dash. Rarely have we seen a more superbly romantic leading tenor. His exceptionally beautiful voice helps immeasurably." Following the success of these performances, he was invited to return to New Orleans in 1949 as Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata. But, as biographer Armando Cesari wrote, Lanza by 1949 "was already deeply engulfed in the Hollywood machinery and consequently never learned [that key mid-Verdi tenor] role."
At the time of his death, Lanza was preparing to return to the operatic stage. Conductor Peter Herman Adler, with whom Lanza had previously worked both in concert and on the soundtrack of The Great Caruso, visited the tenor in Rome during the summer of 1959 and later recalled that, "[Lanza] was working two hours a day with an operatic coach, and intended to go back to opera, his only true love." Adler promised the tenor "all possible help" in his "planning for his operatic future." In the October 14, 1959, edition of Variety, it was reported that Lanza had planned to make his return to opera in the role of Canio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci during the Rome Opera's 1960–61 season. This was subsequently confirmed by Riccardo Vitale, Artistic Director of the Rome Opera. Variety also noted that preparations had been underway at the time of Lanza's death for him to participate in recording a series of complete operas for RCA Italiana.
Film career
A concert at the Hollywood Bowl in August 1947 had brought Lanza to the attention of Louis B. Mayer, who promptly signed Lanza to a seven-year film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The contract required him to commit to the studio for six months, and at first Lanza believed he would be able to combine his film career with his operatic and concert one. In May 1949, he made his first commercial recordings with RCA Victor. His rendition of the aria "Che gelida manina" (from La bohème) from that session was subsequently awarded the prize of Operatic Recording of the Year by the (United States) National Record Critics Association.
The Toast of New Orleans
Lanza's first two starring films, That Midnight Kiss and The Toast of New Orleans, both opposite top-billed Kathryn Grayson, were commercial successes, and in 1950 his recording of "Be My Love" from the latter became the first of three million-selling singles for the young singer, earning him enormous fame in the process. While at MGM, Lanza worked closely with the Academy Award-winning conductor, composer, and arranger Johnny Green. In a 1977 interview with Lanza biographer Armando Cesari, Green recalled that the tenor was insecure about the manner in which he had become successful, and was keenly aware of the fact that he had become a Hollywood star before first having established himself on the operatic stage.
"Had [Lanza] been already a leading tenor, if not the leading tenor at the Met[ropolitan Opera House], and come to Hollywood in between seasons to make a picture, he would have had [the security of having] the Met as his home," Green remarked. According to Green, Lanza possessed "the voice of the next Caruso. [Lanza] had an unusual, very unusual quality...a tenor with a baritone color in the middle and lower registers, and a great feeling for the making of music. A great musicality. I found it fascinating, musically, to work with [him]".
The Great Caruso
In 1951, Lanza portrayed Enrico Caruso in The Great Caruso, which proved a success. At the same time, Lanza's increasing popularity exposed him to intense criticism by some music critics, including those who had praised his work years earlier. His performance earned him compliments from the subject's son, Enrico Caruso Jr., a tenor in his own right. Shortly before his own death in 1987, Enrico Jr. wrote in Enrico Caruso: My Father and My Family (posthumously published by Amadeus in 1990) that, "I can think of no other tenor, before or since Mario Lanza, who could have risen with comparable success to the challenge of playing Caruso in a screen biography... Lanza was born with one of the dozen or so great tenor voices of the century, with a natural voice placement, an unmistakable and very pleasing timbre, and a nearly infallible musical instinct." He went on to praise Lanza's tempi and phrasing, "flawless" diction, and "impassioned" delivery, adding that, "All are qualities that few singers are born with and others can never attain." In conclusion, he wrote that, "Lanza excelled in both the classical and the light popular repertory, an accomplishment that was beyond even my father's exceptional talents."
The Student Prince
Tenor Richard Tucker (left) speaking with Lanza in 1958 at Tucker's Covent Garden debut.
In 1952, Lanza was dismissed by MGM after he had pre-recorded the songs for The Student Prince. The reason most frequently cited in the tabloid press at the time was that his recurring weight problem had made it impossible for him to fit into the costumes of the Prince. However, as his biographers Cesari and Mannering have established, Lanza was not overweight at the beginning of the production, and it was, in fact, a disagreement with director Curtis Bernhardt over Lanza's singing of one of the songs in the film that led to Lanza walking off the set. MGM refused to replace Bernhardt, and the film was subsequently made with actor Edmund Purdom miming to Lanza's voice. Ironically, the eventual director of the film was Richard Thorpe, the same man whom Lanza had pleaded with MGM to replace Bernhardt, and with whom the tenor had enjoyed an excellent working relationship in The Great Caruso.
Depressed by his dismissal, and with his self-confidence severely undermined, Lanza became a virtual recluse for more than a year, frequently seeking refuge in alcoholic binges. During this period, Lanza also came very close to bankruptcy as a result of poor investment decisions by his former manager, and his lavish spending habits left him owing about $250,000 in back taxes to the IRS.
Serenade
Lanza returned to an active film career in 1955 in Serenade, released by Warner Bros. However the film was not as successful as his previous films, despite its strong musical content, including arias from Der Rosenkavalier, Fedora, L'arlesiana, and Otello, as well as the Act III duet from Otello with soprano Licia Albanese. Ms. Albanese said of Lanza in 1980:
I had heard all sorts of stories about Mario [Lanza]. That his voice was too small for the stage, that he couldn't learn a score, that he couldn't sustain a full opera; in fact, that he couldn't even sing a full aria, that his recordings were made by splicing together various portions of an aria. None of it is true! He had the most beautiful lirico spinto voice. It was a gorgeous, beautiful, powerful voice. I should know because I sang with so many tenors. He had everything that one needs. The voice, the temperament, perfect diction. . . . Vocally he was very secure. All he needed was coaching. Everything was so easy for him. He was fantastic!
He then moved to Rome, Italy in May 1957, where he worked on the film Seven Hills of Rome, and returned to live performing in November of that year, singing for Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Variety Show at the London Palladium. From January to April 1958, Lanza gave a concert tour of the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany. He gave a total of 22 concerts on this tour, receiving mostly positive reviews for his singing. Despite a number of cancellations, which resulted from his failing health during this period, Lanza continued to receive offers for operatic appearances, concerts, and films.
In September 1958, he made a number of operatic recordings at the Rome Opera House for the soundtrack of what would turn out to be his final film, For the First Time. It was then that he came to the attention of that opera house's artistic director, Riccardo Vitale, who promptly offered the tenor carte blanche in his choice of operatic roles. Lanza also received offers to sing in any opera of his choosing from the San Carlo in Naples. At the same time, however, his health continued to decline, with the tenor suffering from a variety of ailments, including phlebitis and acute high blood pressure. His old habits of overeating and crash dieting, coupled with binge drinking, compounded his problems. On The story of Variety with Michael Grade (BBC 4, 30 May 2012) it was alleged that Lanza was often violent and suffered hallucinations when intoxicated.
Death
In April 1959, Lanza reportedly suffered a minor heart attack followed in August by double pneumonia. On September 25, 1959, he entered Rome's Valle Giulia clinic for the purpose of losing weight for an upcoming film. While in the clinic, he underwent a controversial weight loss program colloquially known as "the twilight sleep treatment," which required its patients to be kept immobile and sedated for prolonged periods. On October 7, a day before his scheduled discharge, he died at the age of 38. No autopsy was performed, but it has been speculated that the phlebitis in his left leg that Lanza was suffering from at the time may have led to a fatal pulmonary embolism (possibly arising from his prolonged immobility). A massive heart attack was another distinct possibility due to Lanza's history of hypertension. He was buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. At his funeral were singers Maria Caniglia and Lidia Nerozzi and actors Franco Fabrizi and Enzo Fiermonte. American crooner Frank Sinatra sent his condolences by telegram.
From the film Toast of New Orleans, as Lt. Pinkerton USN, in recreation of the opera Madama Butterfly
Legacy
Lanza's brief career covered opera, concerts, recordings, television and motion pictures. He was the first RCA Victor Red Seal artist to win a gold disc and the first artist to sell 2 1/2 million albums. This highly influential performer has been credited with inspiring successive generations of other opera singers, including Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Leo Nucci and José Carreras. Singers with seemingly different backgrounds and influences were also inspired by him, even including his RCA Victor label-mate Elvis Presley.
Lanza was referred to by some sources as the "new Caruso" after his "instant success" in Hollywood films, while MGM hoped he would become the movie studio's "singing Clark Gable" for his good looks and powerful voice.
In 1994, outstanding tenor José Carreras paid tribute to Lanza during a worldwide concert tour, saying of him, "If I'm an opera singer, it's thanks to Mario Lanza." His equally outstanding colleague Plácido Domingo echoed these comments in a 2009 CBS interview with, "Lanza's passion and the way his voice sounds are what made me sing opera. I actually owe my love for opera ... to a kid from Philadelphia."
Even today "the magnitude of his contribution to popular music is still hotly debated," and because he appeared on the operatic stage only twice, many critics feel that he needed to have had more "operatic quality time" in major theaters before he could be considered a star of that art form. His films, especially The Great Caruso, influenced numerous future opera stars, including Joseph Calleja, José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. According to opera historian Clyde McCants, "Of all the Hollywood singers who performed operatic music . . . the one who made the greatest impact was Mario Lanza." Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper concluded that "there had never been anyone like Mario, and I doubt whether we shall ever see his like again".
Portrayal on stage
In October 2007, Charles Messina directed the big budget musical Be My Love: The Mario Lanza Story, written by Richard Vetere, about Lanza's life, which was produced by Sonny Grosso and Phil Ramone. It premiered at The Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Greenvale, New York.
Legacy
The persona and music of Mario Lanza are featured in the 1994 Peter Jackson film Heavenly Creatures.
Miljenko Jergović mentions Lanza in his Dvori od oraha (The Mansion in Walnut) novel of 2003 as a part of story about Luka Sikiric.
Mario Lanza Boulevard is a roadway in the Eastwick section of Lanza's native Philadelphia, close to Philadelphia International Airport and ending on the grounds of the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge.
The Mario Lanza Institute and Museum, which honors Lanza's legacy and also provides scholarships to young singers, is located at 712 Montrose Street in South Philadelphia. Link label
Philadelphia's Queen Street Park was renamed for Lanza in 1967. Link label
Lanza was born at 636 Christian Street in South Philadelphia. A Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission marker stands outside of the house.
A large mural dedicated to Lanza stands at Broad and Reed Streets in Philadelphia.
In 1983 a 90-minute PBS documentary, Mario Lanza: The American Caruso, hosted by Plácido Domingo and featuring Lanza's family and professional associates; was nominated for a Primetime Emmy as "Outstanding Informational Special."
In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.
Mario Lanza has been awarded two Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: a Star for Recording at 1751 Vine Street, and a Star at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard for Motion Pictures.
Filmography
Winged Victory, Twentieth Century-Fox 1944 (uncredited chorus member)
That Midnight Kiss, MGM 1949
The Toast of New Orleans, MGM 1950
The Great Caruso, MGM 1951
Because You're Mine, MGM 1952
The Student Prince, MGM 1954 (voice only)
Serenade, Warner Bros. 1956
Seven Hills of Rome, MGM 1958
For the First Time, MGM 1959
Box Office Ranking
At the height of his career, Lanza was voted by exhibitors as being among the most popular stars in the country:
1951 – 13th most popular (US), 10th (UK)
1952 – 23rd (US), 6th (UK)
Select recordings on CD
See also: Mario Lanza discography
Mario Lanza: The Legendary Tenor, (1987)
Christmas With Mario Lanza (1987)
The Great Caruso And Other Caruso Favorites (1989)
Mario Lanza Sings Songs from The Student Prince and The Desert Song (1989)
The Mario Lanza Collection, (1991)
Mario Lanza Live From London (1994)
Mario! Lanza At His Best (1995)
Mario Lanza: Opera Arias and Duets, (1999)
Mario Lanza Live at Hollywood Bowl: Historical Recordings (1947 & 1951) (2000)
Serenade/A Cavalcade of Show Tunes (2004)
The Essential Mario Lanza (2007)
Information for Bio taken from Wikipedia
Mario Lanza as a riveting Otello- Dio, Mi Potevi
Mario Lanza- RARE 1952 La Spagnola (di Chiara)
Mario Lanza- O Sole Mio
Mario Lanza's "Nessun Dorma"
Be My Love - Mario Lanza
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Jonathan Antoine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jonathan Antoine (born 13 January 1995), is a classically trained tenor from Hainault, Essex. He rose to fame after appearing on the sixth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2012 as one half of the classical duo Jonathan and Charlotte. He has since gone solo and his newest album Tenore was released in the UK on 13 October 2014.
Early life
Jonathan Antoine was born to John, a police inspector, and Tracy, a home-maker. Neither was a musician, but they soon understood that their son had a special vocal gift. When he enrolled at West Hatch High School in Chigwell at the age of 11 he began to hone this talent and it was here that he met two people who were to influence him greatly: the singing coach Jenny Ewington and the head of music Ginette Brown. “I started having lessons with Mrs Ewington, and just took to it," he explains. "It was so nurturing. She was inspirational, and she became a fantastic friend”.
At around the age of 13 his voice broke. As his new sound was settling, Jenny Ewington encouraged him to sing challenging numbers such as Bring Him Home from Les Misérables, a song that brought him much attention at the 2010 Stratford and East London Music Festival where he earned the title“Young Musician of The Year” and to explore core-classical repertoire such as Bach/Gounod’s Ave Maria which he performed at The Royal Festival Hall in London, England as part of the Rotary “Youth Makes Music” event in 2011. His talents were soon noticed further afield too. At 14, he auditioned for a junior place at the four major music conservatories in London and was accepted at all of them. He chose to go to the Royal Academy of Music, “because it was near Madame Tussaud’s” he jokes. He was taught there by the highly-regarded singing teacher Sara Reynolds. At this time he also began to take guitar lessons. (He now describes himself as “a guitar nut” with a collection of six, seven, and eight-string guitars, plus two basses and a ukulele).
Back at school, Mrs Brown encouraged Antoine to sing in concerts as she thought it might help with his shyness. “Jonathan came into his own” she says. “All the students would see him and say that he was the boy with the incredible voice”. Antoine himself slowly began to understand the power of his gift too. “I sang the duet Time To Say Goodbye with my friend Stephanie, and there was absolute silence from the audience. It was wonderful – and then we got a standing ovation. It was then I thought: I can really do this”. Ginette Brown asked Antoine and his friend Charlotte Jaconelli to sing The Prayer at her wedding in 2011.
Shy Boy and his Friend Shock the Audience with The Prayer -
Opera duo Charlotte & Jonathan - Britain's Got Talent 2012 audition - UK version
Jonathan and Charlotte - Vero Amore (Your Song)
Jonathan Antoine : Una Furtiva Lagrima : Blackpool Opera House : 29th March 2014
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Bio taken from Sing365.com
THE EARLY YEARS
Born on September 22nd, 1958, Andrea grew up on the family farm in Lajatico, a close knit farming community set among the vineyards and olive groves of rural Tuscany. The farm includes a small vineyard, from which Andrea's father, Sandro, still produces a small quantity of "Chianti Bocelli." Displaying rare musical gifts from an early age, Andrea's parents nurtured and encouraged his talents with formal piano lessons from the age of six, later learning to play both flute and saxophone. Andrea's love of opera was also apparent from an early age, and he feels he was destined to sing. "I was one of those children who would always be asked to sing for my relatives. I don't think one really decides to be a singer - other people decide it for you by their reactions".
After school, Andrea studied law at the University of Pisa, and these years are fondly recalled as a highly enjoyable period in his life. Graduating as a Doctor of Law, Andrea spent a year acting as a court-appointed lawyer, before embarking on a make-or-break attempt at singing. He approached the legendary tenor, Franco Corelli, famous for working with some of the greatest voices in the world, who readily agreed to take Andrea as his pupil. To pay the fees Andrea performed at night in piano bars and clubs, and at one of these venues he met Enrica, his future wife. The couple have now been married for eight years, with two sons, Amos and Matteo.
THE DISCOVERY
In 1992 a chain of events accelerated Andrea from piano bar performer to international superstardom: Italian rock legend Zucchero held auditions for tenors to make a demo tape of the duet 'Miserere', the track co-written with U2's Bono, in attempt to persuade Luciano Pavarotti to record the song. Zucchero recalled: "Andrea was just unbelievable! He had something not one of the other tenors possessed. He had soul." When Pavarotti received the demo, he was extremely impressed with Andrea's voice, "Zucchero! Who is this guy?" Pavarotti demanded. "Thank you for writing such a wonderful song. Yet you do not need me to sing it - let Andrea sing 'Miserere' with you, for there is no one finer." Zucchero convinced Pavorotti to record 'Miserere' with him, and the duo scored a Europe-wide smash hit. When Zucchero embarked on his European tour, with the public crying out to hear the hit live, he invited Bocelli to perform the duet in place of Pavarotti. Bocelli was received tremendously, and a solo spot was incorporated into the concerts.
Pavarotti later arranged to meet with Andrea, and a friendship was formed. Andrea's fame and popularity increased with a high profile performance at Pavarotti's annual charity gala concert, which brings together the worlds of classical and popular music, and this saw Andrea performing not only with his host, but with stars of popular music including Bryan Adams. A 1995 pan-Europe tour, "Night Of The Proms" featuring Bocelli, Bryan Ferry, Al Jarreau and others, saw Andrea performing to a live audience totalling 500,000 with televised audiences numbering tens of millions.
SUGAR MUSIC AND THE SANREMO FESTIVAL
Andrea's recording career begun in earnest when in 1993 he signed to Inseieme/Sugar, the Milan-based music group founded in the 1930's who represent scores of famous Italian artists. Caterina Caselli, Sugar's President, heard Andrea sing 'Miserere' and 'Nessun Dorma' at Zucchero's birthday party and a deal was made immediately. In November 1993, Andrea entered the preliminary round of the prestigious Italian Sanremo Music Festival performing both parts of the duet 'Miserere.' Andrea won the preliminary competition with the highest marks ever recorded in the "New Entrants" category. In spring of 1994, Andrea entered the main competition with 'II Mare Calmo Della Sera,' and the victory was again awarded with a record score. His debut album was released and immediately entered the Italian Top Ten and went platinum in a matter of weeks.
As winner of the 1994 Sanremo Festival Andrea was invited, as in the tradition, to return the following year. Andrea entered with 'Con Te Partirò' taken from his second album "Bocelli" produced by another of Italy's leading record producers, Mauro Malavasi. The album went on to achieve double platinum sales in Italy.
Andrea Bocelli- Con te Partiro
Sarah Brightman - Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro) (duet with
Sarah Brightman - Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro) (duet with
Andrea Bocelli & Celine Dion - The Prayer [Official Live Video]
Andrea Bocelli & Celine Dion - The Prayer [Official Live Video
Andrea Bocelli is coming to Tampa Bay Times Forum
Andrea Bocelli Tickets
Dec 14, 2013 at 8:00 PM - Tampa Bay Times Forum (Tampa, FL
Link to tickets:
Check out the link for tickets on the Blog Roll
https://www.andreabocelli.com/en/#!/home
Monday, September 9, 2013
My Notes:/
Michael Austin is considered one of the most renowed tenors in the opera today. According to opera critics, there has been a lack of good classically trained black male opera singers. Hopefully, after reviewing some of the leading Black Male Singers here, it will at least sheld some light on this question.
Bio:
Reprinted from Dietsch Artist International
Michael Austin, Tenor
is one of the most renowned African American Otellos of his time. Having appeared as the dark moor on numerous occasions, he has made a reputation for himself in this role. He made his debut as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with the Staatstheater Stuttgart. As a His immense success led to performances of Nemorino in L'Elisir d’Amore , Narraboth in Salome, Radames in Aida , Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra , Max in Der Freischütz , Jimmy Mahoney in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Admetus in Gluck's Alceste , the tenor solo's in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde and the title role in Wagner’s Parsifal. Mr. Austin is a frequent guest to the stages of Hamburg, Bilbao and Zürich performing the role of Alfredo in La Traviat a. He has been heard in Hanover as Ismaele in Nabucco, in Berlin, Brünn (the Czech Republic), Prague, Me tz and Karlsruhe as Pinkerton, in Regensburg as Turiddu, St. Petersburg and Moscow as Narraboth in Salome and in Basel and Bern as Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca ...
In America, his many operatic appearances include the world premiere of Philip Glass' Akhnaten which also served as the vehicle for his New York City Opera debut. Mr. Austin has performed Enzo Grimaldo in La Gioconda, the title role in Ernani and Avito in Montemezzi's rarely heard L’Amore de tre Re with Greater Miami Opera, Narraboth in Salome with Houston Grand Opera, and the New Orleans Opera. Alfredo in La Traviata with Opera Omaha and Ismaele and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor for the National Grand Opera.
Mr. Austin made his South American debut in Rio de Janeiro as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and has also sung Ismaele with Opera de Puerto Rico. His debut in Canada was with Opera Hamilton and in Toronto as Alfredo in La Traviata. He is frequently heard in concert. Most prominent is the Verdi Requiem which he has performed in Cologne, Helsinki, Rome, Marseille and Bern. He has also performed Das Lied von der Erde with Brigitte Fassbaender and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy as well as with the Cologne Philharmonic and London's Wigmore Hall. Mr. Austin has performed and recorded Schreker's Die Gezeichneten which was conducted by Edo de Waart. He subsequently made his Salzburg Festival recitaldebut at the ‘Grosse Aula’. Mr. Austin made his English National Opera debut as Joe in the Bizet/Hammerstein production of Carmen Jones directed by Simon Callowunder the musical direction of Henry Lewis. The production was subsequently recorded and released by EMI.
Recent engagements included an appearance with the Dallas Symphony as Cavaradossi under the baton of Andrew Litton with great acclaim. He returned to Stuttgart in Das Lied von der Erde which he also sang in Turin, and in Brünn he sang Radames in Aida and the title role in Wagner’s Lohengrin. Mr. Austin will perform Canio in I Pagliacci for the first time with Metz Opera. And with the radio symphony in Stuttgart he was the tenor soloist in Janacek's Glagolitic Mass. Further Engagements were Monastatos in Die Zauberflöte for Opera Lyons, the title role of Verdi's Otello and Pinkerton in Puccini&s Madama Butterfly for the Warsaw State Opera, and performances in Nabucco, Schönberg's Kreidekreis, a nd Erik in Der Fliegende Holländer all for Heidelberg. He also performed the tenor solos in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde for Radio France in Paris and Janacek's Glagolitic Mass in Lisbon as well as the tenor solos in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Helsinki and Tokyo and in Verdi's Requiem in Marseilles. He appeared in the title role of Otello with the Cleveland Opera. Recently, Mr. Austin appeared in performances of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess which took him to Madrid, Detroit, Bregenz, New Orleans, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich and the new production at the New York City Opera. He has also sung Narraboth in Salome for the New Orleans Opera, Das Lied von der Erde in Milan, Verdi’s Requiem in Geneva and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Montreal, Lisbon, Baltimore, and Cleveland. In October 2006, he sang Radames in Aida with the Piedmont Opera in North Carolina. In June 2007, Mr. Austin sang
Otello with the Gdansk Opera where he received a thirty-minute standing ovation. After such success he was contracted to return to sing Jacobo in I Due Foscari. In December 2008, Mr. Austin became the first non-Chinese to sing a leading role in a Chinese opera (Mulan Palsm) in the Mandarin language.
A native of Wytheville, Virginia, Michael Austin received his musical education at Emory and Henry College, at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and with the Juilliard School of Music. He has been a member of the Santa Fe Opera Festival where he was named ‘Outstanding Apprentice Artist’. He received a BA in music from Emory and Henry college and a Master’s of Music from The Juilliard School in New York. In June 2005, Mr. Austin received the title ‘Doctor of Fine Arts’ from Emory and Henry College.
In 2009, Michael Austin appeared with San Francisco Opera, singing the role of Robbins in Porgy & Bess. He also performaned the title role of Otello with the Regensburg Stadt Theater, In 2010, he sang the Verdi Requiem with the Zurich Philharmonic.
This season, he will appear once again as Robbins in Porgy & Bess with the Seattle Opera immediately following, he will star in the title role of Otello with the Bratislava State Opera.
Dio! mi potevi scagliar
Michael Austin - Niun mi tema from OTELLO
Exultate
Michael Austin - Dio mi potevi from OTELLO
Michael Austin & Scott Bearden - Si, pel ciel marmoreo giuro! – OTELLO
Michael Austin is considered one of the most renowed tenors in the opera today. According to opera critics, there has been a lack of good classically trained black male opera singers. Hopefully, after reviewing some of the leading Black Male Singers here, it will at least sheld some light on this question.
Bio:
Reprinted from Dietsch Artist International
Michael Austin, Tenor
is one of the most renowned African American Otellos of his time. Having appeared as the dark moor on numerous occasions, he has made a reputation for himself in this role. He made his debut as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana with the Staatstheater Stuttgart. As a His immense success led to performances of Nemorino in L'Elisir d’Amore , Narraboth in Salome, Radames in Aida , Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra , Max in Der Freischütz , Jimmy Mahoney in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Admetus in Gluck's Alceste , the tenor solo's in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde and the title role in Wagner’s Parsifal. Mr. Austin is a frequent guest to the stages of Hamburg, Bilbao and Zürich performing the role of Alfredo in La Traviat a. He has been heard in Hanover as Ismaele in Nabucco, in Berlin, Brünn (the Czech Republic), Prague, Me tz and Karlsruhe as Pinkerton, in Regensburg as Turiddu, St. Petersburg and Moscow as Narraboth in Salome and in Basel and Bern as Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca ...
In America, his many operatic appearances include the world premiere of Philip Glass' Akhnaten which also served as the vehicle for his New York City Opera debut. Mr. Austin has performed Enzo Grimaldo in La Gioconda, the title role in Ernani and Avito in Montemezzi's rarely heard L’Amore de tre Re with Greater Miami Opera, Narraboth in Salome with Houston Grand Opera, and the New Orleans Opera. Alfredo in La Traviata with Opera Omaha and Ismaele and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor for the National Grand Opera.
Mr. Austin made his South American debut in Rio de Janeiro as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and has also sung Ismaele with Opera de Puerto Rico. His debut in Canada was with Opera Hamilton and in Toronto as Alfredo in La Traviata. He is frequently heard in concert. Most prominent is the Verdi Requiem which he has performed in Cologne, Helsinki, Rome, Marseille and Bern. He has also performed Das Lied von der Erde with Brigitte Fassbaender and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy as well as with the Cologne Philharmonic and London's Wigmore Hall. Mr. Austin has performed and recorded Schreker's Die Gezeichneten which was conducted by Edo de Waart. He subsequently made his Salzburg Festival recitaldebut at the ‘Grosse Aula’. Mr. Austin made his English National Opera debut as Joe in the Bizet/Hammerstein production of Carmen Jones directed by Simon Callowunder the musical direction of Henry Lewis. The production was subsequently recorded and released by EMI.
Recent engagements included an appearance with the Dallas Symphony as Cavaradossi under the baton of Andrew Litton with great acclaim. He returned to Stuttgart in Das Lied von der Erde which he also sang in Turin, and in Brünn he sang Radames in Aida and the title role in Wagner’s Lohengrin. Mr. Austin will perform Canio in I Pagliacci for the first time with Metz Opera. And with the radio symphony in Stuttgart he was the tenor soloist in Janacek's Glagolitic Mass. Further Engagements were Monastatos in Die Zauberflöte for Opera Lyons, the title role of Verdi's Otello and Pinkerton in Puccini&s Madama Butterfly for the Warsaw State Opera, and performances in Nabucco, Schönberg's Kreidekreis, a nd Erik in Der Fliegende Holländer all for Heidelberg. He also performed the tenor solos in Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde for Radio France in Paris and Janacek's Glagolitic Mass in Lisbon as well as the tenor solos in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Helsinki and Tokyo and in Verdi's Requiem in Marseilles. He appeared in the title role of Otello with the Cleveland Opera. Recently, Mr. Austin appeared in performances of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess which took him to Madrid, Detroit, Bregenz, New Orleans, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich and the new production at the New York City Opera. He has also sung Narraboth in Salome for the New Orleans Opera, Das Lied von der Erde in Milan, Verdi’s Requiem in Geneva and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Montreal, Lisbon, Baltimore, and Cleveland. In October 2006, he sang Radames in Aida with the Piedmont Opera in North Carolina. In June 2007, Mr. Austin sang
Otello with the Gdansk Opera where he received a thirty-minute standing ovation. After such success he was contracted to return to sing Jacobo in I Due Foscari. In December 2008, Mr. Austin became the first non-Chinese to sing a leading role in a Chinese opera (Mulan Palsm) in the Mandarin language.
A native of Wytheville, Virginia, Michael Austin received his musical education at Emory and Henry College, at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and with the Juilliard School of Music. He has been a member of the Santa Fe Opera Festival where he was named ‘Outstanding Apprentice Artist’. He received a BA in music from Emory and Henry college and a Master’s of Music from The Juilliard School in New York. In June 2005, Mr. Austin received the title ‘Doctor of Fine Arts’ from Emory and Henry College.
In 2009, Michael Austin appeared with San Francisco Opera, singing the role of Robbins in Porgy & Bess. He also performaned the title role of Otello with the Regensburg Stadt Theater, In 2010, he sang the Verdi Requiem with the Zurich Philharmonic.
This season, he will appear once again as Robbins in Porgy & Bess with the Seattle Opera immediately following, he will star in the title role of Otello with the Bratislava State Opera.
Dio! mi potevi scagliar
Michael Austin - Niun mi tema from OTELLO
Exultate
Michael Austin - Dio mi potevi from OTELLO
Michael Austin & Scott Bearden - Si, pel ciel marmoreo giuro! – OTELLO
Friday, June 14, 2013
My notes:
Remembering the late great Beverly Sills
I mostly remember Miss Sills (soprano) not so much for her operatic performances, but during the periods when she hosted the Opera Galas at the Met.on PBS. I have downloaded several videos featuring her operatic performances. enjoy/
Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929 – July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist. (see Bel Canto below)
Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verdi, she was known for her performances in coloratura soprano roles in live opera and recordings. Sills was largely associated with the operas of Donizetti, of which she performed and recorded many roles. Her signature roles include the title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, the title role in Massenet's Manon, Marie in Donizetti's La fille du régiment, the three heroines in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann, Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Violetta in Verdi's La traviata, and most notably Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux.
After retiring from singing in 1980, she became the general manager of the New York City Opera. In 1994, she became the Chairman of Lincoln Center and then, in 2002, of the Metropolitan Opera, stepping down in 2005. Sills lent her celebrity to further her charity work for the prevention and treatment of birth defects.
Biography
Sills was born Belle Miriam Silverman in Brooklyn, New York to Shirley Bahn (née Sonia Markovna), a musician, and Morris Silverman, an insurance broker. Her parents were Jewish immigrants from Odessa, Ukraine (then part of Russia) and Bucharest, Romania. She was raised in Brooklyn, where she was known, among friends, as "Bubbles" Silverman. As a child, she spoke Yiddish, Russian, Romanian, French and English. She attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, as well as Manhattan's Professional Children's School
At the age of three, Sills won a "Miss Beautiful Baby" contest, in which she sang "The Wedding of Jack and Jill". Beginning at age four, she performed professionally on the Saturday morning radio program, "Rainbow House", as "Bubbles" Silverman. Sills began taking singing lessons with Estelle Liebling at the age of seven and a year later sang in the short film Uncle Sol Solves It (filmed August 1937, released June 1938 by Educational Pictures), by which time she had adopted her stage name, Beverly Sills. Liebling encouraged her to audition for CBS Radio's Major Bowes' Amateur Hour, and on October 26, 1939 at the age of 10, Sills was the winner of that week's program. Bowes then asked her to appear on his Capitol Family Hour, a weekly variety show. Her first appearance was on November 19, 1939, the 17th anniversary of the show, and she appeared frequently on the program thereafter.
In 1945, Sills made her professional stage debut with a Gilbert and Sullivan touring company produced by Jacob J. Shubert, playing twelve cities in the US and Canada, offering seven different Gilbert and Sullivan operas. In her 1987 autobiography, she credits that tour with helping to develop the comic timing she soon became famous for: "I played the title role in Patience, and I absolutely loved the character, because Patience is a very funny, flaky girl.... I played her as a dumb Dora all the way through and really had fun with the role.... My Patience grew clumsier and clumsier with each performance, and audiences seemed to like her.... I found that I had a gift for slapstick humor, and it was fun to exercise it onstage." Sills sang in light operas for several more years.
On July 9, 1946, Sills appeared as a contestant on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (radio). She sang under the pseudonym of "Vicki Lynn", as she was under contract to Shubert. Shubert did not want Godfrey to be able to say he had discovered "Beverly Sills" if she won the contest (although she did not ultimately win). Sills sang "Romany Life" from Victor Herbert's The Fortune Teller.
In 1947, she made her operatic stage debut as the Spanish gypsy Frasquita in Bizet's Carmen with the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company. She toured North America with the Charles Wagner Opera Company, in the fall of 1951 singing Violetta in La traviata and, in the fall of 1952, singing Micaëla in Carmen. On September 15, 1953, she made her debut with the San Francisco Opera as Helen of Troy in Boito's Mefistofele and also sang Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni the same season. In a step outside of the repertoire she is commonly associated with, Sills gave four performances of the title role of Aida in July 1954 in Salt Lake City. On October 29, 1955, she first appeared with the New York City Opera as Rosalinde in Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus, which received critical praise. As early as 1956 she performed before an audience of over 13,000 guests at the landmark Lewisohn Stadium with the noted operatic conductor Alfredo Antonini in an aria from Vincenzo Bellini's I puritani. Her reputation expanded with her performance of the title role in the New York premiere of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe in 1958.
On November 17, 1956, Sills married journalist Peter Greenough, of the Cleveland, Ohio newspaper The Plain Dealer and moved to Cleveland. She had two children with Greenough, Meredith ("Muffy") in 1959 and Peter, Jr. ("Bucky") in 1961. Muffy is profoundly deaf and has multiple sclerosis and Peter is severely mentally disabled. Sills restricted her performing schedule to care for her children.
In 1960, Sills and her family moved to Milton, Massachusetts, near Boston. In 1962, Sills sang the title role in Massenet's Manon with the Opera Company of Boston, the first of many roles for opera director Sarah Caldwell. Manon continued to be one of Sills' signature roles throughout most of her career. In January 1964, she sang her first Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute for Caldwell. Although Sills drew critical praise for her coloratura technique and for her performance, she was not fond of the latter role; she observed that she often passed the time between the two arias and the finale addressing holiday cards.
Peak singing years
In 1966, the New York City Opera revived Handel's then virtually unknown opera seria Giulio Cesare (with Norman Treigle as Cæsar), and Sills' performance as Cleopatra made her an international opera star. Sills also made her "unofficial" Met debut in its "Opera in the Parks" program as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, though nothing further came of this other than offers from Rudolf Bing for roles such as Flotow's Martha. In subsequent seasons at the NYCO, Sills had great successes in the roles of the Queen of Shemakha in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel, the title role in Manon, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, and the three female leads Suor Angelica, Giorgetta, and Lauretta in Puccini's trilogy Il trittico.
In 1969, Sills sang Zerbinetta in the American premiere (in a concert version) of the 1912 version of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos with the Boston Symphony. Her performance of the role, especially Zerbinetta's aria, "Grossmächtige Prinzessin", which she sang in the original higher key, won her acclaim. Home video-taped copies circulated among collectors for years afterwards, often commanding large sums on Internet auction sites (the performance was released commercially in 2006, garnering high praise). The second major event of the year was her debut as Pamira in Rossini's The Siege of Corinth at La Scala, a success that put her on the cover of Newsweek.
Sills's now high-profile career landed her on the cover of Time in 1971, where she was described as "America's Queen of Opera". The title was appropriate because Sills had purposely limited her overseas engagements because of her family. Her major overseas appearances include London's Covent Garden, Milan's La Scala, La Fenice in Venice, the Vienna State Opera, the Théâtre de Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland, and concerts in Paris. In South America, she sang in the opera houses of Buenos Aires and Santiago, a concert in Lima, Peru, and appeared in several productions in Mexico City, including Lucia di Lammermoor with Luciano Pavarotti. On November 9, 1971, her performance in the New York City Opera's production of The Golden Cockerel was telecast live to cable TV subscribers.
During this period, she made her first television appearance as a talk-show personality on Virginia Graham's Girl Talk, a weekday series syndicated by ABC Films. An opera fan who was Talent Coordinator for the series persuaded the producer to put her on the air and she was a huge hit. Throughout the rest of her career she shone as a talk show guest, sometimes also functioning as a guest host. Sills underwent successful surgery for ovarian cancer in late October 1974 (sometimes misreported as breast cancer). Her recovery was so rapid and complete that she opened in Daughter of the Regiment at the San Francisco Opera a month later.
Following Sir Rudolf Bing's departure as director, Sills finally made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera on April 7, 1975 in The Siege of Corinth, receiving an eighteen-minute ovation. Other operas she sang at the Met include La traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor, Thaïs, and Don Pasquale (directed by John Dexter). In an interview after his retirement, Bing stated that his refusal to use Sills, as well as his preference for engaging, almost exclusively, Italian stars such as Renata Tebaldi – due to his notion that American audiences expected to see Italian stars – was the single biggest mistake of his career. Sills attempted to downplay her animosity towards Bing while she was still singing, and even in her two autobiographies. But in a 1997 interview, Sills spoke her mind plainly, "Oh, Mr. Bing is an ass. [W]hile everybody said what a great administrator he was and a great this, Mr. Bing was just an improbable, impossible General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera.... The arrogance of that man."
Sills was a recitalist, especially in the final decade of her career. She sang in mid-size cities and on college concert series, bringing her art to many who might never see her on stage in a fully staged opera. She also sang concerts with a number of symphony orchestras. Sills continued to perform for New York City Opera, her home opera house, essaying new roles right up to her retirement, including the leading roles in Rossini's Il Turco in Italia, Franz Lehár's Die lustige Witwe and Gian Carlo Menotti's La loca, a role written especially for her.
Although Sills' voice type was characterized as a "lyric coloratura", she took a number of heavier spinto and dramatic coloratura roles more associated with heavier voices as she grew older, including Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia (with Susanne Marsee as Orsini) and the same composer's Tudor Queens, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux (opposite Plácido Domingo in the title part). She was admired in those roles for transcending the lightness of her voice with dramatic interpretation, although it may have come at a cost: Sills later commented that Roberto Devereux shortened her career by at least four years.
Sills popularized opera through her talk show appearances, including Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett, David Frost, Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin, and Dinah Shore. Sills hosted her own talk show, Lifestyles with Beverly Sills, which ran on Sunday mornings on NBC for two years in the late 1970s; it won an Emmy Award. In 1979 she even appeared on The Muppet Show. Down-to-earth and approachable, Sills helped dispel the traditional image of the temperamental opera diva.
Later years and death
In 1978, Sills announced she would retire on October 27, 1980, in a farewell gala at the New York City Opera. In the spring of 1979, she began acting as co-director of NYCO, and became its sole general director as of the fall season of that year, a post she held until 1989, although she remained on the NYCO board until 1991. During her time as general director, Sills helped turn what was then a financially struggling opera company into a viable enterprise. She also devoted herself to various arts causes and such charities as the March of Dimes and was sought after for speaking engagements on college campuses and for fund raisers.
From 1994 to 2002, Sills was chairman of Lincoln Center. In October 2002, she agreed to serve as chairman of the Metropolitan Opera, for which she had been a board member since 1991. She resigned as Met chairman in January 2005, citing family as the main reason (she had to place her husband, whom she had cared for over eight years, in a nursing home). She stayed long enough to supervise the appointment of Peter Gelb, formerly head of Sony Classical Records, as the Met's General Manager, to succeed Joseph Volpe in August 2006.
On June 28, 2007, the Associated Press and CNN reported that Sills was hospitalized as "gravely ill", from lung cancer. With her daughter at her bedside, Beverly Sills succumbed to cancer on July 2, 2007, at the age of 78. She is interred in the Sharon Gardens Division of Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, NY.
Bel Canto
Bel canto (Bel-Canto) (Italian, "beautiful singing"), along with a number of similar constructions ("bellezze del canto"/"bell’arte del
The earliest use of the term "bel canto" occurred in late 17th-century Italy
In the mid-19th century, bel canto gained a more specific meaning when it was employed to distinguish what by now had developed into the traditional Italian vocal model from more forceful, less ingratiating styles of singing. These newer styles of singing had arisen as a result of 19th-century operas growing increasingly dramatic, pitting performers against louder and denser orchestral accompaniments in bigger theatres. Nonetheless, "neither musical nor general dictionaries saw fit to attempt [a] definition [of bel canto] until after 1900". The term remains vague and ambiguous in the 21st century and is often used nostalgically to evoke a lost singing tradition
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