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 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 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 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 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 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 soprano Galina Pisarenko studied economics, English, and Norwegian at the same time she was studying to become a professional opera singer?
12 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 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 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 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 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
tenorJonathan 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 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 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 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 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
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 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 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 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 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 John Thomas Douglass'sVirginia's Ball, which premiered in 1868, is generally regarded as the first
opera written by a black composer?
4 May 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 after joining her father's church choir at the age of six,
contraltoPortia White(pictured) grew up to become the first
Black Canadian concert singer to achieve international fame?
12 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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
tenorEnea 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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
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 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 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 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 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 Karel Strakatý, born 2 July 1804, portrayed more than 253 bass roles at the
Stavovské divadlo and first interpreted the
Czech national anthem?
... 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
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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?
... 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 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 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 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 despite health problems, Kathleen Ferrier performed in Handel's Messiah on 13 April 1952, the 140th anniversary of the work's first performance?
... 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 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 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 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 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 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
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?
... 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 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
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 François-Joseph Gossec(pictured), who died 16 February 1829, composed the divertissement-lyriqueLe triomphe de la République, ou Le camp de Grandpré in 1794?
... 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 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 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 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 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
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 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 the music of French opera composer Auguste Mermet(pictured), born 5 January 1810, has been described as "direct, attractive, unadventurous, and noisy"?
... 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 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 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
bass-baritoneHans Hotter(pictured), who died on 6 December 2003, was admired for the power, beauty, and intelligence of his singing, especially in
Wagner operas.
... 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 versatile German soprano Lilli Lehmann(pictured), born 24 November 1848, appeared in the first
Bayreuth FestivalRing in 1876 as Woglinde and Helmwige?
... 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 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 héroïqueAcante et Céphise, ou La sympathie, first performed on 19 November 1751, has been described as "puerile", it "evokes ... a score of remarkable imagination"?
... 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 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 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 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?
... 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 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 "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 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 the powerful yet agile voice
dramatic sopranoThérèse 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 the Théâtrophone service (1890-1932) allowed the subscribers to listen to opera and theatre performances over the telephone lines? (
25 November 2007)
... that
sopranoMeagan 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 the
operaKing 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
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 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
sopranoDolores 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 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 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 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 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 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 after
sopranoGianna Galli'sopera 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)
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 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 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 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 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 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 soprano Galina Pisarenko studied economics, English, and Norwegian at the same time she was studying to become a professional opera singer?
12 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 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 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 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 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
tenorJonathan 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 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 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 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 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
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 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 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 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 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 John Thomas Douglass'sVirginia's Ball, which premiered in 1868, is generally regarded as the first
opera written by a black composer?
4 May 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 after joining her father's church choir at the age of six,
contraltoPortia White(pictured) grew up to become the first
Black Canadian concert singer to achieve international fame?
12 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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
tenorEnea 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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
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 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 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 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 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 Karel Strakatý, born 2 July 1804, portrayed more than 253 bass roles at the
Stavovské divadlo and first interpreted the
Czech national anthem?
... 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
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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?
... 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 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 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 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 despite health problems, Kathleen Ferrier performed in Handel's Messiah on 13 April 1952, the 140th anniversary of the work's first performance?
... 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 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 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 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 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 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
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?
... 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 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
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 François-Joseph Gossec(pictured), who died 16 February 1829, composed the divertissement-lyriqueLe triomphe de la République, ou Le camp de Grandpré in 1794?
... 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 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 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 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 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
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 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 the music of French opera composer Auguste Mermet(pictured), born 5 January 1810, has been described as "direct, attractive, unadventurous, and noisy"?
... 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 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 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
bass-baritoneHans Hotter(pictured), who died on 6 December 2003, was admired for the power, beauty, and intelligence of his singing, especially in
Wagner operas.
... 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 versatile German soprano Lilli Lehmann(pictured), born 24 November 1848, appeared in the first
Bayreuth FestivalRing in 1876 as Woglinde and Helmwige?
... 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 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 héroïqueAcante et Céphise, ou La sympathie, first performed on 19 November 1751, has been described as "puerile", it "evokes ... a score of remarkable imagination"?
... 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 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 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 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?
... 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 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 "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 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 the powerful yet agile voice
dramatic sopranoThérèse 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 the Théâtrophone service (1890-1932) allowed the subscribers to listen to opera and theatre performances over the telephone lines? (
25 November 2007)
... that
sopranoMeagan 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 the
operaKing 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
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 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
sopranoDolores 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 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 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 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 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 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 after
sopranoGianna Galli'sopera 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)