Top opera singers discuss how they choose and prepare new roles
Opera singing is a high-wire profession. Only the most tone-deaf will not wince when a note is off. It is all too obvious when part…
Franco Zeffirelli is named one of 35 living descendants of Leonardo da Vinci
35 living descendants of Leonardo Da Vinci’s family have been identified. Although Da Vinci didn’t have any children, a project – started in 1973 –…
Cecilia Bartoli triumphs at La Scala amidst catcalls and boos
After nineteen years, Cecilia Bartoli’s return to Milan’s La Scala tonight was long overdue. Daniel Barenboim was the instigator of the event: the opening of…
Overwhelming applause for Gruberova and her queens at La Scala
You shouldn’t reveal a lady’s age, they say, but how can I not say that Edita Gruberova is 68 years-old when she took on the final…
Barbra Streisand’s last concert
With last night’s concert in Berlin, Barbra Streisand said auf wiedersehen to Europe forever. In fact, apart from two last concerts in Israel, she is saying…
La Scala Recital and Concert Season 2016-2017 – full dates and interpreters
The concert programme includes some of the greatest living conductors. Riccardo Chailly will be on the podium for two evenings of the Symphony Season, Verdi’s…
Interview with Virginia Zeani at 90 “My brain believes that I’m eternally young”
Inside I feel 50, outside I feel 70, and my brain believes that I’m eternally young. But on 21 October the great soprano Virginia Zeani…
Renata Scotto on slapping a tenor, the divine Callas, and… Bocelli
Renata Scotto has never been one to hold her tongue and at 81 she doesn’t intend to start. In a recent interview for Italy’s Il…
Barenboim drops Callas’s 93-year-old Annina from tonight’s Traviata in Berlin
93-year-old Luisa Mandelli, who sixty years ago was the Annina in Luchino Visconti’s La traviata with Maria Callas, was due to perform the same role…
Happy 80th Birthday Mirella Freni… from La Scala – in photos and video
Mirella Freni is eighty, and to celebrate her birthday La Scala threw open its doors to her fans and opera lovers to see the great…
Interview with tenor Lawrence Brownlee on being a black man in America: Cycles of My Being
A new song cycle exploring the realities of life as a black man in America will receive its world premiere performance with Opera Philadelphia tonight,…
Maria Callas in newly restored photos from the La Scala archive
“Silence – Recording in Progress” reads the sign, as Maria Callas arrives at La Scala to record Il trovatore in 1956. More than any other…
The perfect Bohème at La Scala… magisterial, stunning!
La Scala’s La bohème has been a constant presence in the theatre’s programming after more than half a century and now edges towards its 240th performance. The…
Jonas Kaufmann on bended knee before La Scala’s standing ovation
Jonas Kaufmann triumphed at Milan’s La Scala in his recital last night, with most of the packed house standing to applaud his generous encores. Although…
Jonas Kaufmann: A Picture Journey – a glorious new book celebrates the tenor’s 50th birthday in photos
Jonas Kaufmann was 50 on 10 July this year. To celebrate, the esteemed Vienna-based publishing house Verlag für moderne Kunst has produced – in collaboration…
Aged 97, Franco Zeffirelli will stage a new production of Rigoletto
At 95, Franco Zeffirelli is returning to the opera house to direct a new production of Rigoletto. The opera will open in September 2020 at…
Talents young and old(er) for La Scala’s Barber of Seville
Lilly Jorstad. Note the name. You’ll be hearing it more and more over the next few years. Lilly Jorstad is Rosina in La Scala’s Il…
In conversation with Luca Pisaroni: back to Milan with his La Scala debut
Italian bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni will make his house debut at La Scala in 2017 as Leporello. It will be only the second opera he has…
Tenor fractures spine after stage collapses during Turandot
Friday night’s performance of Turandot at the open-air theatre in Torre del Lago nearly finished in more tragedy than the opera had already delivered when, just after midnight,…
Alexander Pereira’s partner Daniela de Souza on Zara and Wagner
The 27 year-old partner of the new Sovrintendente at La Scala (Alexander Pereira, 66) has left her first interview with Italy’s Chi magazine. Daniela de Souza…
Unseen photos: an emotional Maria Callas with Herbert von Karajan at La Scala in the ’50s
An (almost) unseen photo from the archives at Teatro alla Scala which shows an emotional Maria Callas moved to tears by the incredible success of…
CD review: Diana Damrau in Meyerbeer’s Grand Operas – a diva in her prime
Meyerbeer: GRAND OPERA with Diana Damrau This glorious new album finds Diana Damrau in sparkling, top-notch form. The exacting demands that Meyerbeer makes on the…
Vampires are taking over the opera house
When the Royal Swedish Opera announced their “Night of the Vampires” dress rehearsal event on Facebook on 15 September, it became clear that there is…
Thomas Hampson answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start singing? In the crib. Apparently, I was a very vocal baby … no seriously, I already sang as a child.…
How much are singers, conductors and directors paid?
Italy’s Classic Voice magazine has published a list of the current maximum fees paid by the Italian opera houses, and, surprisingly – though according to many…
Maria Callas’ Annina returns to sing the same role after sixty years
Luisa Mandelli, who played Annina in Luchino Visconti’s La traviata at La Scala in 1955, is now 93 years old. Although a small role, she…
Angela Gheorghiu reveals Alagna’s pathological jealousy of Kaufmann
I’m in love and happy. His name’s Mihai Ciortea and he’s Romanian like me. He’s good-looking, kind and very, very young. Angela Gheorghiu is talking…
Unseen photos: Maria Callas at La Scala
Maria Callas would have been 90 today, yet she died 36 years ago. Her years at La Scala in Milan, where she also recorded most…
Vittorio Grigolo’s new women’s shoes and a song for Hillary Clinton
Vittorio Grigolo is not normal. While no artist is normal – and some are downright strange – Grigolo is something of an eccentric, both onstage (just…
Stunning photos from La Scala archives celebrate Raina Kabaivanska’s return to the theatre
As part of the Great Voices at La Scala series, Raina Kabaivanska will be interviewed Sabino Lenoci and Giancarlo Landini of Italy’s L’Opera magazine in…
The Man I Love – was George Gershwin gay?
Michael Feinstein’s book on the Gershwins called, sensibly, “The Gershwins and Me” (Simon & Schuster) was published in October. While he was still working in…
Composer Julian Cochran on music, maths and method
Composer Julian Cochran has two phrases in his publicity blurb which leap out of the page. One, tender and intimate, gives a clue to the…
Young mezzo Lilly Jørstad wins important grant from her ‘homeland’
Lilly Jørstad — the mezzo-soprano who was strangely considered ‘unsuitable’ to continue her studies at the La Scala Academy — has gone on to demonstrate what a bizarre…
Joyce DiDonato answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start singing? I can’t ever remember I time where I didn’t sing. Why did you start singing? I can’t remember the…
Luca Pisaroni answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start singing? I started singing when I was 12/13 years old. I was a tenor then… Why did you start singing?…
Traviata opens tonight at La Scala… here’s a sneak peek
The staging of La traviata is the lavish Liliana Cavani production with sets by Dante Ferretti with which Verdi’s masterpiece returned to La Scala in…
La Scala Opera Season 2016-2017 – full dates and casts
Ballet Season 2016-2017 Recital and Concert Season 2016-2017 The new season opens with another step along the path of Riccardo Chailly’s Puccini Project, Madama Butterfly,…
Lilly Jørstad – La Scala’s Rosina – kicked out after last performance
The mezzo-soprano Lilly Jørstad, who has just completed a triumphant run of performances as Rosina at La Scala, has been told that she is ‘unsuitable’…
A box in the Royal Albert Hall goes for £2.76m
Jim Ratcliffe, the 64-year-old ‘British chemical engineer turned financier and industrialist’ – and, according to Forbes, is worth around 10 billion dollars – has bought…
The funeral of Magda Olivero – 11 September 2014
Magda Olivero’s funeral was a life affirming mix of emotions. She was a practising Catholic, and three different priests, who had been close to her…
In conversation with Jakub Józef Orliński – the new countertenor on the block
Jakub Józef Orliński is the new countertenor name to add to an ever-growing roster of artists who are selling discs and selling out concert halls…
Interview with Anna Netrebko on Tosca at La Scala: kissing, killing, and Kabaivanska
Anna Netrebko opens the new season at La Scala – as each year, on 7 December – as Tosca. It will be her fourth time…
Franco Fagioli answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start singing? I don’t remember exactly when… Why did you start singing? Because it felt good. Which singers inspired you most…
Barbara Frittoli answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A in italiano When did you start singing? From what I remember I’ve always sung: when I was seven I had emergency surgery for peritonitis…
La Scala’s ousted singer returns for Cenerentola at La Scala
Alexander Pereira’s appointment as General Manager of La Scala came with the usual chorus of protests which accompanies almost all changes at this highly conservative…
The world of composer Steve Barakatt: from space to eternal life in Russia
You may not have heard the name of Canadian composer Steve Barakatt, but how many composers have had a composition played in space? This happened…
Natalie Dessay to say ‘addio’ to opera
I want to change my life – I want to go into straight theatre. Natalie Dessay announced to Examiner.com’s Sean Martinfield. After the summer Dessay…
Gheorghiu the Diva vs Angela the Woman
Angela Gheorghiu acts the diva, but she doesn’t seem to be one. Before her appearances in Italy she leaves bold statements in the newspapers – “I don’t…
Maria Callas to Daniela Dessì: study to be good, not famous
The popular Italian gossip magazine Chi has published a series of articles about soprano Daniela Dessì. Her death at 59, just over two months ago,…
The face of a soprano: Fornasetti’s obsession with Lina Cavalieri
“Variation is not only a noble endeavour or a musical exercise, but also an intellectual tradition and virtuosity of the imagination,” said Giò Ponti, Italian architect and…
Pavarotti’s family tells Trump to stop using Nessun Dorma
Luciano Pavarotti’s three daughters Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana, together with his widow, Nicoletta Mantovani, have requested that the Trump campaign stops using the Maestro’s voice.…
ROYAL OPERA SEASON 2016 – 2017: theatre, cinema and radio
All the details of the 2016-2017 Opera Season at London’s Royal Opera House: skip to section: ROYAL OPERA 2016-2017 SEASON – IN BRIEF THE ROYAL…
Joyce DiDonato’s recital interrupted by a call from Rossini
Joyce DiDonato well and truly conquered La Scala’s audience during her recital last night. She was greeted by an ovation that took her aback –…
Daniela Dessi dies after a short illness, at 59
Italian soprano Daniela Dessi has died after a short battle with cancer of the colon. She was just 59. She possessed one of the most beautiful…
Vittorio Grigolo jokes “I’m a sex addict”
In an interview with Italy’s Vanity Fair, the always outspoken tenor, Vittorio Grigolo, responded to journalist Sara Faillaci’s question, “Is sex important for you?” with,…
Muti shocked, Zakharova cancels: strikes and budget disaster at Rome Opera
Carlo Fuortes, the new director of Rome Opera, has a difficult path ahead of him. During the first few months of his leadership he must…
Vittorio Grigolo on his last meeting with Pavarotti and on finding his siblings
Vittorio Grigolo is a firecracker of a man, exploding in all directions, often loudly, causing excitement – and a little disorientation – among those nearby. At least that is…
Interview with Anna Netrebko on her son, his autism and his abandonment by his father Erwin Schrott
Anna Netrebko, soon after her performances of Andrea Chénier at La Scala, talked about her son, his autism and the abandonment by his father, bass-baritone…
Renata Scotto vs Maria Callas – the 1970 fight at La Scala
When Renata Scotto made her début in I vespri siciliani at La Scala to open the theatre’s season on 7 December 1970, one of the…
Cecilia Bartoli: “Contemporary composers can’t write for opera singers like me”
I’ve been following this project for eight years and I’ve been to St Petersburg many times in train or by ship, because I don’t like…
