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 …
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 soprano …
One day, when I was finishing the last pages of The Firebird in St Petersburg [in 1910], I had a fleeting vision… I saw in my imagination …
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 …
Vittorio Grigolo is not normal. While no artist is normal – and some are downright strange – Grigolo is something of an eccentric, both onstage (just …
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 – the …
La Scala has been forced to cancel tomorrow’s performance of L’italiana in Algeri after a company member tested positive for Covid-19.
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 criticisms …
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.
Why did you …
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, which will be …
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, …
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 will …
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 …
“Listen to me, everyone speak about Callas. But I know Callas. I know Callas before she was Callas.
She was fat and she had this vociaccia …
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 is slated …
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 …
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 …
Maria Callas: The Exhibition in Verona, runs throughout the summer opera season until 18 September 2016.
It is the largest such exhibition dedicated to La Divina …
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 the …
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 …
Jonas Kaufmann:
[#MeToo is happening in opera] and not just for the girls! We men are at risk too! I know the situation well because as …
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?
I started singing because …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
“Silence – Recording in Progress” reads the sign, as Maria Callas arrives at La Scala to record Il trovatore in 1956. More than any other …
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 about …
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 …
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 …
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 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 feel …
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 …
Anna Netrebko opens the new season at La Scala – as each year, on 7 December – as Tosca. It will be her fourth time …
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 …
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 …
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.
A …
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 and I sang …
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, …
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 when you were young?
ABBA.
Which singer …
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 …
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 …
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 – …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 OPERA 2016-2017 SEASON
THE …
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 …
It’s not often that the accompanist for a recital is mentioned in the opening paragraph of a review, but Anita Rachvelishvili’s recital at La Scala …
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,
My …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
