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Gramilano logo 2023

- dance, opera, photography...

Barbara Frittoli

La Scala announces its 2024-2025 Opera Season

29 May 2024 by Gramilano Leave a Comment

Teatro alla Scala

La Scala in Milan has announced it's opera programming for the 2024-2025 season. The inaugural title of the 2024-2025 season, La forza del destino – one of Verdi’s most important and complex works – … [Read more...] about La Scala announces its 2024-2025 Opera Season

[Interview] Soprano Benedetta Torre – La Scala’s newest Susanna

30 September 2023 by Gramilano 1 Comment

Benedetta Torre, photo by Mattia di Pasquale crop

Young soprano Benedetta Torre will be Susanna in the revival of Giorgio Strehler’s renowned production of Le nozze di Figaro at La Scala in Milan, which opens tonight, 30 September 2024. Torre, who … [Read more...] about [Interview] Soprano Benedetta Torre – La Scala’s newest Susanna

La Scala records the last artists for tonight’s opening gala

7 December 2020 by Gramilano Leave a Comment

Placido Domingo photo by Rudy Amisano, December 2020

Yesterday Roberto Alagna, Aleksandra Kurzak and Lisette Oropesa recorded their sections of tonight's opening gala at La Scala (5pm CET) and today Camilla Nylund, Andreas Schager, Francesco Meli and … [Read more...] about La Scala records the last artists for tonight’s opening gala

Remembering the conductor Tullio Serafin, fifty years after his death

3 October 2018 by Gramilano 3 Comments

Callas with Serafin in 1960

Fifty years ago today, on 3 October 1968, Tullio Serafin died in Rome. In a long career he conducted singers from Caruso to Pavarotti. He was born near Venice in 1878, but when he was 11 the family … [Read more...] about Remembering the conductor Tullio Serafin, fifty years after his death

Top opera singers discuss how they choose and prepare new roles

20 October 2017 by Gramilano Leave a Comment

Gregory Kunde as Otello, photo by Matthias Baus, Teatro alla Scala 2015

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 of a role lies too high, or too low or, indeed, hovers too much … [Read more...] about Top opera singers discuss how they choose and prepare new roles

Photo album and cast of Don Giovanni at La Scala

7 May 2017 by Gramilano 1 Comment

Don Giovanni   Thomas Hampson, photo by Brescia Amisano – Teatro alla Scala

Robert Carsen’s spectacular production for La Scala of Don Giovanni created for the opening of the opera season in 2011, started a ten-performance run last night, which ends on 6 June. The Financial … [Read more...] about Photo album and cast of Don Giovanni at La Scala

Barbara Frittoli answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition

4 May 2015 by Gramilano 3 Comments

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 throughout the operation. Why did you … [Read more...] about Barbara Frittoli answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition

@teatroallascala – the world’s most famous theatre goes digital

23 February 2015 by Gramilano Leave a Comment

Social media is revolutionising how theatres and their artists communicate with audiences and fans. Teatro alla Scala, which has an august, though often severe, reputation is, surprisingly, emerging … [Read more...] about @teatroallascala – the world’s most famous theatre goes digital

Luca Ronconi, Italian director of theatre and opera, dies at 81

22 February 2015 by Gramilano 1 Comment

Italian director Luca Ronconi died yesterday evening in the Policlinico in Milan after a short illness. His health had been poor over the last years, he was on dialysis, and was complicated by … [Read more...] about Luca Ronconi, Italian director of theatre and opera, dies at 81

Barbara Frittoli at La Scala: odd but nice

8 May 2013 by Gramilano Leave a Comment

When the line up for a recital is a soprano, pianist and clarinetist one would assume that at a certain point all three would perform together. Not at La Scala when Barbara Frittoli gave her scheduled … [Read more...] about Barbara Frittoli at La Scala: odd but nice

The curse of the La Scala recital series? Barenboim bows out

28 April 2013 by Gramilano 4 Comments

Ok, the headline is a bit over the top, but the vocal recitals at La Scala have been having a spot of bad luck recently, especially seeing that there are only seven recitals each season. Just over a … [Read more...] about The curse of the La Scala recital series? Barenboim bows out

Bartoli’s Sacrificium and Muti’s Verdi Requiem recordings win Grammy Awards

14 February 2011 by Gramilano Leave a Comment

Right down there at the bottom of the barrel are the classical nominations - after rap, blues, latin, heavy metal, R&B, country, jazz, pop and every other form of popular music imaginable there … [Read more...] about Bartoli’s Sacrificium and Muti’s Verdi Requiem recordings win Grammy Awards

Luca Pisaroni – the new bass-baritone on the block

2 January 2011 by Gramilano Leave a Comment

With ten years of professional singing under his belt, Luca Pisaroni is starting to make big waves. Here is a well-disciplined voice with a personality, whose owner is good actor and has a charming … [Read more...] about Luca Pisaroni – the new bass-baritone on the block

Grammy Awards 2010: personal favourites Bartoli, Genaux, Frittoli et al, but most satisfying is the inclusion of the wonderful Jessye Norman

3 December 2010 by Gramilano Leave a Comment

The nominees are out for the 2010 Grammy Awards. But under the heading "Best Classical Crossover Album" - not usually my favourite category - is the nomination which makes me the happiest: with a … [Read more...] about Grammy Awards 2010: personal favourites Bartoli, Genaux, Frittoli et al, but most satisfying is the inclusion of the wonderful Jessye Norman

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Gramilano newsletter 2019

INTERVIEWS

Tamas Detrich at the Stuttgart Ballet

[Interview] Tamas Detrich’s first five years as director of Stuttgart Ballet

Katia Ricciarelli, Rai TV, 2019

Katia Ricciarelli at 74 returns to the opera stage and talks about being a diva

Bella Ratchinskaia

Bella Ratchinskaia and Manuel Legris talk about the abuse allegations at Vienna State Opera’s Ballet Academy

Anna Netrebko, photo by Ruven Afanador

Interview with Anna Netrebko on Tosca at La Scala: kissing, killing, and Kabaivanska

Michele Esposito portrait

Introducing Michele Esposito… winner of the Prix de Lausanne 2017

Jacopo Tissi in Swan Lake crop

Interview: Who is Jacopo Tissi? The Bolshoi’s enigmatic Italian star talks about Moscow, Milan and London, “It certainly wasn’t easy”

Juan Diego Flórez

Juan Diego Flórez interview: my 25 years with Rossini

Sergei Polunin, Romeo and Juliet, Verona 2019

Interview with Sergei Polunin – Verona’s new Romeo

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GRAMILANO

Graham Spicer, aka 'Gramilano', is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.

Since 2022, Gramilano has been pleased to welcome guest authors: Paul Arrowsmith, Donatella Bertozzi, Georgina Butler, Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel, Jonathan Gray, Marina Harss, Ann Haskins, Lily Hyde, Marta Mele, Matthew Paluch, Jann Parry, Lucía Piquero, Graham Watts, Deborah Weiss, and Lydia Wharf.

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