Q&A When and why did you start singing? When I was a kid… I come from a musical family, and so music has always been a part of who I am. But I got serious about singing in high school when people told me girls would think I was cute. So my love for singing began there, really. Which singer inspired you most when you were young and which singer do you most admire? Oh gosh … [Read more...]
Soprano Frances Alda: arguing with Toscanini, a debut at La Scala, Chaliapin’s hairy chest, and Caruso at the Met
Frances Alda (1879 – 1952) was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic soprano. She was one of the world's most celebrated singers during the first three decades of the 20th century and was a frequent onstage partner with Enrico Caruso at the Metropolitan Opera. This account below, taken from her fascinating 1937 autobiography Men, Women, & Tenors, describes her … [Read more...]
The tides of memory – identity, migration and the new diasporas in a film by Luisa Mariani inspired by William Kentridge
William Kentridge’s mural, Triumphs and Laments, in Rome became the city’s biggest contemporary art work and is also Kentridge’s largest public work. The 550m stretch of black and white images was unveiled on 21 April 2016. It was commissioned to mark the anniversary of Rome’s founding in 753BC. https://youtu.be/0y-U8GlPUKk The mural’s inauguration was celebrated by a … [Read more...]
Raina Kabaivanska recounts career secrets including La Scala’s fur coat and Pavarotti’s kiss
Latest in a collaboration between Italy’s L’Opera magazine and La Scala to celebrate the careers of singers – both living and deceased – was Saturday’s encounter with the great Bulgarian soprano Raina Kabaivanska, still statuesque and glamourous at 82. Interspersed with audio and video clips of some of her celebrated roles, were well-aimed questions from the extremely … [Read more...]
Franco Vassallo answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A in italiano When did you start singing? When I was 11 to a disc of Rigoletto with Gobbi, Callas and Di Stefano; a blanket on my shoulder and an umbrella served as my cloak and sword! Above all I loved "La donna è mobile" and the role of the Duke of Mantua; my voice would crack but I didn’t give in! Why did you start singing? Because I thought it was … [Read more...]