When did you start singing? I always loved to sing since I was a child. I sang on every occasion, also during public events at school, where my maths teacher heard me and advised me to take singing lesson with her neighbour who was a voice teacher. He listened me, and he told me that I was ready to attend the conservatoire in Xi’an, my city. I went there, in few years I became … [Read more...] about Hui He answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Placido Domingo
Tenor Marcello Giordani has died at 56
Tenor Marcello Giordani died this afternoon following a heart attack – he was 56 years old. He was at his home in Augusta in the Province of Syracuse when at about 3 pm, after lunch, he felt unwell, but an hour of attempts to revive him by medical staff who arrived by ambulance and helicopter were to no avail. Just a month ago he was singing the role of Calaf in Turandot at … [Read more...] about Tenor Marcello Giordani has died at 56
Interview: Angel Blue at La Scala “It will never happen… not a black Violetta.”
When she was twenty, Angel Blue’s singing teacher told her, “I’m sorry, but it will never happen. There will never be a black Violetta.” Now she’s at La Scala singing that very role. It’s not the first time. She managed to break the taboo when she was twenty-four in Seoul, and there have been five other productions for her since. The La Scala production by Liliana Cavani is … [Read more...] about Interview: Angel Blue at La Scala “It will never happen… not a black Violetta.”
Interview: Carmen Giannattasio on her first Tosca, Lady Gaga, and homicide
Soprano Carmen Giannattasio has been in demand since she was thrust before the public eye when she won both the First Prize and the Audience Award at Placido Domingo’s Operalia in Paris in 2002. She took on one of the most challenging soprano roles soon after, singing Violetta La Traviata. Reviewing a 2007 performance at Scottish Opera, Rupert Christiansen wrote in the Daily … [Read more...] about Interview: Carmen Giannattasio on her first Tosca, Lady Gaga, and homicide
Designer Luisa Spinatelli’s Le Corsaire team fêted in Milan
The Amici della Scala association (Friends of La Scala) are always ready to celebrate: maybe it's a question and answer session with Antonio Pappano, a talk by Placido Domingo, a presentation of one of the association's newly published books (they have an extensive collection) - whatever, evenings always finish with an upheld glass and the cutting of a cake. The occasion this … [Read more...] about Designer Luisa Spinatelli’s Le Corsaire team fêted in Milan
Interview with Angela Gheorghiu on Draculina, Kaufmann, capriciousness and corruption
The autobiography of outspoken soprano Angela Gheorghiu — Angela Gheorghiu: A Life for Art — comes out in October. Her candidness will obviously make for fascinating reading. In an interview with the Corriere della sera she was as unbuttoned as ever. If I am the black sheep of my profession because I have my own opinions and I react to unkindness. The Romanian soprano has a … [Read more...] about Interview with Angela Gheorghiu on Draculina, Kaufmann, capriciousness and corruption
Riccardo Frizza answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Conductors’ Edition
Q&A When did you start playing an instrument? I was five years old. Why did you start playing? Because I was given a little piano in my house. Which musician inspired you most when you were young? Lenny Bernstein. Which musicians (instrumentalists or singers) do you most admire? Joshua Bell and Placido Domingo. What’s your favourite piece to conduct? Every place … [Read more...] about Riccardo Frizza answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Conductors’ Edition
Bolle’s Boléro: Roberto Bolle at La Scala performs Béjart’s intoxicating rite for the first time
I certainly wasn’t the only one to have doubts when Roberto Bolle announced his intention to climb onto Béjart’s red table. Facebook was abuzz with comments from puzzled ballet fans who couldn’t see him as La Mélodie. Even now, after his run of performances of Boléro, many hold on to that view. How delighted I was to be proved wrong (not that I had voiced my doubts, I may add) … [Read more...] about Bolle’s Boléro: Roberto Bolle at La Scala performs Béjart’s intoxicating rite for the first time
Preview peek at La Scala’s new production of Tamerlano starring Domingo, Mehta, Fagioli, Crebassa and Schiavo
La Scala’s Baroque Orchestra returns, after last year’s successful Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, for a new production of Handel’s Tamerlano, again conducted by Diego Fasolis. An impressive cast features Bejun Mehta as Tamerlano, Plácido Domingo as Bajazet, Marianne Crebassa as Irene, Franco Fagioli as Andronico, and Maria Grazia Schiavo as Asteria. It also marks … [Read more...] about Preview peek at La Scala’s new production of Tamerlano starring Domingo, Mehta, Fagioli, Crebassa and Schiavo
Luciano Pavarotti, 10 years after his death, celebrated in exclusive photos from the La Scala archives
Luciano Pavarotti died ten years ago today, on 6 September 2007. Teatro alla Scala continually welcomed the great tenor to its stage for almost three decades, from 1965 until 1992. At the Milanese opera house he sang under the baton of Abbado, Prêtre, Kleiber, Patané, Gavazzeni, Karajan, Maazel and Muti. Pavarotti worked extensively with La Scala's current Musical … [Read more...] about Luciano Pavarotti, 10 years after his death, celebrated in exclusive photos from the La Scala archives