Anna Netrebko opens the new season at La Scala – as each year, on 7 December – as Tosca. It will be her fourth time in what is always a prestigious occasion (Italy’s President and other dignitaries will be present) after heading new productions of Andrea Chénier, Giovanna d’Arco, and Don Giovanni. With the ultra-critical ‘loggionisiti’ watching over from the gods, it is always … [Read more...] about Interview with Anna Netrebko on Tosca at La Scala: kissing, killing, and Kabaivanska
Tosca
Angel Blue answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start singing? When I was 6 years old. Why did you start singing? My Dad. Which singer inspired you most when you were young? My Dad, my sister, and Leontyne Price Which singer do you most admire? My Dad and Leontyne Price. What’s your favourite role? Violetta and Tosca. What role have you never played but would like to? Salome. What’s your favourite … [Read more...] about Angel Blue answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
The play Quartet and the Giuseppe Verdi Rest Home, both in Milan
The Casa di Riposo per Musicisti (Rest Home for Musicians) in Milan is known simply as Casa Verdi (The Verdi Home) and, although Giuseppe Verdi never lived there, his body is buried there, together with that of his wife, Giuseppina Strepponi (the first Abigaille in the premiere of the composer’s Nabucco at La Scala in 1842). The performing rights of Verdi’s operas paid for the … [Read more...] about The play Quartet and the Giuseppe Verdi Rest Home, both in Milan
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
Angela Gheorghiu’s releases first studio recording in six years: Eternamente – The Verismo Album
The studio recording - her first in six years - explores the generation of Italian composers that followed Verdi, including three duets with tenor Joseph Calleja Eternamente - The Verismo Album, Angela Gheorghiu's first studio recording in six years, will be released on 20 October 2017, and will feature performances of opera and song by Italian composers of the generation that … [Read more...] about Angela Gheorghiu’s releases first studio recording in six years: Eternamente – The Verismo Album
Maria Mudryak answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A in italiano When did you start singing? My first performance was when I was three years old, then when I was five I started my musical training, and at six I recorded my first CD featuring twelve children’s songs. Why did you start singing? I started to sing because I heard children singing in a concert and I wished I could join them. Which singer … [Read more...] about Maria Mudryak answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Opera snobs won’t stop us going back to La Bohème
By Peter Franklin, University of Oxford The Royal Opera House’s restaging of La Bohème will get the same responses as any other production of the Puccini opera. The savvy enthusiast hedges cautiously, perhaps going with the sceptic’s play-it-safe response: “Well, it puts bums on seats, pays for the things we really want to see… in these difficult times, what with funding and … [Read more...] about Opera snobs won’t stop us going back to La Bohème
Renato Cioni’s last interview: remembering Callas
Renato Cioni, who died today, left at interview just a few months ago, talking to Stephen Hastings, the editor of the Italian magazine Musica. Hastings asked him about the London Tosca with Maria Callas fifty years earlier. Two years before singing with Callas, I'd written her a letter, saying that I'd be the happiest man in the world if I ever had the opportunity to sing with … [Read more...] about Renato Cioni’s last interview: remembering Callas
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 designer, and close friend of Piero Fornasetti, the man whose obsession with the face of soprano Lina Cavalieri, his theme, led to more than 350 variations on plates, glasses, paperweights and … [Read more...] about The face of a soprano: Fornasetti’s obsession with Lina Cavalieri
Gloves off in Washington: Placido Domingo strikes back
Washington Post music critic Anne Midgette was often critical of Placido Domingo during his years with the capital's opera company. However when she criticized his conducting of Tosca a month ago, Domingo decided that enough was enough, and wrote a letter to her paper. On September 12, Midgette wrote; All the performances were hampered, indeed sabotaged, by the … [Read more...] about Gloves off in Washington: Placido Domingo strikes back