''Aida'' is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi.

Aida or AIDA may also refer to:

People

Aida (name), a female given name

Garo Aida (born 1949), a Japanese photographer

Sayaka Aida (born 1975), a Japanese voice actor

Shoko Aida (born 1970), a Japanese popular music artist and actress

Yu Aida (born 1977), a Japanese manga author and illustrator

Yua Aida, a Japanese model

Aida Mollenkamp, a television cooking show personality

Aida Nadeem, Iraqi singer

Places

Aida, Okayama, a former town in Japan, known for the "Aida" race car circuit

* Okayama International Circuit, formerly known as TI Circuit Aida, a race car circuit which hosted the Formula One Pacific Grand Prix in 1994 and 1995

*Aida Junior High School

Aida District, Okayama, Japan

Aida (camp), a Palestinian refugee camp

In computer science

AIDA32, computer software that provides information on hardware

AIDA (computing), a set of defined interfaces and formats for representing common data analysis objects, primarily used by researchers in high-energy particle physics.

AIDA/Web, a Smalltalk open source web application framework

In fiction

Aida, a character from ''The Cairo Trilogy'', by Naquib Mahfouz

AIDA (.hack), Artificially Intelligent Data Anomalies, fictional AIs in the ''.hack'' franchise

Aida, one of the protagonists in the 2003 video game ''Unreal II: The Awakening''

Aida, one of the playable maps in the MMORPG Mu Online.

Movies and television

''Aida'' (1953 film), starring Sophia Loren

''Aida'' (film), 1987 Swedish film

''Aída'', a Spanish TV series, a spin-off from ''7 Vidas''

Music

''Aida'' (musical), the musical by Elton John and Tim Rice whose story is based on Verdi's opera

''Aida'' (album), a 1980 album by Derek Bailey

Organisations

AIDA International, organizing body for the sport of freediving

Aida (café), a chain of coffeehouses in Vienna, Austria

AIDA Cruises, a German cruise company, also the prefix of several ships in their fleet

American Indian Defense Association, American indigenous rights organization

The Australasian Intervarsity Debating Association, organizing body of the Australasian Intervarsity Debating Championships

Asociacion Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente

Other uses

AIDA (marketing), an acronym used in marketing for "Attention, Interest, Desire, Action"

AIDA interactive educational freeware diabetes simulator, freely available diabetes simulator program

Aida cloth, used in Cross-stitch

Operation Aida, Rommel's penultimate effort to take Egypt from the British using the Afrikakorps in mid-1942

''AIDAdiva'', a German cruise ship

See also

Category:Surnames

bs:Aida (čvor) da:Aida de:Aida es:Aida (desambiguación) fa:آیدا (ابهام‌زدایی) fr:AIDA gl:Aida it:AIDA hu:Aida (egyértelműsítő lap) nl:Aida pl:Aida ru:Аида (значения) sr:Аида sv:Aida (olika betydelser)

Johan Jonatan "Jussi" Björling (5 February 19119 September 1960) was a Swedish tenor. One of the leading operatic singers of the 20th Century, Björling appeared frequently at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as well as at many major European opera houses.

Biography

Björling (surname also spelled as "Bjoerling" and "Bjorling" in English-language sources) was born in Borlänge, Dalarna, Sweden, in February 1911. The midwife's register shows he was born on 5 February; however, the church baptism records erroneously show 2 February, and this was the day on which he celebrated his birthday throughout his life. He was initially taught to sing by his father, David, an accomplished vocalist, and made his debut public appearance at the age of four with the Björling Male Quartet. The group performed in concerts throughout Sweden and the United States for eleven and a half years. He later studied opera with John Forsell.

Björling made his professional operatic debut as the Lamplighter in ''Manon Lescaut'' at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm in 1930. This was soon followed by Don Ottavio in Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'', Arnold in Rossini's ''William Tell'' and Almaviva in Rossini's ''The Barber of Seville''. This in turn led to engagements in Europe and the United States. Björling made his American concert debut in Carnegie Hall in 1937; the following year, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Rodolfo in ''La bohème''.

Björling went on to become one of the principal singers at the Metropolitan Opera during the 1940s and 1950s, with an interruption during World War II. He sang many major tenor roles in operas in the French and Italian repertoire, including ''Il trovatore'', ''Rigoletto'', ''Aida'', ''Un ballo in maschera'', ''Pagliacci'', ''Cavalleria rusticana'', ''Faust'', ''Roméo et Juliette'', ''La bohème'', ''Madama Butterfly'', ''Tosca'', and ''Manon Lescaut''.

In December 1940, Arturo Toscanini invited him to sing the tenor part in Beethoven's ''Missa Solemnis'' in New York, a recording of which exists. He also performed the ''Verdi Requiem'' under Toscanini in 1939 in Lucerne, Switzerland, and in November 1940 in New York, another performance eventually transferred to recordings.

One of Björling's first LP sets was a 1950 performance of the complete ''Il trovatore'', with Zinka Milanov, for RCA Victor. In 1953, he recorded the role of Turridu in a complete version of ''Cavalleria rusticana'' opposite Milanov for RCA Victor, but because Victoria de los Ángeles was under contract to EMI, the recording of the complete ''Pagliacci'', made concurrently with ''Cavalleria'', was not released by RCA, but by EMI. Robert Merrill appeared on both albums, but Leonard Warren was featured only on the ''Pagliacci'' one, as Tonio.

Again with de los Angeles and Merrill, Björling made a widely admired recording of Puccini's ''La bohème'' conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham. Björling's recording of ''Madama Butterfly'', with de los Angeles in the title role and conducted by Gabriele Santini, is also widely celebrated. In Victoria de los Angeles' s biography by Peter Roberts (Weidenfield and Nicolson, 1982), de los Angeles noted that "In despite of technical developments, none of the Jussi Björling recordings give you the true sound of his voice. It was a far, far more beautiful voice than you can hear on the recordings he left".

Björling sang the part of Mario in the 1957 complete stereo recording of ''Tosca'', recorded by RCA Victor in Rome with Erich Leinsdorf conducting. The tenor was awarded the 1959 Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance - Vocal Soloist (With Or Without Orchestra) for his recording ''Björling in Opera''.

In 1956, he appeared in an episode of the NBC television anthology ''Producers' Showcase''. The episode was one of two programs entitled ''Festival of Music'', and was hosted by Charles Laughton (José Ferrer hosted the second ''Festival of Music'' program.) Björling can be seen with soprano Renata Tebaldi in two arias from ''La bohème''. Both ''Festival of Music'' programs, originally telecast in color, have since been released on black-and-white kinescopes on DVD.

Björling was known as the "Swedish Caruso". His son, Rolf, a successful tenor in his own right (although not at the level of his famous father), and his grandson, Raymond are inheritors of the "sound".

His widow, Anna-Lisa Björling, published a biography with the cooperation of Andrew Farkas that described Björling as a loving family man and generous colleague. However, Anna-Lisa did not attempt in the book to hide the destructive influence of Björling's alcoholism.

On 15 March 1960, Björling suffered a heart attack before a performance of ''La bohème'' at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. However, he still performed that night. He died of heart-related causes (enlarged heart) six months later in Siarö, Sweden, aged 49. One of his final recordings was the Verdi ''Requiem'' conducted by Fritz Reiner for Decca Records which was recorded as late as June 1960 alongside Leontyne Price, Rosalind Elias and Giorgio Tozzi. He is buried in the little church cemetery at Stora Tuna, Sweden.

Legacy

His name is now used with the prestigious Jussi Björling Music Scholarship at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, and adorns the concert hall there named in his honor.

An archive of nearly all of Björling's recorded performances, photographs, letters, recital and opera programs, reviews, obituaries, and other items related to his career is maintained at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington.

Awards and citations

Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance, 1960

He was ranked greatest singer of the century by Classic CD (United Kingdom) "Top Singers of the Century" Critics' Poll (June 1999).

Selected recordings

''Il trovatore'', Covent Garden, 1939.

''La traviata'', Royal Opera House (Stockholm), 1939, sung in Swedish.

''Roméo et Juliette'', sung in Swedish, 1940

''Un ballo in maschera'', Met, 1940.

''Il trovatore'', Met, 1941.

''Rigoletto'', Met, 1945.

''Il trovatore'', Met, 1947.

''Roméo et Juliette'', Met, 1947.

''La bohème'', Met, 1948.

''Manon Lescaut'', Met, 1949.

''Don Carlos'', Met, 1950.

''Faust'', Met, 1950.

''Il trovatore'', RCA, 1952.

''Jussi Björling in song'', RCA, 1952.

''Pagliacci'', RCA, 1953.

''La bohème'', RCA, 1956.

''Tosca'', Rome Opera House, RCA, 1957.

''Turandot'', Rome Opera House, RCA, 1959

''Madama Butterfly'', EMI, 1960.

Many aria and song collections of Björling have also been issued on LP and CD.

References

The Jussi Björling Society of USA About Jussi Björling

Roberts, Peter, ''Victoria de los Ángeles'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1982.p.163

External links

Jussi Björling Museum (Swedish and English)

Jussi Björling profile

Jussi Björling Collection at Indiana University

Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks

History of the Tenor - Sound Clips and Narration

Björling and his wife Anna-Lisa Björling sing "O soave Fanciulla"

Video showing Björling's grave and the Jussi Björling museum

Björling sings "O Holy Night"

Jussi Björling at Find A Grave

Category:1911 births Category:1960 deaths Category:People from Borlänge Municipality Category:Swedish opera singers Category:Operatic tenors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Artists from Dalarna Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction

ca:Jussi Björling da:Jussi Björling de:Jussi Björling es:Jussi Björling fr:Jussi Björling it:Jussi Björling he:יוסי ביירלינג nl:Jussi Björling ja:ユッシ・ビョルリング no:Jussi Björling pl:Jussi Björling pt:Jussi Björling ru:Бьёрлинг, Юсси fi:Jussi Björling sv:Jussi Björling

name	Sophia Loren
birth name	Sofia Villani Scicolone
birth date	September 20, 1934
birth place	Rome, Italy
other names	Sofia LazzaroSofia Scicolone
spouse	Carlo Ponti(m. 1957-62, annulled; 1966-2007, his death)
children	Carlo Ponti, Jr., Edoardo Ponti
relatives	Alessandra Mussolini (niece)
years active	1950–present
occupation	Actress
nationality	Italian
residence	Geneva, Switzerland }}

Sophia Loren, OMRI (born Sofia Villani Scicolone; 20 September 1934) is an Italian actress.

In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in ''Two Women'', along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance. Loren has won 50 international awards, including two Oscars, seven Golden Globe Awards, a Grammy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Laurel Award. Her other films include: ''Houseboat'' (1958), ''El Cid'' (1961), ''Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow'' (1963), ''Marriage Italian-Style'' (1964), and ''A Special Day'' (1977). She has received critical and commercial success in movies for home box-office such as ''Courage'' (1986) and in American blockbusters such as ''Grumpier Old Men'' (1995), and ''Nine'' (2009). In 1994 she starred in Robert Altman's ''Ready to Wear'', which earned her a Golden Globe nomination in 1995. The same year she received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievements.

In 1999, Loren was listed by the American Film Institute on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars as #21 of 25 American female screen legends of all time. In 2002, she was honored by the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) at its annual Anniversary Gala and was inducted into its Italian American Hall of Fame. In 2009, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized her as "Italy's Most Awarded Actress".

In 1991, the Republic of France awarded her a Distinction of la Légion d'honneur (the Legion of Honor) with the grade of Chevalier (Knight). In 1994, she was awarded with the Honorary Golden Bear at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1997, Loren was invested Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic). In 2010, she was awarded the Praemium Imperiale by the Imperial Family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association.

Early life

Loren was born in the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome, daughter of Romilda Villani (1914–1991) and Riccardo Scicolone, a construction engineer. Scicolone refused to marry Villani, leaving her, a piano teacher and aspiring actress, without support. Loren's parents had another child together, her sister Anna Maria Villani Scicolone, in 1938. Loren has two younger paternal half-brothers, Giuliano and Giuseppe. Romilda, Loren, and Maria lived with Loren's grandmother in Pozzuoli, near Naples, to survive.

During World War II, the harbour and munitions plant in Pozzuoli was a frequent bombing target of the Allies. During one raid, as Loren ran to the shelter, she was struck by shrapnel and wounded in the chin. After that, the family moved to Naples, where they were taken in by distant relatives.

After the war, Loren and her family returned to Pozzuoli. Grandmother Luisa opened a pub in their living room, selling homemade cherry liquor. Villani played the piano, Maria sang and Loren waited on tables and washed dishes. The place was very popular with the American GIs stationed nearby.

When she was 14 years old, Loren entered a beauty contest in Naples and, while not winning, was selected as one of the finalists. Later she enrolled in acting class and was selected as an extra in Mervyn LeRoy's 1951 film ''Quo Vadis'', launching her career as a motion picture actress. She eventually for 1952's La Favorita, her first larger role, Ponti changed her name to Sophia Loren.

Career

Beginnings

After being credited professionally as Sofia Lazzaro, she began using her current stage name in 1952's ''La Favorita''. Her first starring role was in ''Aida'' (1953), for which she received critical acclaim. After playing the lead role in ''Two Nights with Cleopatra'' (1953), her breakthrough role was in ''The Gold of Naples'' (1954), directed by Vittorio De Sica. ''Too Bad She's Bad'', also released in 1954, became the first of many films in which Loren co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni. Over the next three years she acted in many films such as ''Scandal in Sorrento'' (1955) and ''Lucky to Be a Woman'' (1956). In 1957, Loren's star had begun to rise in Hollywood, with the films ''Boy on a Dolphin'' (her U.S. film debut), ''Legend of the Lost'' with John Wayne, and ''The Pride and the Passion'' in which she starred opposite Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra.

International fame

Loren became an international film star with a five-picture contract with Paramount Pictures in 1958. Among her films at this time were ''Desire Under the Elms'' with Anthony Perkins, based upon the Eugene O'Neill play; ''Houseboat'', a romantic comedy co-starring Cary Grant; and George Cukor's ''Heller in Pink Tights'', in which she appeared as a blonde for the first time.

In 1961, she starred in Vittorio De Sica's ''Two Women'', a stark, gritty story of a mother who is raped while trying to protect her daughter in war-torn Italy. Originally cast as the daughter, Loren fought against type and was re-cast as the mother (actress Eleonora Brown would portray the daughter). Loren's performance earned her many awards, including the Cannes Film Festival's best performance prize, and an Academy Award for Best Actress, the first major Academy Award for a non-English-language performance and to an Italian actress. She won 22 international awards for ''Two Women''. The film proved to be extremely well accepted by the critics and it was a huge commercial success.

Loren is known for her sharp wit and insight. One of her most frequently-quoted sayings is her quip about her famously-voluptuous figure: "Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti." However, on the 20 December 2009, episode of CBS News Sunday Morning, Loren denied ever saying the line.

During the 1960s, Loren was one of the most popular actresses in the world, and she continued to make films in both the U.S. and Europe, acting with leading male stars. In 1964, her career reached its zenith when she received $1 million to act in ''The Fall of the Roman Empire''. In 1965, she received a second Academy Award nomination for her performance in ''Marriage Italian-Style.

Among Loren's best-known films of this period are Samuel Bronston's epic production of ''El Cid'' (1961) with Charlton Heston, ''The Millionairess'' (1960) with Peter Sellers, ''It Started in Naples'' (1960) with Clark Gable, Vittorio De Sica's triptych ''Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow'' (1963) with Marcello Mastroianni, Peter Ustinov's ''Lady L'' (1965) with Paul Newman, the 1966 classic ''Arabesque'' with Gregory Peck, and Charlie Chaplin's final film, ''A Countess from Hong Kong'' (1967) with Marlon Brando.

Loren received four Golden Globe Awards between 1964 and 1977 as "World Film Favorite - Female."

Mid-career and musical recordings

Once she became a mother, Loren worked less. Most of her acting during the next two decades was in Italian features. During the 1970s, she was paired with Richard Burton in the last De Sica-directed movie, ''The Voyage'' (1974), and a remake of the film ''Brief Encounter'' (1974). In 1976 she starred in ''The Cassandra Crossing'', a disaster film featuring such veteran stars as Richard Harris, Martin Sheen, and Ava Gardner. She also co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni in Ettore Scola's ''A Special Day'' (1977), an Italian film for which she was nominated for several awards. Loren then starred in the Hollywood thrillers ''Brass Target'' (1978), set during World War II, and ''Firepower'' (1979), that had a moderate success. In 1980, Loren portrayed herself, as well as her mother, in a made-for-television biopic adaptation of her autobiography titled ''Sophia Loren: Her Own Story''. Actresses Ritza Brown and Chiara Ferrari played Loren at younger ages. In 1981, she became the first female celebrity to launch her own perfume, ''Sophia'', and a brand of eyewear followed soon thereafter. She made headlines in 1982 when she served an 18-day prison sentence in Italy on tax evasion charges, a fact that didn't damage her career or popularity. In fact, Bill Moore, then employed at Pickle Packers International advertising department, sent her a pink pickle-shaped trophy for being "the prettiest lady in the prettiest pickle". She acted infrequently during the 1980s and turned down the role of Alexis Carrington in 1981 on the TV series ''Dynasty'' and although she was set to star in thirteen episodes of CBS' ''Falcon Crest'' in 1984 as Angela Channing's half-sister Francesca Gioberti, negotiations fell through at the last moment and the role instead went to Gina Lollobrigida. Sophia, preferring to devote more time to raising her sons. In 1988 she starred in the miniseries ''The Fortunate Pilgrim''.

Loren has also recorded well over two dozen songs throughout her career, including a best-selling album of comedic songs with Peter Sellers; reportedly, she had to fend off his romantic advances. It was partly owing to Sellers' infatuation with Loren that he split with his first wife, Anne Howe. Loren has made it clear to numerous biographers that Sellers' affections were reciprocated only platonically. This collaboration was covered in ''The Life and Death of Peter Sellers'' where actress Sonia Aquino portrayed Loren. It is said that the song "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" by Peter Sarstedt was inspired by Loren.

Later career

In 1991, Loren received the Academy Honorary Award for her contributions to world cinema and was declared "one of the world cinema's treasures." In 1995, she received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award. She presented Federico Fellini with his Honorary Oscar. In 2009 Loren stated on Larry King Live that Fellini had planned to direct her in a film shortly before his death in 1993.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Loren was selective about choosing her films and ventured into various areas of business, including cook books, eyewear, jewellery and perfume.

She received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Robert Altman's film ''Ready to Wear'' (1994), co-starring Julia Roberts.

In the comedy ''Grumpier Old Men'' (1995), Loren played a femme fatale opposite Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, and Ann-Margret. The film was a box-office success and became Loren's biggest U.S hit in years.

In 2001, Loren received a Special Grand Prix of the Americas Award at the Montreal World Film Festival for her body of work. She filmed two projects in Canada during this time: the independent film ''Between Strangers'' (2002), directed by her son Edoardo and co-starring Mira Sorvino, and the television miniseries ''Lives of the Saints'' (2004).

In 2009, after five years off the set and fourteen years since she starred in a prominent US theatrical film, Loren starred in Rob Marshall's film version of ''Nine'', based on the Broadway musical that tells the story of a director whose midlife crisis causes him to struggle to complete his latest film; he is forced to balance the influences of numerous formative women in his life, including his deceased mother. Loren was Marshall's first and only choice for the role. The film also stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard, and Nicole Kidman. As a part of the cast she received her first nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

In 2010, Loren played her own mother in a two-part Italian television miniseries about her early life, directed by Vittorio Sindoni, entitled ''La Mia Casa È Piena di Specchi'' (translated ''My House Is Full of Mirrors''), based on the memoir written by her sister Maria.

Personal life

Loren's primary residence has been in Geneva, Switzerland since late 2006. She also owns homes in Los Angeles and New York.

In September 1999, Loren filed a lawsuit against 76 adult websites for posting altered nude photos of her on the internet.

Loren is a huge fan of the football club S.S.C. Napoli. In May 2007, when the team was third in Serie B, she told the ''Gazzetta dello Sport'' that she would do a striptease if the team won.

Loren posed scantily-clad at 72 for the 2007 Pirelli Calendar along with such actresses as Penelope Cruz and Hilary Swank.

Marriage and family

Loren first met Carlo Ponti in 1950 when she was 15 and he was 37. They married on 17 September 1957. However, Ponti was still officially married to his first wife Giuliana under Italian law because Italy did not recognize divorce at that time. The couple had their marriage annulled in 1962 to escape bigamy charges. In 1965, Ponti obtained a divorce from Giuliana in France, allowing him to marry Loren on 9 April 1966. They later became French citizens after their application was approved by then French President Georges Pompidou.

The couple had two sons: Carlo Ponti Jr. (born 29 December 1968) and Edoardo Ponti (born 6 January 1973).

Loren remained married to Carlo Ponti until his death on 10 January 2007 of pulmonary complications.

When asked in a November 2009 interview if she is ever likely to marry again, Loren replied "No, never again. It would be impossible to love anyone else."

Her daughters-in-law are Sasha Alexander and Andrea Meszaros. Loren has three grandchildren: Lucia Ponti (born 12 May 2006), Vittorio Ponti (born 3 April 2007). and Leonardo Fortunato (born 20 December 2010).

Filmography

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1950	''I Am the Capataz''	Secretary of the Dictator
1950	''Barbablu's Six Wives''	Girl kidnapped
1950	''Tototarzan''	A tarzanide
1950	''I Devote, Thee''	A popular to the party of piedigrotta
1950		Extra	Uncredited
1951	''White Leprosy''	A girl in the boardinghouse
1951	''Owner of the Vapor''	Ballerinetta
1951	''Milan Billionaire''	Extra	Uncredited
1951	''Magician for Force''	The bride
1951		Lygia's slave	Uncredited
1951	''It's Him!... Yes! Yes!''	Odalisca
1951		Night club assistant	Uncredited
1952	''And Arrived the Accordatore''	Amica di Giulietta
1952	''I Dream of Zorro''	Conchita	As Sofia Scicolone
1952	''''	Leonora
1953	''''	Bonbon
1953	''Pilgrim of Love''
1953	''We Find Ourselves in Arcade''	Marisa
1953	''Two Nights with Cleopatra''	Cleopatra/Nisca
1953	''Girls Marked Danger''	Elvira
1953	''Good Folk's Sunday''	Ines
1953		Aida
1953	''Africa Under the Seas''	Barbara Lama
1954	''Neapolitan Carousel''	Sisina
1954	''''	Anna
1954	''''
1954	''Poverty and Nobility''	Gemma
1954	''''	Sofia	Segment "Pizze a Credito"
1954		Honoria
1954	''Too Bad She's Bad''	Lina Stroppiani
1955	''''	Agnese Tirabassi
1955	''''	Carmela
1955	''''	Nives Mongolini
1955	''Scandal in Sorrento''	Donna Sofia
1956	''Lucky to Be a Woman''	Antonietta Fallari
1957	''Boy on a Dolphin''	Phaedra
1957	''''	Juana
1957	''Legend of the Lost''	Dita
1958		Anna Cabot
1958	''''	Stella
1958	''''	Rose Bianco	Volpi Cup
1958		Cinzia Zaccardi
1959	''That Kind of Woman''	Kay
1960	''Heller in Pink Tights''	Angela Rossini
1960	''It Started in Naples''	Lucia Curio	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1960	''''	Epifania Parerga
1960	''''	Princess Olympia
1960	''Two Women''	Cesira
1961	''''	Jimena
1962		Catherine Hubscher, said "Madame Sans-Gêne"
1962	''Boccaccio '70''	Zoe	Segment "La Riffa"
1963		Adelina Sbaratti/Anna Molteni/Mara	David di Donatello for Best Actress
1964	''''	Lucilla
1964	''Marriage Italian-Style''	Filumena Marturano
1965		Nora
1965	''Lady L''	Lady Louise Lendale/Lady L
1966		Judith
1966		Yasmin Azir
1967	''''	Natascha
1967	''More Than a Miracle''	Isabella Candeloro
1968	''Ghosts - Italian Style''	Maria Lojacono
1970		Giovanna
1971	''Lady Liberty''	Maddalena Ciarrapico
1971	''''	Valeria Billi
1972		Aldonza/Dulcinea
1973	''''	Hermana Germana
1974	''''	Adriana de Mauro
1974		Teresa Leoni
1974		Anna Jesson
1975	''Sex Pot''	Pupa
1976	''''	Jennifer Rispoli Chamberlain
1977	''''	Antoinette
1978		Titina Paterno
1978	''Brass Target''	Mara/cameo role
1978	''Angela''	Angela Kincaid
1979		Adele Tasca/cameo role
1980	''Sophia Loren: Her Own Story''	herself/Romilda Villani (her mother)
1984		Aurora	Television film
1986		Marianna Miraldo	Television film
1988	''''	Lucia	Television miniseries
1989	''Running Away''	Cesira
1990	''Saturday, Sunday and Monday''	Rosa Priore
1994		Isabella de la Fontaine
1995	''Grumpier Old Men''	Maria Sophia Coletta Ragetti
1997	''Soleil''	Maman Levy
2001	''Francesca e Nunziata''	Francesca Montorsi
2002	''Between Strangers''	Olivia
2004	''Too Much Romance... It's Time for Stuffed Peppers''	Maria
2005	''Lives of the Saints''	Teresa Innocente
2009		Mamma
2010	''My House Is Full of Mirrors''	Romilda Villani
2010	''Femina''		Pre-production
2011		Herself	Argentinian television sitcom

References

External links

Category:1934 births Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:César Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Italian female singers Category:Italian emigrants to France Category:Italian film actors Category:Living people Category:Naturalized citizens of France Category:People from Rome (city) Category:RCA Victor artists Category:United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassadors Category:Italian expatriates in the United States Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:Miscarriage victims

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Blanche Thebom (September 19, 1915March 23, 2010) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano, voice teacher, and opera director. She was part of the first wave of American opera singers that had highly successful international careers. In her own country she had a long association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City which lasted 22 years. ''Opera News'' stated, "An ambitious beauty with a velvety, even-grained dramatic mezzo, Thebom was a natural for opera: she commanded the stage with the elegantly disciplined hauteur of an old-school diva, relishing the opportunity to play femmes du monde such as Marina in ''Boris Godunov'', Herodias and Dalila."

While Thebom sang a broad repertoire which encompassed everything from Handel and Mozart to Verdi and Debussy, she was best known for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner. Two Wagner roles with which she was particularly associated were Fricka in ''Die Walküre'' and Brangaene in ''Tristan und Isolde''. She notably sang the latter role in a famous 1952 recording made in London with Kirsten Flagstad, Ludwig Suthaus, and conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler. In addition to several other recordings, she also appeared in two feature films during her career: ''Irish Eyes Are Smiling'' (1944) and, with Mario Lanza, ''The Great Caruso'' (1951).

After retiring from the stage in 1967, Thebom worked as an opera director in Atlanta for 6 years. She then taught singing both privately and on the music faculties of the University of Arkansas and San Francisco State University. She also co-founded the Opera Arts Training Program of the San Francisco Girls Chorus and served on the board of the Metropolitan Opera for nearly four decades.

Early life and education

Born in Monessen, Pennsylvania in 1915, Thebom was the daughter of Swedish parents who had immigrated to the United States. Her year of birth is sometimes incorrectly given as 1918. She was raised in Canton, Ohio where she studied ballet and was active as a singer in her church's choir. She continued to take ballet lessons into her 40s. She completed business college and then took a job as a secretary at an industrial firm in Canton.

In 1938, while working as a secretary, Thebom traveled with her parents to Sweden. During the boat trip from America to Europe, she was overheard singing in the ship's lounge by pianist Kosti Vehanen. Vehanen was Marian Anderson's regular accompanist and vocal coach, and he was highly impressed with Thebom's talent. Accordingly, he arranged for Thebom to become a pupil of Giuseppe Boghetti in New York, who was Anderson's voice teacher, and also eventually got her signed with talent manager Sol Hurok who also managed Anderson's career. After Boghetti's death in July 1941, she studied with retired Metropolitan Opera mezzo-sopranos Edyth Walker and Margarete Matzenauer in New York City.

Early career and performing at the Metropolitan Opera

Thebom's first prominent engagement as a performer came in November 1941 when she made her first appearance as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra under conductor Eugene Ormandy with fellow guest the University of Pennsylvania Glee Club at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. She then spent the next three years performing in concerts and recitals throughout the United States. She also sang at the Academy of Music for her professional opera debut on 28 November 1944; portraying the role of Brangäne in Wagner's ''Tristan und Isolde'' for an out of town engagement of New York's Metropolitan Opera. She repeated that role for her first appearance on the New York stage at the Metropolitan Opera House on the following 14 December.

Thebom sang with the Metropolitan Opera for the next 22 seasons, giving a total of 357 performances with the company during her career. Her most frequently assailed role at the Met was Amneris in Giuseppe Verdi's ''Aida''; a part she played in 80 performances opposite such Aidas as Gloria Davy, Florence Kirk, Zinka Milanov, Herva Nelli, Delia Rigal, Antonietta Stella, Renata Tebaldi, and Ljuba Welitsch among others. She also excelled in Wagner's operas at the Met, portraying the roles of Erda in ''Das Rheingold'', Magdalene in ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'', Ortrud in ''Lohengrin'', Venus in ''Tannhäuser'', Waltraute in ''Götterdämmerung'', and Fricka in both ''Die Walküre'' and ''Das Rheingold''.

In 1951 Thebom appeared as Dorabella in the premiere of Alfred Lunt's popular English-language production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's ''Così fan tutte'' at the Met. She also appeared in two United States premieres at the Met; singing the roles of Baba the Turk in Igor Stravinsky's ''The Rake's Progress'' (1953) and Adelaide in Richard Strauss' ''Arabella'' (1955). Other roles she performed at the Met included Adalgisa in ''Norma'', Azucena in ''Il trovatore'', Dalila in ''Samson and Delilah'', Eboli in ''Don Carlos'', Geneviève in ''Pelléas et Mélisande'', Giulietta in ''The Tales of Hoffmann'', Herodias in ''Salome'', Klytämnestra in ''Elektra'', Laura Adorno in ''La Gioconda'', Marfa in ''Khovanshchina'', Marina in ''Boris Godunov'', the Old Baroness in ''Vanessa'', Orlofsky in ''Die Fledermaus'', and the title roles in ''Carmen'' and ''Mignon''. Her final performance at the Met was as the Countess in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ''The Queen of Spades'' on March 6, 1967. That was the only production that she appeared in at the then newly built Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center.

Other performance work

Outside of the Met, Thebom had actively performed as a guest artist with opera companies throughout the United States and abroad. In 1946 she made her stage debut in Chicago as Brangäne with the Chicago Opera Company. She made her debut with the San Francisco Opera (SFO) the following year singing Amneris to the Aida of Stella Roman. She was heard frequently in San Francisco through 1963; notably portraying the role of Mother Marie in the United States premiere of Francis Poulenc's ''Dialogues of the Carmelites'' at the SFO in 1957. Other roles she performed in San Francisco were Brangän, Cherubino in ''The Marriage of Figaro'', Carmen, Dalila, Fricka, Giulietta, Laura Adorno, Marina, Octavian in ''Der Rosenkavalier'', and Orfeo in ''Orfeo ed Euridice''. She also sang Dalila to the Samson of Giovanni Martinelli at the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company in 1950

Thebom made her European debut in 1950 as Dalila at the Royal Swedish Opera (RSO). She returned to the RSO several times, singing such roles as Amneris, Eboli and — in what ''The Times'' described as "a not especially successful attempt at a soprano role" — as Elisabeth in ''Tannhäuser''. She made her first appearance in the UK with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the Summer of 1950 as Dorabella. In 1957 she came to London to sing Dido in the much lauded 1957 production of Hector Berlioz's ''Les Troyens'' at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was the first time that this opera was staged by a professional company. In this production she made effective use of her spectacularly long hair, allowing it to fall down her back as she ascended the funeral pyre at the end.

In 1957, at the pinnacle of the Cold War, Thebom became the first American to perform at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, where she portrayed the title role in a three week run of ''Carmen''. She soon after gave a concert tour of Russia. She also gave performances in Greece, including a concert in front of the Parthenon with thousands in attendance. In 1960 she appeared at the Dallas Opera as Ruggiero in a celebrated production of George Frideric Handel's ''Alcina'', with Joan Sutherland in the title role. She also portrayed Orlofszky (1965 and 1967) and Brangäne (1967) with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company.

Post opera career

Upon her retirement from the Metropolitan Opera in 1967, Thebom no longer appeared on the opera stage. However, she did periodically sing in concerts and recitals; notably appearing in several recitals with Eleanor Steber. In June 1967 she was appointed director of the opera division at the Atlanta Municipal Theatre. When that organization went bankrupt in 1969, she founded her own opera company: Atlanta's Southern Regional Opera. She remained General Director of that company until 1973 when it ceased operating.

While working in Atlanta, Thebom began actively working as a voice teacher. She also appeared in summer theatre revivals of Broadway musicals in Atlanta portraying roles like the Mother Abbess in ''The Sound of Music''. In 1973 she moved to Little Rock to join the music faculty at the University of Arkansas. She taught singing and was director of the opera program there until the Spring of 1980 when she was appointed director of the opera program at San Francisco State University (SFSU).

While teaching at SFSU and later privately, Thebom served as chair of the Pacific Region Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for fifteen years. In the late 1980s she co-founded the Opera Arts Training Program of the San Francisco Girls Chorus with Elizabeth Appling. She continued to lead that organization up into the early 2000s. Several of the girls who attended the program later became professional opera singers. Thebom also served on the board of the Metropolitan Opera from 1970–2008, and was a judge for the national level of the Miss America pageant.

At the age of 94, Blanche Thebom died of heart failure at her home in San Francisco on Tuesday, March 23, 2010.

Recordings

''Blanche Thebom, mezzo-soprano:'' Arias from ''Don Carlos'', ''La Gioconda'', ''Tristan und Isolde'', ''Das Rheingold'', ''Die Walküre'', ''Götterdämmerung'' and ''Samson et Dalila''; songs of Hugo Wolf, and Gustav Mahler's ''Songs of a Wayfarer''. Preiser 89559 CD

''Samson et Dalila'' (Camille Saint-Saëns), 1956, Set Svanholm, Blanche Thebom, Sigurd Björling, Herbert Sandberg, Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Caprice; CAT: CAP 22054

References

External links

'The Monday After: Opera singer Blanche Thebom was the bomb' by Gary Brown (Nov 29, 2009), accessed 21 January 2010

Category:1915 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American opera singers Category:Deaths from heart failure Category:Operatic mezzo-sopranos Category:People from Canton, Ohio Category:People from Monessen, Pennsylvania Category:San Francisco State University faculty Category:University of Arkansas faculty

es:Blanche Thebom nl:Blanche Thebom

Mario Del Monaco (July 27, 1915October 16, 1982) was an Italian tenor who is regarded by his admirers as being one of the greatest dramatic tenors of the 20th century.

Del Monaco was born in Florence to a musical upper-class family. As a young boy he studied the violin but had a passion for singing. He graduated from the Rossini Conservatory at Pesaro, where he first met and sang with Renata Tebaldi, with whom he would form something of an operatic ''dream team'' of the 1950s. His early mentors as a singer included Arturo Melocchi, his teacher at Pesaro, and Maestro Raffaelli, who recognized his talent and helped launch his career.

That career began in earnest with Del Monaco's debut on December 31, 1940, as Pinkerton at the Puccini Theater in Milan. (His initial appearance in an opera had occurred the previous year, however, in Mascagni's ''Cavalleria rusticana'' in Pesaro.) He sang in Italy during the Second World War and married, in 1941, Rina Filipini. In 1946, he appeared at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, for the first time. During the ensuing years he became famous not only in London but also across the operatic world for his powerful, metallic voice. It was almost heldentenor-like in scope but Del Monaco was no Wagnerian, confining his activities overwhelmingly to the Italian repertoire.

Del Monaco sang at the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1951 to 1959, enjoying particular success in dramatic Verdi parts such as Radamès. He soon established himself as one of a quartet of Italian tenor "superstars" who reached the peak of their fame in the 1950s and '60s, the others being Giuseppe Di Stefano, Carlo Bergonzi and Franco Corelli. It may be argued that this was a group of superstars whose brilliance was only exceeded by one non-Italian, Jussi Björling. Del Monaco's trademark roles during this period were Giordano's Andrea Chénier and Verdi's Otello. He first tackled Otello in 1950 and kept refining his interpretation throughout his career. It is said that he sang Otello an astonishing 427 times. However, the book published by Elisabetta Romagnolo, ''Mario Del Monaco, Monumentum aere perennius, Azzali 2002'', lists only 218 appearances by him as Otello, which is a more realistic figure. Aptly, the tenor was buried in his Otello costume. Although Otello was his best role, throughout his career, Del Monaco sang a number of other roles with great acclaim, for example: Canio in ''Pagliacci'' (Leoncavallo), Radames in ''Aida'' (Verdi), Don Jose in ''Carmen'' (Bizet), Chenier in ''Andrea Chénier'' (Giordano), Manrico in ''Il trovatore'' (Verdi), Samson in ''Samson and Delilah'' (Saint-Saëns), and Don Alvaro in ''La forza del destino'' (Verdi).

Del Monaco made his first recordings in Milan in 1948 for HMV. Later, he was partnered by Renata Tebaldi in a long series of Verdi and Puccini operas recorded for Decca. On the same label was his 1969 recording of Giordano's ''Fedora'', opposite Magda Olivero and Tito Gobbi.

In 1975 he retired from stage. He died in Mestre as a result of nephritis.

His ringing voice and virile appearance earned him the nickname of the "Brass Bull of Milan". Despite his idomatic phrasing, he was still widely criticized for being unsubtle and unyielding in his vocal interpretations. In this regard, the soprano Magda Olivero noted in a recent interview that:

"When del Monaco and I sang ''Francesca da Rimini'' together at La Scala [in 1959] he explained his whole vocal technique to me. When he finished I said, "My dear del Monaco, if I had to put into practice all the things you’ve told me, I’d stop singing right away and just disappear." The technique was so complicated: you push the larynx down, then you push this up, then you do that—in short, it made my head spin just to hear everything he did.

"We recorded ''Francesca'' excerpts together [in 1969]. Francesca has a beautiful phrase, "Paolo, datemi pace," marked "piano," and then Paolo enters with "Inghirlandata di violette," which also should be sung softly, delicately. Instead, del Monaco was terrible—he bellowed the phrase [she imitates him and laughs]! When he listened to the playback he exclaimed, "I can’t believe it! After that soft poetic phrase I come in and what do I sound like—a boxer punching with his fists!" He recorded the phrase again, but the second attempt was more or less the same because he was incapable of singing piano. He was furious with himself because he wanted to. He tried everything, but his technique would not permit him to sing softly since it totally was based on the muscles."

Del Monaco belonged to a once flourishing lineage of dramatic tenors born in Italy. Famous predecessors of his included Francesco Tamagno, Francesco Signorini, Giuseppe Borgatti, Giovanni Zenatello, Edoardo Ferrari-Fontana, Bernardo de Muro, Giovanni Martinelli, Aureliano Pertile and Francesco Merli, among others.

In popular culture

One of his recordings of "Vesti la giubba" from Leoncavallo's ''Pagliacci'' was used in the 1989 comedy film ''Cookie''.

Bibliography

Gianni Gori, ''Mario Del Monaco: mille guerrier m'inseguono...'', con prologo di Marzio Pieri, coll. Grandi Voci 1, 2008, Zecchini Editore, pagg. 206 con discografia consigliata

Harold Rosenthal and John Warrack, ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera'' (Second Edition), Oxford University Press, 1980, page 126.

External links

Mario Del Monaco Official International Website - "A non-profit website created in memory of the greatest dramatic tenor of the 20th Century."

History of the Tenor - Sound Clips and Narration

References

Category:1915 births Category:1982 deaths Category:People from Florence Category:Italian opera singers Category:Italian tenors Category:Operatic tenors

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