I masnadieri (The Bandits) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Andrea Maffei, based on Die Räuber by Friedrich von Schiller.

The first performance was given at Her Majesty's Theatre in London on July 22, 1847 with Verdi conducting.

History of composition

In 1842 Benjamin Lumley took over the management of Her Majesty's Theatre, the traditional home of Italian opera in London. Three years later Verdi's Ernani received its first British production at his theatre to great public acclaim which convinced Lumley that he should commission an opera from Verdi, who was by then emerging as Italy's leading composer, for a world premiere in London. Verdi accepted Lumley's proposal and production was scheduled for the summer of 1846. Unfortunately, however, Verdi's health deteriorated and the premiere of the new work had to be postponed until 1847.

During his period of recovery, one of Verdi's close friends, Andrea Maffei, a distinguished poet who had translated both Shakespeare and Schiller into Italian, suggested that Macbeth and Schiller's Die Rãuber might provide suitable operatic subjects. Maffei himself worked on the libretto for the Schiller opera, which in Italian became I masnadieri, while one of Verdi's regular librettists Francesco Piave was engaged to provide a suitable text from Macbeth.

Verdi originally intended I masnadieri to be produced during the 1847 carnival season in Florence with the premiere of Macbeth being in London later in the year. Unfortunately, however, no suitable tenor was available in Florence for the taxing role of Carlo, and so Verdi decided to complete Macbeth first for performance in Florence and then produce I masnadieri in London.

Verdi left Italy at the end of May 1847 with his work for London completed, except for the orchestration, which he left until the opera was in rehearsal. The cast assembled for the premiere on 22 July 1847 was of the highest international standard. In particular, as the highlight of her first season in England, the great Swedish coloratura soprano Jenny Lind was engaged to create the role of Amalia, the opera's heroine.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha attended the first performance, together with the Duke of Wellington and every member of the British aristocracy and fashionable society that was able to gain admission.

After considerable persuasion Verdi agreed to conduct the premiere, which was a triumphant success, and the press was for the most part generous in its praise. Unfortunately this initial success was not to be repeated elsewhere; perhaps (at least in part) for the inconsistencies and excesses of its libretto.

Performance history

The opera has been rarely performed in the twentieth century and beyond. In the US, the San Diego Opera presented it during their "Verdi Festival" in summer 1984 with Joan Sutherland in the role of Amalia. It is claimed that Vincent La Selva (now of the New York Grand Opera) gave the first US presentation in 127 years in 1994. It appeared in 1996 as part of the NYGO's "Viva Verdi" series of all of the composer's operas presented in chronological order.

The Sarasota Opera, a company which plans to present all of Verdi's operas before 2013, presented I masnadieri in 2006. Additionally, concert performances have been given by the Opera Orchestra of New York in February 1975 and in March 1999 with Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky. More recently, it was presented by the Zurich Opera in December 2010, with Fabio Sartori, Thomas Hampson, and Isabel Rey, in the leading roles.

Reception

I masnadieri is undoubtedly one of the most interesting and inspired operas of Verdi's early period. The work abounds with glorious melodies and musically shows significant technical advances over the composer's earlier operas. It remained a particular favourite of playwright and music critic George Bernard Shaw throughout his life.

However, even in Italy it has never found a regular place in the repertoire, possibly because it requires a soprano and tenor of the highest calibre which makes it a too demanding work for routine repertory production, or it may be that the libretto is regarded as too outrageous for modern audiences.

I masnadieri is exactly the type of opera that W. S. Gilbert had in mind when he wrote The Pirates of Penzance in 1879, his glorious parody of the absurdities of mid-19th century Italian Grand Opera. Nevertheless, overall it remains one of Verdi's most unjustly neglected works, with at best much to be admired, and at worst never a dull moment.

Roles

Synopsis

:Place: Germany :Time: between 1755 and 1757.

Act 1

Scene 1: A tavern on the borders of Saxony.

During a break from his studies at Dresden University, Carlo, the elder and favourite son of Count Massimiliano Moor has fallen amongst thieves, literally. He has become a member of a notorious gang of highwaymen and cut-throats who terrorise the local community by robbery, extortion and rowdy singing at all hours of the day and night.

But already Carlo has tired of living a life of depravity and longs to return home to be with Amalia, his gentle cousin and lifelong sweetheart (O mio castel paterno / "O castle of my fathers"). He is awaiting the reply to a letter he has sent to his father begging for forgiveness for his recent misdemeanors.

Rolla and the other robbers arrive with the longed-for reply from the Count. Carlo’s joy soon turns to sorrow, and then anger (Nell'argilla maledetta / "Let my wrath plunge these swords into the accursed clay"), as he finds that the letter is not from his father but from his younger brother Francesco, who warns him not to return home because, far from having forgiven Carlo, the old Count is intent on punishing him and locking him away.

Carlo renounces his former life and swears an oath to remain with his new comrades for the rest of his days. The robbers unanimously elect him as their new leader.

Scene 2: A room in Count Moor’s castle in Franconia.

Francesco is congratulating himself on having intercepted the letter from his brother to their father, knowing that Massimiliano would certainly have forgiven Carlo if he had received it. Now only the elderly, infirm Count stands between Francesco and the family title and estates, and he has devised a plan to hasten his father’s death (La sua lampada vitale / "The lamp of his life burns low").

He forces Arminio, one of the castle servants, to disguise himself as a soldier recently arrived with tragic 'news' of Carlo's death, and sings his cabaletta, Tremate, o miseri / "Tremble, you wretches, you shall see me in my true terrible aspect".

Scene 3: Count Moor’s bedroom in the castle.

Amalia is watching over the ailing Count. Each of them is thinking affectionately of the missing Carlo (Lo sguardo avea degli angeli / "His face had the smile of the angels").

Francesco ushers the disguised Arminio into the room. Arminio describes how he fought alongside Carlo for King Frederick in a battle for the city of Prague, and how he saw him mortally wounded. Carlo’s final act in this world was to inscribe a message, using his own blood, on the blade of his sword, that Amalia and Francesco should marry.

Amalia and the Count are completely taken in; Massimiliano falls into a dead faint and Amalia, in a frenzy of hysteria, rushes offstage leaving a jubilant Francesco.

Act 2

Scene 1: A graveyard near the castle.

Several months have passed since the previous scene and Amalia enters to pray at Count Massimiliano’s tomb (Tu del mio Carlo al seno / "Blessed spirit, you have flown to the bosom of my Carlo"). In the distance can be heard the sounds of a festive banquet hosted by Francesco, the new Count.

Arminio has followed Amalia from the castle because he is overcome by guilt at his part in Francesco’s wicked scheming. He just has time to reveal that both Carlo and the old Count are still alive (provoking Amalia's cabaletta Carlo vive? O caro accento / "Carlo lives?....O sweet words") before he is disturbed by the arrival of Francesco and forced to flee the scene.

Francesco has also been searching for Amalia with the intention of asking her to marry him. Her scornful refusal provokes him into a rage and he becomes violent. Amalia pretends a change of heart and embraces him so that she can seize his dagger and fend him off before making her escape into the nearby forest.

Scene 2: A clearing in a Bohemian forest.

Rolla has been captured in Prague and the brigands are awaiting the return of their leader, Carlo, who has gone to rescue him. The rescue is achieved, but at the same time Carlo has managed to set fire to much of the city, resulting in armed citizens pursuing him. The scene ends with Carlo exhorting his gallant band to fight like wolves to save themselves.

Act 3

Scene 1: A clearing in a Franconian forest.

The robbers sing of the pleasures of their criminal activities. They are now in the same forest as the distraught Amalia. Amalia fails to recognise her betrothed when he approaches her. Carlo reveals his identity, without mentioning his comrades, and there is a joyous reconciliation. Carlo is horrified when he learns of his brother’s unsuccessful attack on her virtue.

Scene 2: Another clearing in the Franconian forest.

Carlo is alone and contemplates his dismal future (Di ladroni attorniato / "Surrounded by robbers, fettered to crime"). He considers suicide, but decides that he must accept his dreadful fate and live on in loneliness and misery, reviled by all decent people.

Arminio enters stealthily and approaches some nearby ruins. Hearing a voice within the ruins, Carlo investigates and discovers the emaciated figure of his father. Massimiliano fails to recognise his son, but nevertheless describes to him how Francesco attempted to bury him alive after his collapse on hearing of Carlo’s death (Un ignoto tre lune or saranno / "An unknown - it will be three moons ago now - told me that my Carlo had been killed"). Fortunately Arminio saved him and has kept him hidden in the ruins where Carlo has found him.

Leaving the Count, Carlo calls on his band to storm the castle and capture his evil brother.

Act 4

Scene 1: Another room in Count Moor’s castle.

Francesco wakes after terrifying, guilt ridden nightmares (Pareami che sorto da lanto convito / "I fancied that, having risen from a sumptuous banquet, I was sleeping..."). He summons the local priest who refuses him absolution for his heinous crimes. At this point the brigands are heard storming the castle and Francesco rushes out, swearing that he will defy the very fires of Hell.

Scene 2: The second clearing in the Franconian forest.

Massimiliano bewails Carlo's death, although he still does not recognise that the man standing in front of him is his favourite son. He blesses the "unknown stranger" for saving his life.

The robbers reappear and report that they did not manage to capture Francesco. This pleases Carlo who intends to change his ways. At this moment Amalia is dragged in by the brigands. Carlo is forced to admit to her, and to his father, his role as leader of the robbers. Massimiliano expresses his horror and despair, but Amalia declares that despite everything she still loves Carlo and wants to stay with him.

Although Carlo has sworn to change his ways, he has also given his oath of lifelong allegiance to his band of robbers. He cannot allow the woman he loves to be dragged down into his world of degradation and disgrace and he cannot escape his own evil fate; he resolves this paradox by stabbing Amalia to death. Carlo rushes offstage claiming he is going in search of his own death.

Recordings

Notes

References

External links

Libretto

Category:Operas by Giuseppe Verdi Category:Italian-language operas Category:1847 operas Category:Operas Category:Operas set in Germany

Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE (7 November 192610 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s.

One of the most remarkable female opera singers of the 20th century, she was dubbed La Stupenda by a La Fenice audience in 1960 after a performance of the title role in Handel's Alcina. She possessed a voice of beauty and power, combining extraordinary agility, accurate intonation, pinpoint staccatos, a splendid trill and a tremendous upper register, although music critics often complained about the imprecision of her diction. Her friend Luciano Pavarotti once called Sutherland the "Voice of the Century", while Montserrat Caballé described the Australian's voice as being like "heaven". Her highest note was a high F-sharp in altissimo. It was a breakthrough for Sutherland's career, and, upon the completion of the famous Mad Scene, she had become a star. In 1960, she recorded the album The Art of the Prima Donna, which remains today one of the most recommended opera albums ever recorded: the double LP set won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance – Vocal Soloist in 1962. The album, a collection consisting mainly of coloratura arias, displays her seemingly effortless coloratura ability, high notes and opulent tones, as well as her exemplary trill.

By the beginning of the 1960s, Sutherland had already established a reputation as a diva with a voice out of the ordinary. She sang Lucia to great acclaim in Paris in 1960 and, in 1961, at La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera. Also in 1960, she sang a superb Alcina at La Fenice, Venice, where she was nicknamed La Stupenda ("The Stunning One"). Sutherland would soon be praised as La Stupenda in newspapers around the world. Later that year (1960), Sutherland sang Alcina at the Dallas Opera, with which she made her US debut.

Her Metropolitan Opera debut took place on 26 November 1961, when she sang Lucia. After a total of 223 performances in a number of different operas, her last appearance there was a concert on 12 March 1989. During the 1978–82 period her relationship with the Met severely deteriorated when Sutherland had to decline the role of Constanze in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, more than a year before the rehearsals were scheduled to start. The opera house management then declined to stage the operetta The Merry Widow especially for her, as requested; subsequently, she did not perform at the Met during that time at all, even though a production of Rossini's Semiramide had also been planned, but later she returned there to sing in other operas.

During the 1960s, Sutherland had added the greatest heroines of bel canto ("beautiful singing") to her repertoire: Violetta in Verdi's La traviata, Amina in Bellini's La sonnambula and Elvira in Bellini's I puritani in 1960; the title role in Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda in 1961; Marguerite de Valois in Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots and the title role in Rossini's Semiramide in 1962; Norma in Bellini's Norma and Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare in 1963. In 1966 she added Marie in Donizetti's La fille du régiment, which became one of her most popular roles, because of her perfect coloratura and lively, funny interpretation.

In 1965, Sutherland toured Australia with the Sutherland-Williamson Opera Company. Accompanying her was a young tenor named Luciano Pavarotti, and the tour proved to be a major milestone in Pavarotti's career. Every performance featuring Sutherland sold out.

During the 1970s, Sutherland strove to improve her diction, which had often been criticised, and increase the expressiveness of her interpretations. She continued to add dramatic bel canto roles to her repertoire, such as Donizetti's Maria Stuarda and Lucrezia Borgia, as well as Massenet's extremely difficult Esclarmonde, a role that few sopranos attempt. With Pavarotti she made a very successful studio-recording of Turandot in 1972 under the baton of Zubin Mehta, though she never performed the role on stage.

Sutherland's early recordings show her to be possessed of a crystal-clear voice and excellent diction. However, by the early 1960s her voice lost some of this clarity in the middle register, and she often came under fire for having unclear diction. Some have attributed this to sinus surgery; however, her major sinus surgery was done in 1959, immediately after her breakthrough Lucia at Covent Garden. In fact, her first commercial recording of the first and final scene of Lucia reveals her voice and diction to be just as clear as prior to the sinus procedure. Her husband Richard Bonynge stated in an interview that her "mushy diction" occurred while striving to achieve perfect legato. According to him, it is because she earlier had a very Germanic "un-legato" way of singing. She clearly took the criticism to heart, as, within a few years, her diction improved markedly and she continued to amaze and thrill audiences throughout the world.

In the late 1970s, Sutherland's voice started to decline and her vibrato loosened to an intrusive extent. However, thanks to her vocal agility and solid technique, she continued singing the most difficult roles amazingly well. During the 1980s, she added Anna Bolena, Amalia in I masnadieri and Adriana Lecouvreur to her repertoire, and repeated Esclarmonde at the Royal Opera House performances in November and December 1983. Her last full-length dramatic performance was as Marguerite de Valois (Les Huguenots) at the Sydney Opera House in 1990, at the age of 63, where she sang Home Sweet Home for her encore. Her last public appearance, however, took place in a gala performance of Die Fledermaus on New Year's Eve, 1990, at Covent Garden, where she was accompanied by her colleagues Luciano Pavarotti and the mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne.

According to her own words, given in an interview with The Guardian newspaper in 2002,

Sutherland had a leading role as Mother Rudd in the 1995 comedy film Dad and Dave: On Our Selection opposite Leo McKern and Geoffrey Rush.

In 1997 she published an autobiography, The Autobiography of Joan Sutherland: A Prima Donna's Progress. While it received generally scathing reviews for its literary merits, it does contain a complete list of all her performances, with full cast lists.

In 2002 she appeared at a dinner in London to accept the Royal Philharmonic Society's gold medal. She gave an interview to The Guardian in which she lamented the lack of technique in young opera singers and the dearth of good teachers. By this time she was no longer giving master classes herself; when asked why this was by Italian journalists in May 2007, she replied: "Because I'm 80 years old and I really don't want to have anything to do with opera any more, although I do sit on the juries of singing competitions." The Cardiff Singer of the World competition was the one that Sutherland was most closely associated with after her retirement. She began her regular involvement with the event in 1993, serving on the jury five consecutive times and later, in 2003, becoming its patron.

On 3 July 2008, she fell and broke both of her legs while gardening at her home in Switzerland. She completely recovered and attended a 2009 luncheon hosted by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in honour of members of the Order of Merit.

Death

On 11 October 2010, Sutherland's family announced that she had died at her home near Montreux in Switzerland the previous day. Though she recovered from her fall in 2008, it led to more serious health problems. A statement from her family said "She's had a long life and gave a lot of pleasure to a lot of people." Sutherland had requested a small, private funeral service.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said, "She was of course one of the great opera voices of the 20th century," adding that Dame Joan showed a lot of "quintessential Australian values. She was described as down to earth despite her status as a diva. On behalf of all Australians I would like to extend my condolences to her husband Richard and son Adam and their extended family at this difficult time. I know many Australians will be reflecting on her life's work today."

Memorial service

A State Memorial Service on 9 November 2010, arranged by Opera Australia, was held at the Sydney Opera House. Speakers at the service were Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia; Marie Bashir, the Governor of New South Wales; Moffatt Oxenbould, the former Artistic Director of Opera Australia; and Sutherland's son, Adam Bonynge. The service was broadcast live by both ABC1 television and ABC Classic FM (radio) and streamed globally by ABC News 24.

Honours and awards

During her career and after, Sutherland received many honours and awards. In 1961, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). That year she was also named the Australian of the Year.

In the Queen's Birthday Honours of 9 June 1975, she was in the first group of people to be named Companions of the Order of Australia (AC) (the order had been created only in February 1975). She was elevated within the Order of the British Empire from Commander to Dame Commander (DBE) in the New Year's Honours of 1979.

On 29 November 1991, the Queen bestowed on Dame Joan the Order of Merit (OM). In January 2004 she received the Australia Post Australian Legends Award which honours Australians who have contributed to the Australian identity and culture. Two stamps featuring Joan Sutherland were issued on Australia Day 2004 to mark the award. Later in 2004, she received a Kennedy Center Honor for her outstanding achievement throughout her career.

Sutherland House and the Dame Joan Sutherland Centre, both at St Catherine's School, Waverley, and the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre (JSPAC), Penrith, are all named in her honour.

John Paul College, a leading private school in Queensland, Australia, dedicated its newly established facility the Dame Joan Sutherland Music Centre in 1991. Sutherland visited the centre for its opening and again in 1996.

Roles

Sutherland performed live the following complete roles. {|class="wikitable sortable" !width="90px"|First performance!!Composer!!Work!!Role!!House!!Conductor!!Director!!class="unsortable"|Remarks |- |Jun 1947||Handel||Acis and Galatea||Galatea||Eastwood Masonic Hall, Sydney||||||Concert performance |- |Aug 1947||Purcell||Dido and Aeneas||Dido||Lyceum Club, Sydney||||||Concert performance |- |15 Jul 1950||Handel||Samson||Dalila and Israelite woman||Sydney Town Hall||||||Concert performance; Sutherland made her professional role debut as the Israelite woman on 14 October 1958 |- |09 Jul 1951||Goossens||Judith||Judith||Sydney Conservatorium of Music||Goossens||||Sutherland's first complete staged opera |- |16 Jul 1952||Puccini||Il tabarro||Giorgetta||Parry Theatre, RCM||Richard Austin||Peter Rice/Pauline Elliot|| |- |28 Oct 1952||Mozart||The Magic Flute||First lady||ROH, Covent Garden||Pritchard||Messel||Sutherland's professional debut |- |03 Nov 1952||Verdi||Aida||High Priestess||ROH, Covent Garden||Barbirolli||Cruddas|| |- |08 Nov 1952||Bellini||Norma||Clotilde||ROH, Covent Garden||Gui||Barlow|| |- |29 Dec 1952||Verdi||Un ballo in maschera||Amelia||ROH, Covent Garden||Pritchard||Barlow/Stone||Sutherland's first leading role |- |24 Feb 1953||Mozart||The Marriage of Figaro||Countess Almaviva||ROH tour, Edinburgh||J Gibson||Gerard|| |- |13 May 1953||Strauss||Elektra||Overseer||ROH, Covent Garden||Kleiber||Lambert|| |- |11 Aug 1953||Britten||Gloriana||Lady Rich||ROH tour, Bulawayo|||||| |- |19 Oct 1953||Wagner||Die Walküre||Helmwige||ROH, Covent Garden||Stiedry||Pemberton|| |- |02 Nov 1953||Bizet||Carmen||Frasquita||ROH, Covent Garden||Pritchard||Wakhévitch|| |- |04 Feb 1954||Verdi||Aida||Aida||ROH, Covent Garden||E Young||Cruddas|| |- |23 Mar 1954||Weber||Der Freischütz||Agathe||ROH, Covent Garden||Downes||Furse|| |- |30 Apr 1954||Piccinni||La buona figliuola||Lucinda||||Mackerras||||BBC radio broadcast |- |27 May 1954||Wagner||Der Ring des Nibelungen||Woglinde and Woodbird||ROH, Covent Garden||Stiedry||Hurry||Sutherland also sang the role of Helmwige, which she had sung previously; the other dates of the cycle were 2, 8, and 17 June |- |17 Nov 1954||Offenbach||Les contes d'Hoffmann||Antonia||ROH, Covent Garden||Downes||Wakhévitch|| |- |27 Jan 1955||Tippett||The Midsummer Marriage||Jenifer||ROH, Covent Garden||Pritchard||Hepworth||World premiere; Sutherland created the role |- |28 Feb 1955||Offenbach||Les contes d'Hoffmann||Giulietta||ROH tour, Glasgow||Downes||Wakhévitch|| |- |19 Jun 1955||Offenbach||Les contes d'Hoffmann||Olympia||ROH, Covent Garden||Downes||Wakhévitch|| |- |30 Sep 1955||Weber||Euryanthe||Euryanthe||||Stiedry||||BBC radio broadcast |- |30 Oct 1955||Bizet||Carmen||Micaela||ROH, Covent Garden||Downes||Wakhévitch|| |- |11 Mar 1956||Mozart||La clemenza di Tito||Vitellia||||Pritchard||||BBC radio broadcast |- |10 Nov 1956||Mozart||The Magic Flute||Pamina||ROH, Covent Garden||J Gibson||Messel|| |- |28 Jan 1957||Wagner||Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg||Eva||ROH, Covent Garden||Kubelík||Wakhévitch|| |- |19 Mar 1957||Handel||Alcina||Alcina||St Pancras Town Hall||Farncombe||||Concert performance; Sutherland first performed this role on stage on 19 February 1960 |- |08 Jun 1957||Verdi||Rigoletto||Gilda||ROH, Covent Garden||Downes||Gellner|| |- |05 Jul 1957||Mozart||Der Schauspieldirektor||Mme Hertz||Glyndebourne Festival Opera||Balkwill||Rice|| |- |16 Aug 1957||Scarlatti||Mitridate Eupatore||Laodice||||Appia||||BBC radio broadcast |- |08 Sep 1957||Donizetti||Emilia di Liverpool||Emilia||||Pritchard||||BBC radio broadcast |- |21 Dec 1957||Verdi||Otello||Desdemona||ROH, Covent Garden||Downes||Wakhévitch|| |- |16 Jan 1958||Poulenc||Dialogues of the Carmelites||Mme Lidoine||ROH, Covent Garden||Kubelík||Wakhévitch|| |- |24 May 1958||Haydn||Applausus Musicus||Temperantia||||Newstone||||BBC radio broadcast |- |26 Jul 1958||Mozart||Don Giovanni||Donna Anna||Vancouver Opera||Goldschmidt||Maximowna|| |- |17 Feb 1959||Donizetti||Lucia di Lammermoor||Lucia||ROH, Covent Garden||Serafin||Zeffirelli||This performance marked the beginning of Sutherland's international career |- |24 Jun 1959||Handel||Rodelinda||Rodelinda||Sadler's Wells Theatre||Farncombe||Pidcock|| |- |08 Jan 1960||Verdi||La traviata||Violetta Valéry||ROH, Covent Garden||Santi||Fedorovitch|| |- |24 May 1960||Bellini||I puritani||Elvira||Glyndebourne Festival Opera||Gui||Heeley|| |- |19 Oct 1960||Bellini||La sonnambula||Amina||ROH, Covent Garden||Serafin||Sanjust|| |- |21 Feb 1961||Bellini||Beatrice di Tenda||Beatrice||New York Town Hall||Rescigno||||Concert performance; Sutherland first performed this role on stage on 10 May 1961 |- |04 Jan 1962||Mozart||The Magic Flute||The Queen of the Night||ROH, Covent Garden||Klemperer||Eisler|| |- |28 May 1962||Meyerbeer||Les Huguenots||Maguerite de Valois||La Scala||Gavazzeni||Nicola Benois|| |- |17 Dec 1962||Rossini||Semiramide||Semiramide||La Scala||Santini|||| |- |20 Jun 1963||Handel||Giulio Cesare||Cleopatra||Sadler's Wells Theatre||Farncombe||Warre|| |- |17 Oct 1963||Bellini||Norma||Norma||Vancouver Opera||Bonynge||McLance/Mess|| |- |09 Mar 1965||Gounod||Faust||Marguerite||Connecticut Opera||Bonynge||Rome/Brooks van Horne|| |- |02 Jun 1966||Donizetti||La fille du régiment||Marie||ROH, Covent Garden||Bonynge||Anni/Escoffier|| |- |10 Apr 1967||Delibes||Lakmé||Lakmé||Seattle Opera||Bonynge|||| |- |21 May 1967||Gluck||Orfeo ed Euridice||Euridice||Theater an der Wien||Bonynge||Ludwig|| |- |12 Nov 1971||Donizetti||Maria Stuarda||Maria Stuarda||San Francisco Opera||Bonynge||Pizzi|| |- |26 Oct 1972||Donizetti||Lucrezia Borgia||Lucrezia||Vancouver Opera||Bonynge||Varona|| |- |23 Oct 1974||Massenet||Esclarmonde||Esclarmonde||San Francisco Opera||Bonynge||Montressor|| |- |12 Sep 1975||Verdi||Il trovatore||Leonora||San Francisco Opera||Bonynge||Hager/Skalicki|| |- |22 Apr 1976||Lehár||The Merry Widow||Hanna Glavari||Vancouver Opera||Bonynge||Varona|| |- |16 Jul 1977||Puccini||Suor Angelica||Suor Angelica||Sydney Opera House||Bonynge||Digby|| |- |23 Sep 1977||Massenet||Le roi de Lahore||Sita||Vancouver Opera||Bonynge||Mariani|| |- |04 Jul 1979||Mozart||Idomeneo||Electra||Sydney Opera House||Bonynge||Truscott|| |- |02 Jul 1980||Verdi||I masnadieri||Amalia||Sydney Opera House||Bonynge||Lees/Stennett|| |- |22 May 1983||Cilea||Adriana Lecouvreur||Adriana||San Diego Opera||Bonynge||O'Hearn/Mess|| |- |22 Jun 1984||Donizetti||Anna Bolena||Anna Bolena||Canadian Opera Company, Toronto||Bonynge||Pascoe/Stennett|| |- |04 Oct 1985||Thomas||Hamlet||Ophélie||Canadian Opera Company, Toronto||Bonynge||Shalicki/Digby/Stennett|| |}

Recordings

Recordings include: ;Vincenzo Bellini

Beatrice di Tenda—Joan Sutherland (Beatrice), Luciano Pavarotti (Orombello), Cornelius Opthof (Filippo), Josephine Veasey (Agnese), Joseph Ward (Anichino/Rizzardo), Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge—Decca

I puritani—Joan Sutherland (Elvira), Pierre Duval (Arturo), Renato Capecchi (Riccardo), Ezio Flagello (Giorgio), Giovanni Fioiani (Gualtiero), Margreta Elkins (Enrichetta), Piero de Palma (Bruno), Coro e Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Richard Bonynge (conductor) –recorded 1963– Decca 448 969-2 / Decca 467 789-2 (part of a 10-CD set) / London POCL 3965-7

I puritani—Joan Sutherland (Elvira), Luciano Pavarotti (Arturo), Piero Cappuccilli (Riccardo), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Giorgio), Giancarlo Luccardi (Gualtiero), Anita Caminada (Enrichetta), Renato Cazzaniga (Bruno), Chorus of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, London Symphony Orchestra—Richard Bonynge, Recorded 1973, Decca

La sonnambula—Joan Sutherland (Amina), Nicola Monti (Elvino), Fernando Corena (Rodolfo), Sylvia Stahlman (Lisa), Margreta Elkins (Teresa), Angelo Mercuriali (Notary), Giovanni Fioiani (Alessio), Coro e Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Richard Bonynge recorded 1962—Decca 00289 448 9662 6 / 000320702 / 455 823-2—Track listing

La sonnambula—Joan Sutherland (Amina), Luciano Pavarotti (Elvino), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Rodolfo), Isobel Buchanan (Lisa), Della Jones (Teresa), Piero De Palma (Notaro), John Tomlinson (Alessio), National Philharmonic Orchestra, London Opera Chorus, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1980—Decca 2LH417-424

Norma—Joan Sutherland (Norma), Marilyn Horne (Adalgisa), John Alexander (Pollione), Richard Cross (Oroveso), Yvonne Minton (Clotilde), Joseph Ward (Flavio), London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Richard Bonynge, Recorded 1964—Decca

Norma—Joan Sutherland (Norma), Margreta Elkins (Adalgisa), Ronald Stevens (Pollione), Clifford Grant (Oroveso), Etela Piha (Clotilde), Trevor Brown (Flavio), Opera Australia Chorus, Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1978—DVD Arthaus Musik 100 180

Norma—Joan Sutherland (Norma), Montserrat Caballé (Adalgisa), Luciano Pavarotti (Pollione), Samuel Ramey (Oroveso), Diana Montague (Clotilde), Kim Begley (Flavio), Chorus and Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, Richard Bonynge, Recorded 1984—Decca

;Georges Bizet

Carmen—Regina Resnik (Carmen), Mario del Monaco (Don Jose), Joan Sutherland (Micaëla), Tom Krause (Escamillo), Georgette Spanellys (Frasquita), Yvonne Minton (Mercedes), Robert Geay (Zuniga), Jean Prudent (Le Dancaire), Alfred Hallet (Le Remendado), Claude Cales (Morales)

;Giovanni Battista Bononcini

Griselda—Joan Sutherland (Griselda), Lauris Elms (Ernesto), Monica Sinclair (Gualtiero), Margreta Elkins (Almirena), Spiro Malas (Rambaldo), Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1967. Decca 448 977-2 (coupled with Montezuma)

;Léo Delibes

Lakmé—Joan Sutherland (Lakmé), Gabriel Bacquier (Nilakantha), Jane Berbié (Malika), Émile Belcourt (Hadji), Alain Vanzo (Gérald), Monte Carlo Opera Chorus, Orchestre National de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Richard Bonynge, Recorded 1968, Decca Records.

;Gaetano Donizetti

Emilia di Liverpool (excerpts) / Lucia di Lammermoor (excerpts)—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), Margreta Elkins (Alisa), Joao Gibin (Edgardo), Tullio Serafin (conductor). Recorded 26 February 1959—Myto Records MCD 91545 (Probably these are excerpts from the same performance as the Melodram recording.)

Lucia di Lammermoor—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), Renato Cioni (Edgardo), Robert Merrill (Enrico), Cesare Siepi (Raimondo), Chorus & Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, John Pritchard (conductor), Decca, 1961.

Lucia di Lammermoor—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), Luciano Pavarotti (Edgardo), Sherrill Milnes(Enrico), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Raimondo), Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Richard Bonynge, Decca, 1971.

Lucia di Lammermoor—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), João Gibin (Edgardo), John Shaw (Enrico), Joseph Rouleau (Raimondo), Kenneth MacDonald (Arturo), Margreta Elkins (Alisa), Robert Bowman (Normanno), Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Tullio Serafin, recorded 1959—Golden Melodram GM 50024 or Giuseppe di Stefano GDS 21017 or Bella Voce BLV 107 218 (highlights). 2006 release: Royal Opera House Heritage Series ROHS 002.

Lucia di Lammermoor—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), André Turp (Edgardo), John Shaw (Enrico), Joseph Rouleau (Raimondo), Kenneth MacDonald (Arturo), Margreta Elkins (Alisa), Edgar Evans (Normanno), Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, John Pritchard, recorded 1961—Celestial Audio CA 345

Lucia di Lammermoor—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), Richard Tucker (Edgardo), Frank Guarrera (Enrico), Nicola Moscona (Raimondo), Robert Nagy (Normanno), Thelma Votipka (Alisa), Charles Anthony (Arturo), Metropolitan Opera House, Conductor: Silvio Varviso. Recorded 9 December 1961 for radio broadcasting.

La fille du régiment—Joan Sutherland (Marie), Luciano Pavarotti (Tonio), Monica Sinclair (La Marquise de Berkenfield), Jules Bruyère (Hortensius), Spiro Malas (Sulpice), Eric Garrett (Le Caporal), Edith Coates (La Duchesse de Crakentorp), Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Richard Bonynge. Recorded: Kingsway Hall, London, 17–28 July 1967. Original LP release: SET 372-3 (two LPs), CD release: 414 520-2 DH2 (two CDs).

L'elisir d'amore—Joan Sutherland (Adina), Luciano Pavarotti (Nemorino), Dominic Cossa (Belcore), Spiro Malas (Dulcamara), Maria Casula (Giannetta), Ambrosian Opera Chorus, English Chamber Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Recorded: Kingsway Hall, London, 12–23 January and 1–10 July 1970. Original LP release: SET 503-5 (three LPs), CD release: 414 461-2 DH2 (two CDs), CD re-release: 475 7514 DOR2 (two CDs).

Lucrezia Borgia—Joan Sutherland (Lucrezia Borgia), Ronald Stevens (Gennaro), Margreta Elkins (Maffio Orsini), Richard Allman (Don Alfonso), Robin Donald (Jacopo Liveretto), Lyndon Terracini (Don Apostolo Gazella), Gregory Yurisich (Ascanio Petrucci), Lamberto Furlan (Oloferno Vitellozzo), Pieter Van der Stolk (Gubetta), Graeme Ewer (Rustighello), John Germain (Astolfo), Neville Grave (Un servo), Eddie Wilden (Un coppiere), Jennifer Bermingham (Principessa Negroni), Australian Opera Chorus, Sydney Elizabethan Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1977. VHS Video Cassette—Castle Video CV2845 (PAL); Polygram-Vidéo 070 031-3 (SECAM) Polygram 079 261-3 (PAL)

Lucrezia Borgia—Joan Sutherland (Lucrezia), Giacomo Aragall (Gennaro), Marilyn Horne (Orsini), Ingvar Wixell (Alfonso), London Opera Chorus, National Philarmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge (conductor), Decca, 1977.

Maria Stuarda—Joan Sutherland (Maria), Huguette Tourangeau (Elisabeta), Luciano Pavarotti (Leicester), Roger Soyer (Talbot), Margreta Elkins (Anna), James Morris (Cecil), Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1975—Decca 00289 425 4102 / Lyrica LRC 1040/1041—Track listing and excerpts

;Charles Gounod

Faust—Joan Sutherland (Marguerite), Franco Corelli (Faust), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Méphistophélès), Robert Massard (Valentin), Margreta Elkins (Siébel), Monica Sinclair (Marthe), Raymond Myers (Wagner), Ambrosian Opera Chorus and Highgate School Choir, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, Decca 0289 4705632 4 (2002 release) / 421 240-2 (1991 release) / 467 059-2 / London POCL 3962-4 Track listing and audio samples

;George Frideric Handel

Alcina—Joan Sutherland (Alcina), Margreta Elkins (Ruggiero), Lauris Elms (Bradamante), Richard Greager (Oronte), Narelle Davidson (Morgana), Ann-Maree McDonald (Oberto), John Wegner (Melisso), Chorus and Orchestra of Australian Opera, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1983. Celestial Audio CA 112

Alcina coupled with Giulio Cesare in Egitto (highlights)—Margreta Elkins (Giulio Cesare), Joan Sutherland (Cleopatra), Marilyn Horne (Cornelia), Monica Sinclair (Tolomeo), Richard Conrad (Sesto), New Symphonic Orchestra of London, Richard Bonynge—Decca 00289 433 7232 / 467063-2 / 467 067-2—Track listing and excerpts

Athalia—Joan Sutherland, Emma Kirkby, Aled Jones, James Bowman, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, David Thomas, The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood (Conductor)

Messiah—Joan Sutherland, Grace Bumbry, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult (Conductor)—Decca 433 003-2

Rodelinda—Alfred Hallett (Grimoaldo), Raimund Herincx (Garibaldo), Joan Sutherland (Rodelinda), Dame Janet Baker (Eduige), Margreta Elkins (Bertarido), Patricia Kern (Unolfo), Chandos Singers, Philomusica Antiqua Orchestra, Charles Farncombe. An English language version, recorded live on June 24, 1959—Opera D'oro OPD 1189 (two CDs) or Memories HR 4577–4578 or Living Stage LS 403 35147 (highlights).

Rodelinda—Joan Sutherland (Rodelinda), Huguette Tourangeau (Bertarido), Eric Tappy (Grimoaldo), Margreta Elkins (Eduige), Cora Canne-Meijer (Unolfo), Pieter Van Den Berg (Garibaldo), Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Recorded 30 June 1973—Bella Voce BLV 10 7206.

;Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Idomeneo—Sergei Baigildin (Idomeneo), Margreta Elkins (Idamante), Henri Wilden (Arbace), Leona Mitchell (Ilia), Joan Sutherland (Elettra), Australian Opera Chorus, Sydney Elizabethan Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1979. Gala GLH 826 (highlights) and Celestial Audio CA 060 (highlights)

Don Giovanni—Gottlob Frick (Commendatore), Luigi Alva (Don Ottavio), Graziella Sciutti (Zerlina), Joan Sutherland (Donna Anna), Piero Cappuccilli (Masetto), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Donna Elvira), Eberhard Wächter (Don Giovanni), Heinrich Schmidt, Giuseppe Taddei (Leporello), London Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini. Recorded 1959—EMI 0724356787353

Don Giovanni—Gabriel Bacquier (Don Giovanni), Pilar Lorengar (Donna Elvira), Marilyn Horne (Zerlina), Joan Sutherland (Donna Anna), English Chamber Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Decca 448 973-2

;Giacomo Meyerbeer

Les Huguenots—Joan Sutherland (Marguerite), Franco Corelli (Raoul), Giulietta Simionato (Valentine), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Marcel), Fiorenza Cossotto (Urbain), Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Alla Scala. Live: June 7, 1962. Opera D'Oro. Sung in Italian.

Les Huguenots—Dominic Cossa (Nevers), Gabriel Bacquier (Saint-Bris), Nicola Ghiuselev (Marcel), John Wakefield (Tavannes), Joseph Ward (Cossé), John Noble (Thoré), Glynne Thomas (Retz), John Gibbs (Meru), Clifford Grant (Maurevert), Janet Coster (Léonard), Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (1st Maid of Honour), Josephte Clement (2nd Maid of Honour), Arleen Auger (1st Gypsy Girl), Maureen Lehane (2nd Gypsy Girl), Joan Sutherland (Marguerite de Valois), Martina Arroyo (Valentine), Huguette Tourangeau (Urbain), Anastasios Vrenios (Raoul de Nangis), Alan Opie (2nd Monk), NPO, Bonynge. Decca 430 549-2, recorded in 1969.

;Jacques Offenbach

Les contes d'Hoffmann—Joan Sutherland, Plácido Domingo, Gabriel Bacquier,, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre du Radio de la Suisse Romande, Pro Arte de Lausanne, Andre Charlet, Richard Bonynge, studio recording made at Victoria Hall, Geneva, first published in 1976.

;Giacomo Puccini

Suor Angelica—Joan Sutherland (Angelica), Christa Ludwig (La Zia Principessa), National Phiharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Decca 475 6531 (coupled with Leoni's "L'oracolo")

Turandot—Joan Sutherland (Turandot), Luciano Pavarotti (Calaf), Montserrat Caballé (Liu), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Timur), Peter Pears (Emperor), London Phiharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta. Decca 414 274-2, recorded in 1972.

;Gioachino Rossini

Semiramide—Joan Sutherland (Semiramide), John Serge (Idreno), Joseph Rouleau (Assur), Spiro Malas (Oroe), Patricia Clark (Azema), Leslie Fyson (Mitrane), Michael Langdon (Spectre of Nino), Marilyn Horne (Arsace), London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Decca 425 481-2, recorded in 1966.

;Ambroise Thomas

Hamlet—Joan Sutherland, Gösta Winbergh, James Morris, Sheril Milnes, Orchestra and Chorus of the Welsh National Opera. Decca, 433 857-2.

;Giuseppe Verdi

Ernani—Luciano Pavarotti (Ernani), Joan Sutherland (Elvira), Leo Nucci (Carlo), Paata Burchuladze (Silva), Linda McLeod (Giovanna), Richard Morton (Riccardo), Alastair Miles (Jago), Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera, Richard Bonynge. Recorded: Walthamstow Assembly Hall, 10–21 May 1987. Original CD release: 421 412-2 DHO2 (two CDs), CD re-release: 475 7008 DM2 (two CDs)

I masnadieri—Joan Sutherland, Samuel Ramey, Franco Bonisolli, Matteo Manuguerra, Simone Alaimo, Orchestra and Chorus of the Welsh Nation, Richard Bonynge. CD re-release in 1993: 433 854–2 (two CD, DDD).

Requiem—Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, Martti Talvela, Vienna State Opera Chorus and Vienna Philharmonic (Sir Georg Solti). Decca 411 944-2

Rigoletto—Cornell MacNeil, Joan Sutherland, Renato Cioni, Cesare Siepi, Chorus & Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Nino Sanzogno, Decca, 1961.

Rigoletto—Sherrill Milnes, Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Martti Talvela, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, Decca, 1971.

La traviata—Joan Sutherland, Carlo Bergonzi, Robert Merrill, Chorus & Orchestra of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, John Pritchard, Decca, 1962

La traviata—Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Matteo Manuguerra, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. London 430 491-2 recorded in 1979.

Il trovatore—Luciano Pavarotti (Manrico), Ingvar Wixell (Il Conte di Luna), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Ferrando), Joan Sutherland (Leonora), Marilyn Horne (Azucena), Graham Clark (Ruiz), Norma Burrowes (Ines), Peter Knapp (Un vecchio zingaro), Wynford Evans (Un messo), London Opera Chorus, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Recorded: Kingsway Hall, London, 8, 10, 11, 13–18, 20 September 1976; 26 March 1977. Original LP release: D82D 3 (three LPs), CD release: 417 137-2 DH2* (two CDs), CD re-release: 460 735-2 DF2 (two CDs). (Ballet music not included in CD release).

;Richard Wagner

Siegfried—Joan Sutherland as the Woodbird, Vienna Philharmonic (Sir Georg Solti) 1962 recording, London 414 110-2

References

Further reading

Norma Major Joan Sutherland: The Authorized Biography Queen Anne P, 1987, ISBN 0-35612-693-5, ISBN 978-0356126937 / Little Brown & Co, 1994, ISBN 0-31654-555-4, ISBN 978-0316545556

The Autobiography of Joan Sutherland—A prima donna's progress Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997, ISBN 0297813218

External links

Joan Sutherland at Decca Records

Joan Sutherland Collection at the Performing Arts Collection, the Arts Centre Melbourne (costumes, costume elements, costume designs, props, photographs, programmes, correspondence, scrapbooks, news clippings, business records etc.)

Dame Joan Sutherland programs in the National Library of Australia

Collected news and commentary at The New York Times

R.I.P: Opera Legend Joan Sutherland – slideshow by Life magazine

;Interviews

ABC Sunday Profile interview: Dame Joan Sutherland

Arts and Culture: Ch. Purdy Interview with Dame Sutherland, November 2006

Joan Sutherland interview by Bruce Duffie

;Obituaries

Dame Joan Sutherland obituary, John Amis, Alan Blyth, The Guardian, Monday, 11 October 2010

Joan Sutherland, Opera Soprano, Dies, Anthony Tommasini at The New York Times

Joan Sutherland: addio, Stupenda, Anne Midgette at The Washington Post

;Opinion

Joan Sutherland: the greatest soprano ever?, Martin Kettle at The Guardian

Dame Joan Sutherland remembered at Opera Now

Sutherland, Joan (1926–) National Library of Australia, Trove, People and Organisation record for Joan Sutherland

Category:1926 births Category:2010 deaths Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music Category:ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Category:ARIA Award winners Category:Australian dames Category:Australian expatriates in Switzerland Category:Australian female singers Category:Australian people of Scottish descent Category:Australian of the Year Award winners Category:Australian opera singers Category:Australian sopranos Category:Companions of the Order of Australia Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Disease-related deaths in Switzerland Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Members of the Order of Merit Category:Operatic sopranos Category:People from Sydney Category:Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists

, 1886]]

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century. His works are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, some of his themes have long since taken root in popular culture - such as "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto, "Va, pensiero" (The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) from Nabucco, "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" (The Drinking Song) from La traviata and the "Grand March" from Aida. Although his work was sometimes criticized for using a generally diatonic rather than a chromatic musical idiom and having a tendency toward melodrama, Verdi’s masterworks dominate the standard repertoire a century and a half after their composition.

Early life

(1879)]] Verdi was born the son of Carlo Giuseppe Verdi and Luigia Uttini in Le Roncole, a village near Busseto, then in the Département Taro which was a part of the First French Empire after the annexation of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza. The baptismal register, on 11 October lists him as being "born yesterday", but since days were often considered to begin at sunset, this could have meant either 9 or 10 October. The next day, he was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church in Latin as Joseph Fortuninus Franciscus. The day after that (Tuesday), Verdi's father took his newborn the three miles to Busseto, where the baby was recorded as Joseph Fortunin Francois; the clerk wrote in French. "So it happened that for the civil and temporal world Verdi was born a Frenchman."

When he was still a child, Verdi's parents moved from Piacenza to Busseto, where the future composer's education was greatly facilitated by visits to the large library belonging to the local Jesuit school. Also in Busseto, Verdi was given his first lessons in composition.

Verdi went to Milan when he was twenty to continue his studies. He took private lessons in counterpoint while attending operatic performances, as well as concerts of, specifically, German music. Milan's beaumonde association convinced him that he should pursue a career as a theatre composer. During the mid 1830s, he attended the Salotto Maffei salons in Milan, hosted by Clara Maffei.

Returning to Busseto, he became the town music master and, with the support of Antonio Barezzi, a local merchant and music lover who had long supported Verdi's musical ambitions in Milan, Verdi gave his first public performance at Barezzi’s home in 1830.

Because he loved Verdi’s music, Barezzi invited Verdi to be his daughter Margherita's music teacher, and the two soon fell deeply in love. They were married on 4 May 1836 and Margherita gave birth to two children, Virginia Maria Luigia (26 March 1837 - 12 August 1838) and Icilio Romano (11 July 1838 - 22 October 1839). Both died in infancy while Verdi was working on his first opera and, shortly afterwards, Margherita died on 18 June 1840. Verdi adored his wife and children, and he was devastated by their untimely deaths.

Initial recognition

The production by Milan's La Scala of his first opera, Oberto in November 1839 achieved a degree of success, after which Bartolomeo Merelli, La Scala's impresario, offered Verdi a contract for two more works.

It was while he was working on his second opera, Un giorno di regno, that Verdi's wife died. The opera, given in September 1840, was a flop and he fell into despair and vowed to give up musical composition forever. However, Merelli persuaded him to write Nabucco and its opening performance in March 1842 made Verdi famous. Legend has it that it was the words of the famous Va pensiero chorus of the Hebrew slaves that inspired Verdi to write music again.

A large number of operas - 14 in all - followed in the decade after 1843, a period which Verdi was to describe as his "galley years". These included his I Lombardi in 1843, and Ernani in 1844. For some, the most original and important opera that Verdi wrote is Macbeth in 1847. For the first time, Verdi attempted an opera without a love story, breaking a basic convention in 19th century Italian opera.

In 1847, I Lombardi, which was revised and renamed Jerusalem, was produced by the Paris Opera. Due to a number of Parisian conventions that had to be honored (including extensive ballets), it became Verdi's first work in the French Grand opera style.

Middle years

Sometime in the mid-1840s, after the death of Margherita Barezzi, Verdi began an affair with Giuseppina Strepponi, a soprano in the twilight of her career. Their cohabitation before marriage was regarded as scandalous in some of the places they lived, but Verdi and Giuseppina married on 29 August 1859 at Collonges-sous-Salève, near Geneva. While living in Busseto with Strepponi, Verdi bought an estate two miles from the town in 1848. Initially, his parents lived there, but, after his mother's death in 1851, he made the Villa Verdi at Sant'Agata in Villanova sull'Arda his home until his death.

As the "galley years" were drawing to a close, Verdi created one of his greatest masterpieces, Rigoletto, which premiered in Venice in 1851. Based on a play by Victor Hugo (Le roi s'amuse), the libretto had to undergo substantial revisions in order to satisfy the epoch's censorship, and the composer was on the verge of giving it all up a number of times. The opera quickly became a great success.

With Rigoletto, Verdi sets up his original idea of musical drama as a cocktail of heterogeneous elements, embodying social and cultural complexity, and beginning from a distinctive mixture of comedy and tragedy. Rigoletto's musical range includes band-music such as the first scene or the song La donna è mobile, Italian melody such as the famous quartet "Bella figlia dell'amore", chamber music such as the duet between Rigoletto and Sparafucile and powerful and concise declamatos often based on key-notes like the C and C# notes in Rigoletto and Monterone's upper register.

There followed the second and third of the three major operas of Verdi's "middle period": in 1853 Il Trovatore was produced in Rome and La traviata in Venice. The latter was based on Alexandre Dumas, fils' play The Lady of the Camellias, and became the most popular of all Verdi's operas, placing third in the Opera America's list of 20 most performed operas in North America.

Later compositions

Between 1855 and 1867, an outpouring of great Verdi operas followed, among them such repertory staples as Un ballo in maschera (1859), La forza del destino (commissioned by the Imperial Theatre of Saint Petersburg for 1861 but not performed until 1862), and a revised version of Macbeth (1865). Other somewhat less often performed include Les vêpres siciliennes (1855) and Don Carlos (1867), both commissioned by the Paris Opera and initially given in French. Today, these latter two operas are most often performed in their revised Italian versions. Simon Boccanegra followed in 1857. In 1869, Verdi was asked to compose a section for a requiem mass in memory of Gioachino Rossini and proposed that this requiem should be a collection of sections composed by other Italian contemporaries of Rossini. The requiem was compiled and completed, but it was cancelled at the last minute (and was not performed in Verdi's lifetime). Verdi blamed this on the lack of enthusiasm for the project by the intended conductor, Angelo Mariani, who had been a longtime friend of his. The episode led to a permanent break in their personal relations. The soprano Teresa Stolz (who later had a strong professional - and, perhaps, romantic - relationship with Verdi) was at that time engaged to be married to Mariani, but she left him not long after. Five years later, Verdi reworked his "Libera Me" section of the Rossini Requiem and made it a part of his Requiem Mass, honoring the famous novelist and poet Alessandro Manzoni, who had died in 1873. The complete Requiem was first performed at the cathedral in Milan on 22 May 1874.

Verdi's grand opera, Aida, is sometimes thought to have been commissioned for the celebration of the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, but, according to one major critic, Verdi turned down the Khedive's invitation to write an "ode" for the new opera house he was planning to inaugurate as part of the canal opening festivities. The opera house actually opened with a production of Rigoletto. Later in 1869/70, the organizers again approached Verdi (this time with the idea of writing an opera), but he again turned them down. When they warned him that they would ask Charles Gounod instead and then threatened to engage Richard Wagner's services, Verdi began to show considerable interest, and agreements were signed in June 1870.

Teresa Stolz was associated with both Aida and the Requiem (as well as a number of other Verdi roles). The role of Aida was written for her, and although she did not appear in the world premiere in Cairo in 1871, she created Aida in the European premiere in Milan in February 1872. She was also the soprano soloist in the first and many later performances of the Requiem. It was widely believed that she and Verdi had an affair after she left Angelo Mariani, and a Florence newspaper criticised them for this in five strongly worded articles. Whether there is any truth to the accusation may never be known with any certainty. However, after Giuseppina Strepponi's death, Teresa Stolz became a close companion of Verdi until his own death.

Verdi and Wagner, who were the leaders of their respective schools of music, seemed to resent each other greatly. They never met. Verdi's comments on Wagner and his music are few and hardly benevolent ("He invariably chooses, unnecessarily, the untrodden path, attempting to fly where a rational person would walk with better results"), but at least one of them is kind: upon learning of Wagner's death, Verdi lamented, "Sad, sad, sad! ... a name that will leave a most powerful impression on the history of art." Of Wagner's comments on Verdi, only one is well-known. After listening to Verdi's Requiem, the German, prolific and eloquent in his comments on some other composers, stated, "It would be best not to say anything."

Final years and death

During the following years, Verdi worked on revising some of his earlier scores, most notably new versions of Don Carlos, La forza del destino, and Simon Boccanegra.

Otello, based on William Shakespeare's play, with a libretto written by the younger composer of Mefistofele, Arrigo Boito, premiered in Milan in 1887. Its music is "continuous" and cannot easily be divided into separate "numbers" to be performed in concert. Some feel that although masterfully orchestrated, it lacks the melodic lustre so characteristic of Verdi's earlier, great, operas, while many critics consider it Verdi's greatest tragic opera, containing some of his most beautiful, expressive music and some of his richest characterizations. In addition, it lacks a prelude, something Verdi listeners are not accustomed to. Arturo Toscanini performed as cellist in the orchestra at the world premiere and began his friendship with Verdi (a composer he revered as highly as Beethoven). Verdi's last opera, Falstaff, whose libretto was also by Boito, was based on Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor and Victor Hugo's subsequent translation. It was an international success and is one of the supreme comic operas which shows Verdi's genius as a contrapuntist.

In 1894, Verdi composed a short ballet for a French production of Otello, his last purely orchestral composition. Years later, Arturo Toscanini recorded the music for RCA Victor with the NBC Symphony Orchestra which complements the 1947 Toscanini performance of the complete opera.

In 1897, Verdi completed his last composition, a setting of the traditional Latin text Stabat Mater. This was the last of four sacred works that Verdi composed, Quattro Pezzi Sacri, which are often performed together or separately. The first performance of the four works was on 7 April 1898, at the Grande Opéra, Paris. The four works are: Ave Maria for mixed chorus; Stabat Mater for mixed chorus and orchestra; Laudi alla Vergine Maria for female chorus; and Te Deum for double chorus and orchestra.

On 29 July 1900, King Umberto I of Italy was assassinated, a deed that horrified the aged composer.

While staying at the Grand Hotel et de Milan in Milan, Verdi had a stroke on 21 January 1901. He grew gradually more feeble and died six days later, on 27 January. Arturo Toscanini conducted the vast forces of combined orchestras and choirs composed of musicians from throughout Italy at the state funeral for Verdi in Milan. To date, it remains the largest public assembly of any event in the history of Italy.

Role in the Risorgimento

in Palermo, Italy by Antonio Ugo.]]

Music historians have long perpetuated a myth about the famous Va, pensiero chorus sung in the third act of Nabucco. The myth reports that, when the Va, pensiero chorus was sung in Milan, then belonging to the large part of Italy under Austrian domination, the audience, responding with nationalistic fervor to the exiled slaves' lament for their lost homeland, demanded an encore of the piece. As encores were expressly forbidden by the government at the time, such a gesture would have been extremely significant. However, recent scholarship puts this to rest. Although the audience did indeed demand an encore, it was not for Va, pensiero but rather for the hymn Immenso Jehova, sung by the Hebrew slaves to thank God for saving His people. In light of these new revelations, Verdi's position as the musical figurehead of the Risorgimento has been correspondingly downplayed.

On the other hand, during rehearsals, workmen in the theater stopped what they were doing during Va, pensiero and applauded at the conclusion of this haunting melody while the growth of the "identification of Verdi's music with Italian nationalist politics" is judged to have begun in the summer 1846 in relation to a chorus from Ernani in which the name of one of its characters, "Carlo", was changed to "Pio", a reference to Pope Pius IX's grant of an amnesty to political prisoners.

After Italy was unified in 1861, many of Verdi's early operas were re-interpreted as Risorgimento works with hidden Revolutionary messages that probably had not been intended by either the composer or librettist. Beginning in Naples in 1859 and spreading throughout Italy, the slogan "Viva VERDI" was used as an acronym for ''Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re D'Italia (Victor Emmanuel King of Italy), referring to Victor Emmanuel II, then king of Sardinia.

The Chorus of the Hebrews (the English title for Va, pensiero) has another appearance in Verdi folklore. Prior to Verdi's body being driven from the cemetery to the official memorial service and its final resting place at the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, Arturo Toscanini conducted a chorus of 820 singers in "Va, pensiero". At the Casa, the Miserere from Il trovatore was sung.

Verdi was elected as a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1861 following a request of Prime Minister Cavour but in 1865 he resigned from the office. In 1874 he was named Senator of the Kingdom by King Victor Emanuel II.

Style

(1860)]] Verdi's predecessors who influenced his music were Rossini, Bellini, Giacomo Meyerbeer and, most notably, Gaetano Donizetti and Saverio Mercadante. With the exception of Otello and Aida, he was free of Wagner's influence. Although respectful of Gounod, Verdi was careful not to learn anything from the Frenchman whom many of Verdi's contemporaries regarded as the greatest living composer. Some strains in Aida suggest at least a superficial familiarity with the works of the Russian composer Mikhail Glinka, whom Franz Liszt, after his tour of the Russian Empire as a pianist, popularized in Western Europe.

Throughout his career, Verdi rarely utilised the high C in his tenor arias, citing the fact that the opportunity to sing that particular note in front of an audience distracts the performer before and after the note appears. However, he did provide high Cs to Duprez in Jérusalem and to Tamberlick in the original version of La forza del destino. The high C often heard in the aria Di quella pira does not appear in Verdi's score.

Some critics maintain he paid insufficient attention to the technical aspect of composition, lacking as he did schooling and refinement. Verdi himself once said, "Of all composers, past and present, I am the least learned." He hastened to add, however, "I mean that in all seriousness, and by learning I do not mean knowledge of music."

However, it would be incorrect to assume that Verdi underestimated the expressive power of the orchestra or failed to use it to its full capacity where necessary. Moreover, orchestral and contrapuntal innovation is characteristic of his style: for instance, the strings producing a rapid ascending scale in Monterone's scene in Rigoletto accentuate the drama, and, in the same opera, the chorus humming six closely grouped notes backstage portrays, very effectively, the brief ominous wails of the approaching tempest. Verdi's innovations are so distinctive that other composers do not use them; they remain, to this day, some of Verdi's signatures.

Verdi was one of the first composers who insisted on patiently seeking out plots to suit his particular talents. Working closely with his librettists and well aware that dramatic expression was his forte, he made certain that the initial work upon which the libretto was based was stripped of all "unnecessary" detail and "superfluous" participants, and only characters brimming with passion and scenes rich in drama remained.

Many of his operas, especially the later ones from 1851 onwards, are a staple of the standard repertoire. No composer of Italian opera has managed to match Verdi's popularity, perhaps with the exception of Giacomo Puccini.

Works

Verdi's operas, and their date of première are:

Oberto, 17 November 1839

Un giorno di regno, 5 September 1840

Nabucco, 9 March 1842

I Lombardi alla prima crociata, 11 February 1843

Ernani, 9 March 1844

I due Foscari, 3 November 1844

Giovanna d'Arco, 15 February 1845

Alzira, 12 August 1845

Attila, 17 March 1846

Macbeth, 14 March 1847

I masnadieri, 22 July 1847

Jérusalem (a revision and translation of I Lombardi alla prima crociata) 26 November 1847

Il corsaro, 25 October 1848

La battaglia di Legnano, 27 January 1849

Luisa Miller, 8 December 1849

Stiffelio, 16 November 1850

Rigoletto, 11 March 1851

Il trovatore, 19 January 1853

La traviata, 6 March 1853

Les vêpres siciliennes, 13 June 1855

Simon Boccanegra, 12 March 1857

Aroldo (A major revision of Stiffelio), 16 August 1857

Un ballo in maschera, 17 February 1859

La forza del destino, 10 November 1862

Don Carlos, 11 March 1867

Aida, 24 December 1871

Otello, 5 February 1887

Falstaff, 9 February 1893

Political Significance

Unlike most of the visual arts, opera was commercially profitable, accessible to most classes of society, and thus an effective means of reaching the 19th-century public. Verdi used musical theater to contrast noble ideals with the corrosive effects of power, love of country with the inevitable call for sacrifice and death, and the lure of passion with the need for social order.

Media

Cultural depictions and references

The 1985 play After Aida is a play-with-music similar to Amadeus. It is an accurate and learned, yet dramatic and humorous, depiction of Verdi's relationship with his librettist Arrigo Boito, and the attempts of Giulio Ricordi and Franco Faccio to get the two to collaborate on a project, Otello.

Eponyms

There are many theatres named after Verdi in Italy.

The Verdi Inlet on the Beethoven Peninsula of Alexander Island just off Antarctica

Verdi Square at Broadway and West 72nd Street in Manhattan features the Giuseppe Verdi Monument.

Asteroid 3975 Verdi

Verdi's name literally translates as "Joseph Green" in English (although verdi is the plural form of "green"). Musical comedian Victor Borge often referred to the famous composer as "Joe Green" in his act, saying that "Giuseppe Verdi" was merely his "stage name". The same joke-translation is mentioned in Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun by Patrick Redfern to Hercule Poirot — a prank which inadvertedly gives Poirot the answer to the murder.

Notes

References

Life in and around Busseto

Associazione Amici di Verdi (ed.), Con Verdi nella sua terra, Busseto, 1997, (in English)

Maestrelli, Maurizio, Guida alla Villa e al Parco (in Italian), publication of Villa Verdi, 2001

Mordacci, Alessandra, An Itinerary of the History and Art in the Places of Verdi, Busseto: Busseto Tourist Office, 2001 (in English)

Villa Verdi': the Visit and Villa Verdi: The Park; the Villa; the Room (pamphlets in English), publications of the Villa Verdi

External links

Giuseppe Verdi Official Site

Stanford University list of Verdi operas, premiere locations and dates, etc.

"Album Verdi" from the Digital Library of the National Library of Naples (Italy)

London Society for Verdi enthusiasts

Listen to a free MP3 recording of Ave Maria with Umeå Akademiska Kör

Free MP3 Verdi's operas

Free audio MP3 OnClassical - Creative Commons BY-NC-SA, 1.0 - licensed

Un ballo in Maschera Soprano (free MP3)

Detailed listing of "complete" recordings of Verdi's operas and of extended excerpts

"Verdi and Milan", lecture by Roger Parker on Verdi, given at Gresham College, London 14 May 2007

Verdi cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library

Giuseppe Verdi MP3 Creative Commons Recordings

Category:1813 births Category:1901 deaths Category:Giuseppe Verdi Category:People from Busseto Category:Opera composers Category:Italian composers Category:Romantic composers Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Category:Senators of the Kingdom of Italy Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Philharmonic Society

Isabel Rey (born in Valencia) is a Spanish operatic soprano who has performed leading roles in the opera houses of Europe and appears on many recordings.

Discography

Handel: Semele – Conductor: Christie; Rey, Bartoli, Workman (DECCA 2009)

Donizetti: Don Pasquale – Conductor: Santi; Rey, Flórez, Raimondi (DECCA 2009)

Mozart: La finta giardinera – Conductor: Harnoncourt; Mei, Rey, Schaschina (TKD 2008)

Boccherini: Stabat Mater – Conductor: Frizza; Rey, Barcellona (DECCA 2007)

Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande – Conductor: Welser-Möst; Rey, Gilfry, Volle, Kalish (TKD 2006)

Purcell: King Arthur – Conductor: Harnoncourt, Isabel Rey, Bonney, Remmert, (Salzburg Festival 2005)

Fernández Caballero: El dúo de la africana – Conductor: López Cobos; Rey, Rodríguez, Orozco , (Deutsche Grammophon 2004).

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro – Conductor: Harnoncourt; Gilfry, Mei, Rey, Chausson (TKD 2009).

Varios: Arias y dúos de ópera – Conductor: Bragado; Rey, Gavanelli (RTVE).

Monteverdi: Il ritorno d'Ullisse in Patria – Conductor: Harnoncourt; Rey, Kasarova, Henschel (ARTHAUS 2002).

Mozart: Don Giovanni – Conductor: Harnoncourt, Rey, Gilfry, Polgar, Bartoli (ARTHAUS 2001).

Various: Las Damas del Canto –Rey, De los Ángeles, Berganza, Scotto, Caballé, Bayo, Arteta (RTVE Música 2001).

César Cano: Te Deum – Conductor: Galduf; Rey, Mentxaca, Cid (Petagas S.A. 2001).

Various: Canciones para la navidad – Piano: Zabala; Isabel Rey (Discmedi 1999).

Various: Natsu no Omoide – Guitar: Suzuki; Isabel Rey (Discmedi 1999)

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro – Conductor: Harnoncourt; Rey, Hampson, Margiono, Bonney (Teldec 1994)

Various: The Passion of Spain – Rey, Carreras (Teldec 1993)

Various: Opera Gala – Rey, Caballé, De los Ángeles, Carreras, González, Pons (RTVE 1992).

Sources

Cummings, David (ed.), "Rey, Isabel", International Who's Who in Classical Music, Routledge, 2003, p. 654. ISBN 185743174X

Llorente, J. Antonio, "Isabel Rey, soprano: «Voy a ser una tía estupenda para el resto de mis dias»" (in Spanish), ABC, 24 August 2004

Rus, César, "El talento de Isabel Rey" (in Spanish), Las Provincias, 25 June 2006

External links

Isabel Rey – Official website,

Category:Living people Category:Spanish musicians Category:Spanish opera singers Category:Spanish singers Category:Spanish female singers Category:Operatic sopranos Category:Valencian people

Name	Paul Karrer
Caption	Karrer in 1933
Birth date	April 21, 1889
Birth place	Moscow, Russia
Death date	June 18, 1971
Death place	Zürich, Switzerland
Nationality	Switzerland
Field	Chemistry
Workplaces	Universität Zürich
Alma mater	Universität Zürich
Known for	Vitamins
Prizes	Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1937)

Paul Karrer (21 April 1889 – 18 June 1971) was a Swiss organic chemist best known for his research on vitamins. He and Walter Haworth won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1937.

Biography

Early years

Karrer was born in Moscow, Russia to Paul Karrer and Julie Lerch, both Swiss nationals. In 1892 Karrer's family returned to Switzerland where he was educated at Wildegg and at the grammar school in Lenzburg, Aarau, where he matriculated in 1908. He studied chemistry at the University of Zurich under Alfred Werner and after gaining his Ph.D. in 1911, he spent a further year as assistant in the Chemical Institute. He then took a post as chemist with Paul Ehrlich at the Georg Speyer Haus, Frankfurt-am-Main. In 1919 he became Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Chemical Institute.

Research

Karrer's early research concerned complex metal compounds but his most important work has concerned plant pigments, particularly the yellow carotenoids. He elucidated their chemical structure and showed that some of these substances are transformed in the body into vitamin A. His work led to the establishment of the correct constitutional formula for beta-carotene, the chief precursor of vitamin A; the first time that the structure of a vitamin or provitamin had been established. George Wald worked briefly in Karrer's lab while studying the role of vitamin A in the retina. Later, Karrer confirmed the structure of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and extended his researches into the vitamin B₂ and E. His important contributions to the chemistry of the flavins led to identification of lactoflavin as part of the complex originally thought to be vitamin B₂.

Karrer published many papers, and received many honours and awards, including the Nobel Prize in 1937. His textbook Lehrbuch der Organischen Chemie (Textbook of Organic Chemistry) was published in 1927, went through thirteen editions, and was published in seven languages.

Personal life

Karrer was married to Helena Froelich in 1914 and had three sons, one of whom died in infancy. He died June 18, 1971, at the age of 82 in Zürich.

References

;Sources ;Notes

External links

Nobel Prize biography

Category:1889 births Category:1971 deaths Category:People from Moscow Category:People associated with the University of Zurich Category:Swiss chemists Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry Category:Swiss Nobel laureates Category:Foreign Members of the Royal Society

Ghena Dimitrova () (6 May 1941–11 June 2005) was a Bulgarian operatic soprano. Her voice was known for its power and extension used in operatic roles such as Turandot in a career spanning four decades.

Early career

Ghena Dimitrova was born in the Bulgarian village of Beglezh, some 25 km from Pleven, in 1941. She started singing in the school choir and her powerful voice led to her being offered a place at the Sofia Conservatory studying under Cristo Brambarov between 1959 and 1964. While she was initially classified as a mezzo-soprano, she was recognised as a soprano in her second year.

After finishing her studies at the Sofia Conservatory, she started teaching singing. Her breakthrough came in 1967 as Abigaille in a Bulgarian National Opera production of Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco after a couple of other sopranos dropped out. Dimitrova learned the demanding role in a week. In the early recordings Dimitrova's voice had not yet reached its signature size, and in many of the early Nabucco productions, the final optional high C is omitted in the cabaletta, Salgo già, which she would include later in her career.

International career

Dimitrova won the Sofia International Singing Competition in 1970, the prize including a course of study at La Scala's Scuola di Perfezionamento.

She made her Italian debut as Turandot in Treviso in 1975, and essayed the same role for her 1983 La Scala debut opposite tenor Plácido Domingo in Franco Zeffirelli's lavish production. Her Turandot is also preserved in a video of the Arena di Verona production from 1983, with Nicola Martinucci and Cecilia Gasdia. In 1988, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York performing the same role.

Dimitrova once said of the role: "Turandot may not be my favorite part, but it shows off the voice to great advantage. The way the music is written, you need a voice like a trumpet to do it justice."

Her debut in the United States was in 1981 performing the role of Elvira in Ernani. She sang at the Barbican Arts Centre in Ponchielli's La Gioconda in 1983 before making her Covent Garden debut in the same year. Her late debut she later attributed simply to "politics".

After retiring from the stage in 2001, Dimitrova remained active working with young singers. One of her best students is the soprano Elena Baramova.

Dimitrova died in Milan on 11 June 2005. After her death the Bulgarian Government promised to establish a fund in her name for promising young singers.

External links

Official website

[ Article at allmusic.com]

The New York Times - obituary

Category:1941 births Category:2005 deaths Category:Bulgarian opera singers Category:Bulgarian female singers Category:Operatic sopranos

Franco Bonisolli (May 25, 1938, Rovereto, Italy - October 30, 2003, Vienna, Austria) was an Italian operatic tenor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, notably as Manrico and Calaf.

Life and career

Bonisolli studied with Alfredo Lattaro, and after winning an international voice contest, he made his debut in Spoleto, as Ruggero, in 1962. He quickly established himself throughout Italy, appearing first in lyric roles such as, Nemorino, Duca di Mantua, Alfredo, Rodolfo, des Grieux, Hoffmann, etc.

He took part in revivals of neglected opera such as La donna del lago, opposite Montserrat Caballé, and Le siège de Corinthe, opposite Beverly Sills, and took part in the creation of new works, such as La lampada di Alidino by Rota, and Luisilla by Mannino.

He began an international career in the early 1970s, with debut at the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Paris Opéra, the Metropolitan Opera, etc., and began expanding his repertory to include more dramatic roles, notably Arnold, Don Jose, Manrico, Radames, Otello, Cavaradossi, Calaf, etc.

Bonisolli was a highly gifted and exciting singer with a ringing upper register, but as the years went by his singing became increasingly undisciplined. His eccentric behaviour and his onstage antics earned him the nickname "Il Pazzo" (The Madman), and made him a difficult colleague to work with.

He can be heard on several recordings, notably Rigoletto, Il trovatore, La traviata, which were all soundtrack of German TV productions. He also appeared in 1968, in a film version of La traviata, opposite Anna Moffo and Gino Bechi. In 1976, he recorded Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca, opposite Galina Vishnevskaya.

He died suddenly in Vienna, at the age of 65.

Selective recordings

1973 - Verdi - La traviata - Mirella Freni, Franco Bonisolli, Sesto Bruscantini - Berlin State Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli - ARTS

1975 - Verdi - Il trovatore - Franco Bonisolli, Raina Kabaivanska, Viorica Cortez, Giulio Zancanaro, Gian Carlo Luccardi - Berlin State Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Bruno Bartoletti - ARTS

1977 - Verdi - Rigoletto - Rolando Panerai, Margherita Rinaldi, Franco Bonisolli, Viorica Cortez, Bendt Rundgren - Dresden Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli - ARTS

Sources

Le guide de l'opéra, les indispensables de la musique, R. Mancini & J-J. Rouvereux, (Fayard, 1986), ISBN 2-213-01563-6

Category:1937 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Operatic tenors Category:Italian opera singers

Clifford Scantlebury Grant (born 11 September 1930) is a retired Australian operatic bass singer.

Clifford Grant was born in Sydney. In 1966 he joined Sadler's Wells Opera company and on 20 December 1974 he had his debut at the Royal Opera House in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, in the role of Doctor Bartolo. His Metropolitan Opera debut took place two years later when he created the role of Emperor Phorcas in the Met's premiere of Massenet's Esclarmonde.

He retired from the stage in 1990.

He participated in numerous recordings of operas, such as: Norma, Esclarmonde, the collection of all late Italian operas by Mozart, Lakmé, Lucia di Lammermoor, Les Huguenots, Tosca, Ernani, I Lombardi, Rigoletto, and Wagner's Ring cycle (sung in English, with Sadler's Wells Opera).

References

Category:1930 births Category:Living people Category:Australian opera singers Category:Operatic basses