A devastating cable car disaster, the birth of an iconic actress, and the introduction of a cultural phenomenon.
Tag: opera
A shocking act of police brutality, a legendary opera premiere, and the launch of a media giant.
Opera has played with ideas of gender since its earliest days. Now the first openly trans performers are taking to the stage, and operas explicitly exploring trans identities are beginning to emerge.
The Sydney Opera House opened on this day in 1973. Who designed the Sydney Opera House? The Sydney Opera House was designed by the renowned Danish architect Jørn Utzon. Its innovative and iconic design is internationally recognized and admired for its distinctive shell-like structures. It is considered one of the most iconic and significant architectural […]
Famous Italian opera singer and songwriter Andrea Bocelli was born on this day in 1958, in Lajatico, in the Italian region of Tuscany. He is renowned for his powerful and emotive voice, and he has achieved worldwide recognition for his contributions to classical and pop music. What is Andrea Bocelli’s signature style of music? Bocelli […]
Censoring art because of creators’ political views is nothing new in Russia — but it’s rarely acknowledged. Now, the director of the Bolshoi ballet is saying the quiet part aloud.
Veteran Italian Maestro Alberto Veronesi protested what he believed was the politicization of the La Bohème production that he was set to conduct. In accordance to the opera’s tradition of backstage melodrama, the situation only escalated from there.
The prima ballerina Eleonora Abbagnato recently bid farewell to the Paris Opera, under the gold roof of the historic Palais Garnier. It’s an obligatory passage for Parisian ballet dancers of a certain age, a moment that is often happy, always dreaded and sometimes salutary.
BERLIN – Now, in the opera, there are Black people portraying Germanic gods, Russians appearing as Chinese people, and Don Giovanni may even be played by a trans woman. If ethnically correct casts are required to be politically correct, this would mean the end for many classics and several would become unemployed. Trinidadian-born soprano Jeanine […]
A near fatal act of sabotage at a French opera house wound up in a courtroom last week, after a feud between stage hands offered an unsuspecting audience a moment of true drama six years ago. Let’s rewind back to January 28, 2015, at the Théâtre du Capitole, in the southern French city of Toulouse, […]
A pillar of French culture, the Paris Opera is struggling to survive both the pandemic and criticism of its lack of diversity. Will such an important institution be able to withstand the changes of time?
Social distancing measures and face masks will impact not only the atmosphere in theaters and concert halls, but also the bottom line.
Dancers don’t have things as easy as the French government, which was looking to end their ‘privileged’ pension scheme, would have people believe.
A new rendition of the famous Puccini opera opens this month in Milan, and it all revolves around the powerful and predatory Scarpia character.
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Opera House Surprise
In the heart of the rainforest, in a place which for a long time was only accessible by boat, stands the improbable Teatro Amazonas, built during the late 19th-century rubber boom. See more slides from My Grand-Père’s World here.
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Klassische Musik
I took this photo of the Vienna State Opera only seven years after it was reopened, having been badly damaged by a U.S. bombing raid toward the end of World War II. Still, Austria’s singular standing in the world of classical music was as strong as ever back then, with genius conductor Herbert von Karajan […]
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Eurovision Contestants 2015: Italy
Italy has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 40 times since making its debut at the first edition in 1956 — it was actually one of only seven countries that competed the very first year. It has won the contest on two occasions, with Gigliola Cinquetti in 1964 and Toto Cutugno in 1990. This year’s […]
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A Different Kind Of Opera
“Peking Opera” bears little resemblance to the works of Verdi and Wagner. Though this traditional Chinese art form does feature music and singing, it combines them with dance, acrobatics, and mime. As you can see, it is a very lively and colorful performance, which draws from deep within the country’s myths and folklore – and […]
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The Jewish Ghetto And Its Phantom Opera
Nazis used a Czech military fortress to hold Jewish prisoners during World War II. Yet somehow art and music flourished, including one notable opera that had gone tragically unperformed.
New bill would require artists and others in the “creative” fields to prove they are competent, and active in their roles.
ROME – Italy is a place of culture, beauty, and a well-oiled style of life — crisis or not. Foreigners always return for more. But in order to make sure that the tourists keep coming back — and telling their friends — some guidelines are needed. According to data from the federation of hotels “Fedalberghi”, […]
FRANCE 24, LE PARISIEN (France) Worldcrunch PARIS – A day after armed men pulled off a spectacular 50 million euro diamond heist at Brussels Airport, two men made off with 3 million euros worth of diamonds after holding up a popular department store in central Paris on Tuesday night. The heist happened in broad daylight […]
In the 17th and 18th centuries, opera performers could take any role they wanted. Sopranos were kings, countertenors their lovers; although, in an old theater tradition that went back to the Greeks, wet nurses were always played by men, and the character was re-written if no male could be found to play it. Only in […]
MEXICO CITY – There are a lot of good restaurants in Ciudad de México – Mexico’s capital city (its name sounds a lot more dashing in Spanish than the English Mexico City used by most). Authentic Mexican cuisine is excellent, and Mexicans like to eat well – with little room to spare. So forget everything […]
PRAGUE – A few minutes before the concert starts, Riccardo Sahiti says he can’t believe all this is real, that it’s not a dream. He’s standing in the ornate conductor’s room of the Rudolfinum in Prague – one of Europe’s premier concert halls. All around him are photographs of his idols – conductors such as […]