The online opera guide to DON PASQUALE
Don Pasquale belongs to the 3 great Buffo operas of the Belcanto period. Despite severe health problems Donizetti created a work with so many great musical ideas in this late work.
Archive for month: October, 2019
The online opera guide to UN BALLO IN MASCHERA
With Un ballo in maschera, Verdi created five brilliant roles and fantastic scenes. Already the premiere was one of Verdi’s most brilliant successes of his career and the work began its triumphal march around the world. Read more
The online opera guide to HÄNSEL UND GRETEL
Humperdinck’s fairytale opera is loved all over the world for its folk music. Hardly any other work of opera literature has been translated into so many languages. The work is one of the most performed operas in the world. Read more
The online opera guide to DIE LUSTIGE WITWE / THE MERRY WIDOW
“The Merry Widow” was Franz Lehàr’s fifth operetta and its success exceeded everything that had ever existed in the genre. During his lifetime, the piece was performed 300,000 times worldwide and is still one of the most popular operettas today. Read more
The online opera guide to LA CENERENTOLA
Rossinis wrote a rousing opera in just 24 days. Each of the numbers of this opera is a great piece, especially the ensemble scenes are of the greatest mastery.
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The online opera guide to EUGEN ONEGIN
Tchaikovsky wrote ten operas. Eugene Onegin is his most famous and most beautiful opera. Emotional music, dazzling instrumentation and inner drama characterize this work. Tchaikovsky also gives us beautiful musical orchestral passages reminiscent of his greatest ballets.
The Portrait of Wagner’s Aria DICH TEURE HALLE
Read Interesting facts and hear great YouTube Videos about the famous Aria “DICH TEURE HALLE”.
The online opera guide to TANNHÄUSER
Tannhäuser is probably the most human hero among all the figures created by Wagner, who cannot escape the carnal lust (Venus), although he strives for spirituality (Elisabeth). Wagner himself has described that his “inclination to sensual impetuosity” is in conflict with the “seriousness of artistic feeling”.
The Portrait of Leoncavallo’s Aria VESTI LA GIUBBA
Read Interesting facts and hear great YouTube Videos about the famous Aria “VESTI LA GIUBBA”.
The online opera guide to PAGLIACCI
Pagliacci was a stroke of genius of youth. Leoncavallo was 33 years old when he composed this masterpiece. He owes his fame to a single work and throughout his life Leoncavallo searched for a second “Pagliacci”. He shared this fate with Pietro Mascagni, who two years earlier wrote the second great work of the verism “Cavalleria rusticana”.