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Toti Dal Monte
Antonietta Meneghel (27 June 1893 – 26 January 1975), better known by her stage name Toti Dal Monte, was a celebrated Italian operatic lyric soprano. She may be best remembered today for her performance as Cio-cio-san in Puccini's ''Madama Butterfly'', having recorded this role complete in 1939 with Beniamino Gigli as Pinkerton. Career Born in Mogliano Veneto, in the Province of Treviso, Dal Monte studied singing at the Naples Conservatory under Barbara Marchisio. She made her debut at La Scala at the age of 23 as Biancofiore in Zandonai's '' Francesca da Rimini''. She was an immediate success, and her clear "nightingale-like" voice came to be highly appreciated throughout the world. Her best-known roles included the bel canto parts of Amina (in Bellini's ''La sonnambula''), Lucia (in Donizetti's ''Lucia di Lammermoor'') and Gilda (in Verdi's ''Rigoletto''). In 1922 she performed several parts opposite the tenor Carlo Broccardi at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo; including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucia Di Lammermoor
''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel '' The Bride of Lammermoor''. Donizetti wrote ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' in 1835, when he was reaching the peak of his reputation as an opera composer. Gioachino Rossini had recently retired and Vincenzo Bellini had died shortly before the premiere of ''Lucia'' leaving Donizetti as "the sole reigning genius of Italian opera".Mackerras, p. 29 Not only were conditions ripe for Donizetti's success as a composer, but there was also a widespread interest in the history and culture of Scotland. The perceived romance of its violent wars and feuds, as well as its folklore and mythology, intrigued 19th century readers and audiences. Walter Scott dramatized these elements in his novel ''The Bride of Lammermoor'', which inspired several musical works including ''Lucia''.Mackerras, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Anonymous Venetian (film)
''Anonimo Veneziano'' () is a 1970 Italy, Italian drama film written and directed by the famous Italian actor Enrico Maria Salerno in his debut as a film director. It starred American actor Tony Musante and Brazilian actress Florinda Bolkan. The film is especially notable for its romantic musical score, composed by Stelvio Cipriani. In the movie's musical score there is also an Adagio, erroneously attributed to the Baroque Venetian composer Benedetto Marcello (31 July or 1 August 1686 – 24 July 1739). In reality, the author of the Concerto for Oboe and Strings in D minor was his older brother Alessandro Marcello, Alessandro (1 February 1673 – 19 June 1747). In 1970, Frida Boccara recorded the song "Venise Va Mourir", the main theme of the film (French version, lyrics by Eddy Marnay), later performing it at the Cannes Film Festival. Tony Renis recorded it as "Anonimo veneziano" (English and Italian versions, 1970) and "Venise Va Mourir" (1971, French version). Singers Sergio D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enrico Maria Salerno
Enrico Maria Salerno (18 September 1926 – 28 February 1994) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He was also the voice of Clint Eastwood in the Italian version of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy films, and the voice of Christ in ''The Gospel According to St. Matthew (film), The Gospel According to St. Matthew'' directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Biography Enrico Maria Salerno was born in Milan on 18 September 1926, son of Antonino Salerno, an Italian lawyer originally from Erice (in province of Trapani, Sicily) and Milka Storff, a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav violinist. At only 17, he joined the Italian Social Republic as an officer cadet of the National Republican Guard (Italy), National Republican Guard. With the fall of the Italian Social Republic is imprisoned in the concentration camp of Coltano, near Pisa. Actually the real name of the actor was Enrico. It was during the first theatrical experiences that he decided to place the name of Mary alongside his name, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Il Re
''Il re'' (''The king'') is a novella or opera in one act and three scenes by composer Umberto Giordano to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. The opera premiered at La Scala in Milan on 12 January 1929. Julian Budden: "Il re", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed March 04, 2009)(subscription access) The opera is a short comedy, only lasting about 1 hour in performance, about a young woman, Rosalina, betrothed to Colombello. One day she sees the King in all his majesty and falls in love with him, breaking the engagement with Colombello. But after meeting the king privately in his chamber, and seeing him with no crown or clothes, she loses her interest in him and returns to Colombello. Performance history Unusual for a 20th-century opera, ''Il re'' was written specifically as a vehicle for Toti Dal Monte, a coloratura soprano of the old school. Dal Monte performed the work a number of times during her career but after her retirement, the opera quickly fell into obscu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Umberto Giordano
Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. His best-known work in that genre was Andrea Chénier (1896). He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples. His first opera, ''Marina'', was written for a competition promoted by the music publishers Edoardo Sonzogno, Casa Sonzogno for the best one-act opera, remembered today because it marked the beginning of Italian ''verismo''. The winner was Pietro Mascagni, Mascagni's ''Cavalleria rusticana''. Giordano, the youngest contestant, was placed sixth among seventy-three entries with his ''Marina'', a work which generated enough interest for Sonzogno to commission the staging of an opera based on it in the 1891–92 season. The result was ''Mala vita'', a gritty ''verismo'' opera about a labourer who vows to reform a prostitute if he is cured of his tuberculosis. This work caused something of a scandal when per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians, locally known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, is a Catholic basilica and the seat of the Archdiocese of Sydney. The cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the venerated title of “Our Lady, Help of Christians" and Patroness of Australia. Pope Pius XI raised the shrine to the status of Minor Basilica via the Pontifical decree ''Inter Potiores Sacras'' on 4 August 1932. Pope Benedict XVI made an Apostolic Visit to the shrine in 19 July 2008. It is located on College Street near the eastern border of the Sydney central business district in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The cathedral was designed by William Wardell and built from 1866 to 1928. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 3 September 2004. History Background Sydney was established as a penal settlement on 26 January 1788 in the name of K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enzo De Muro Lomanto
Enzo de Muro Lomanto (11 April 1902 – 15 February 1952) was an Italian operatic lyric tenor. Biography Born Vincenzo De Muro in Canosa di Puglia, he studied in Naples, and added his mother's maiden name "Lomanto" to his name to avoid confusion with another tenor, Bernardo de Muro. He made his debut at Catanzaro, as Alfredo in '' La traviata'' in 1925. Shortly afterwards, he appeared at the San Carlo in Naples, as Cavaradossi in ''Tosca''. He made his La Scala debut in 1928 as Tonio in ''La fille du régiment''. He would sing there until 1943. He also appeared at the Paris Opéra in 1936, as Duca di Mantua in ''Rigoletto'', and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, in ''The Tales of Hoffmann'', in 1938. He also took part in the creation of Giordano's ''Il re'', at La Scala, in 1929. De Muro Lomanto made a number of records and can be heard in the first complete recording of ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', opposite Mercedes Capsir. Attended by Hina Spani, Vera de Cristoff, , B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early twentieth century, and was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She took the pseudonym "Melba" from Melbourne, her home town. Melba studied singing in Melbourne and made a modest success in performances there. After a brief and unsuccessful marriage, she moved to Europe in search of a singing career. Failing to find engagements in London, England, in 1886, she studied in Paris, France, and soon made a great success there and in Brussels, Belgium. Returning to London, she quickly established herself as the leading lyric soprano at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from 1888. She soon achieved further success in Paris and elsewhere in Europe, and later at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, debuting there in 1893. Her reper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Wally
''La Wally'' is an opera in four acts by composer Alfredo Catalani, to a libretto by Luigi Illica, first performed at La Scala, Milan, on 20 January 1892. It was Catalani's last opera. The libretto is based on a hugely successful ' by Wilhelmine von Hillern (1836–1916), '' The Vulture Maiden'' (''Die Geier-Wally''). Wally, short for Walburga, is a girl with some heroic attributes. The story is based on an episode in the life of Tyrolean painter Anna Stainer-Knittel, whom von Hillern met. She got her epithet "Geier" (vulture, the local name for eagle) from having gutted a bearded vulture's nest going down a rope; this dangerous task, aimed at protecting the sheep in the Alpine village, was typically performed by a man. Hillern's piece was originally serialized in '' Deutsche Rundschau'' and was reproduced in English as "A German Peasant Romance" [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfredo Catalani
Alfredo Catalani (19 June 1854 – 7 August 1893) was an Italian operatic composer. He is best remembered for his operas '' Loreley'' (1890) and '' La Wally'' (1892). ''La Wally'' was composed to a libretto by Luigi Illica, and features Catalani's most famous aria "Ebben? Ne andrò lontana." This aria, sung by American soprano Wilhelmenia Fernandez, was at the heart of Jean-Jacques Beineix's 1981 film '' Diva''. Catalani's other operas were much less successful. Life and career Born in Lucca, Catalani came from a musical family. He was trained at the Milan Conservatory, where his teachers included Antonio Bazzini. Despite the growing influence of the '' verismo'' style of opera during the 1880s and early 1890s, Catalani chose to compose in a more traditional manner, which had traces of Wagner in it. As a result, his operas (''La Wally'' excepted) have largely lost their place in the modern repertoire, even compared to those of Massenet and Puccini, whose style his own peri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II. It is the biggest in Italy, and one of the largest of Europe (at the time of its inauguration, it was - with its area of - the third largest opera house in Europe after the Palais Garnier in Paris, and the Vienna State Opera, K. K. Hof-Opernhaus in Vienna), renowned for its perfect acoustics. Construction and opening An international competition for the creation of the opera house was announced by the Palermo Council in 1864 at the instigation of the mayor, Antonio Starrabba di Rudinì. For many years there had been talk of building a large new theatre in Palermo, worthy of the second biggest city in southern Italy (after Naples) and designed to promote the image of the city following the unification of Italy in 1861. The opera house was designed, and overseen by the Italian architect Giovan Battista Filippo Basile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
