Tag Archives: soprano
O Mio Babbino Caro
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th December 2019Puccini’s only comic opera, Gianni Schicchi, moves like a torrent. In its skill and vitality it’s up to the best of Rossini and is evocative of Verdi’s Falstaff. But no matter the pace, the master from Lucca could, and seemingly was compelled, to write a great tune for his leading lady. And unlike Tosca’s Vissi…
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Hilde Zadek
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th July 2019Hilde Zadek (1917-2019) had one of the most interesting lives of the past century. Interesting has its downside. For example, in medicine about the worst that can happen to you is to be an interesting case. Born in Bromberg when it was in Prussia (today it’s in Poland), she grew up in Stettin which like…
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Lisette Oropesa
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th June 2019Lisette Oropesa (b 1983) is an American soprano who recently has been making news on the world’s opera stages. This year she was awarded both the Beverly Sills and Richard Tucker prizes. She’s on the cover of this month’s Opera News. Inside there is a six page spread devoted to her career. She’s been associated…
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Depuis le Jour – Redux
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th February 2019I’ve done this before, but decided to have another go at it – NK Opera has a number of one hit wonders. French Composer Gustave Charpentier (1860-1956) is one of the few half hit wonders. He was a French proto-hippy whose worldview is perfectly expressed in his first opera Louise. The title character is the…
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Maria Carbone
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th February 2019Maria Carbone (1908-2002) was mentioned in my last post about Nicola Fusati. It turns out that she’s another singer with a medical connection. She studied medicine for 4 years before switching to vocal studies. I don’t know what university she attended when a medical student. Her training in singing was at the Conservatorio di San…
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Renata Tebaldi
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th January 2019In my post on the 10 Best Sopranos of the 20th Century I failed to include Renata Tebaldi (1922-2004). Inadvertance is the only reason I can offer for her omission. She came to prominence in the years following the second World War. Toscanini hired her to perform in the reopening of La Scala and her…
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Montserrat Caballé 1933-2018
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th October 2018The great Catalan soprano died Oct 6. She came to international fame when she substituted for Marilyn Horne in a performance Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia at Carnegie Hall. Though her voice was basically lyric in character, she was able by virtue of a secure vocal technique to sing bel canto roles, the big Verdi parts, and…
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Zinka Milanov – A Reminscence
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th September 2018The article below was written by Raymond Beegle who served as an accompanist for Zinka Milanov (1906-89) during the years after she retired from performing and devoted herself to teaching. He was also her friend. His moving appreciation of the great soprano was originally published in the Spring 1990 issue of Opera Quarterly to mark her (then) recent death….
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Alida Ferrarini
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th August 2017Alida Ferrarini (1946-2013) was a soprano who specialized in the lighter roles of the operatic repertory. Gilda, Adina, and Michaela were perfect fits for her voice. She also sang baroque and 18th century roles. She sang in San Francisco, but otherwise limited her performances to Europe. She may be best known for her singing of…
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Antonina Nezhdanova
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 11th July 2017Antonina Nezhdanova (1873-1950) was a Ukrainian soprano who made her career in the last years of Imperial Russia and then continued after the 1917 revolution as a singer and teacher in the Soviet Union. She was the greatest Russian soprano of her era. She had a high lyric voice which negotiated all the obstacles of…
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