Bumbry was among the winners of the 1958 Met National Council Auditions. She had a recital debut in Paris that same year and made her Paris Opéra debut in 1960.
Dazzling soprano Angel Blue stars as Violetta in Verdi‘s stirring romantic tragedy. Nicola Luisotti conducts the Met Opera Orchestra and Dmytro Popov (Alfredo) and Artur Ruciński (Giorgio).
A survey of great tenors known for their interpretations of Verdi. Russell Thomas stars the title role Verdi’s Ernani which opens the 2022-23 season of Lyric Opera of Chicago.
With a composer with as many beloved works as Giuseppe Verdi, how do you know where to start? What should you listen to next? We want to know what you think.
The version is largely based on the 1867 rehearsals and Paris Opéra premiere, including long-lost sections rediscovered in the late 1960s by David Rosen and Andrew Porter.
Music director Riccardo Muti will conduct music by Beethoven, Price, Glass, and Montgomery while welcoming guest artists like Anne-Sophie Mutter, Leif Ove Andsnes, and Mitsuko Uchida.
Mazzola speaks with WFMT general manager George Preston about returning to live performance, Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth, Gaetano Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, and what he loves most about being a Chicagoan.
Matthew Polenzani, one of the artists performing at the Met’s Verdi Requiem commemorative concerts on the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001, reflects on why music can help us heal.
A new documentary charts the rise of Metropolitan Opera Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin from a school stage to chief conductor at one of the world’s great opera houses.
Chicago native soprano Ailyn Pérez speaks to us about some of her favorite Latin American and Spanish music and shares a playlist of influential singers and music.
A Verdi and bel canto expert, Lyric’s new music director Enrique Mazzola will open the season with Verdi’s Macbeth and Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, while also conducting contemporary opera Proving Up by Missy Mazzoli later in the season.
WFMT host Candice Agree has selected some of her favorite works of literature that have inspired musical compositions for you to enjoy on World Book Day.
Audiences will be irate this weekend at the Siskel Center. No, not the people in the theater, but the onscreen audiences portrayed in In the Mouth of the Wolf. The made-for-TV documentary depicts the infamously fanatical opera culture of Parma, Italy through the lens of a troubled production of Verdi’s Luisa Miller.
“You have to know that I am a very curious musician…” said Enrique Mazzola, wearing his trademark red glasses. In September, the Italian conductor was appointed Lyric Opera of Chicago’s music director designate.
There are baritones, and then there are Verdi baritones. They are the elite performers, athletes among baritones, thrilling their fans with blazing top notes and plumbing the depths of some of the most dramatically complex roles in opera.
On February 10, some of the biggest names in the music industry convened at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles. R&B and soul singer Alicia Keys hosted the ceremony, as winners were announced in 30 fields and 84 categories. Here are the nominees and winners for the classical music categories.
