Category: Opera History
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The Bel Canto Tradition
In my last post I quickly mentioned the fact that Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor is a bel canto opera. Here’s a link to a fabulous 3-year old essay by New York Times critic, Anthony Tommasini that can serve as a primer about the bel canto tradition. Bel canto essentally means fine singing or beautiful singing.…
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Gershwin’s Folk Opera: Porgy and Bess
I’ll be reviewing the Atlanta Opera’s production of Porgy and Bess in a week and have posted a rendition of one of the opera’s hits, “Summertime.” Porgy and Bess premiered on Broadway in 1935, but it wasn’t until Houston Grand Opera produced it in 1976 that it began to be recognized as opera. Gershwin’s opus is ultimately…
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Dafne – 1597
If you’re curious about the foundations of opera and game for some not-so-light reading, peruse Donald J. Grout’s A Short History of Opera. Not including the bibliography or extensive index, it is 728 pages long and required reading for any college voice major. Opera wasn’t really known as “opera” until the 17th century, but Grout identifies the dramma per musica…
Stephanie Adrian 