Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini
“Madama Butterfly” is an opera in three acts – although they were originally two – by Giacomo Puccini, with a libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. In the score and in the libretto the opera is called “Japanese tragedy” and it was dedicated to the queen of Italy Elena Montenegro.
Gioacchino Rossini: the Italian Mozart
Gioacchino Rossini was born in Pesaro on the 29 th of February 1792, three months after Mozart. Just like him, he was extremely talented already at a young age, an opera’s young genius. He started composing at the age of 14 and he wrote 39 operas in just 19 years. Among them we could mention: […]
Dafne: the first opera in history
Dafne is the earliest known work that, by modern standards, could be considered an opera. It was composed by Jacopo Peri in 1598 and the libretto was written by Ottavio Rinuccini. Dafne was performed by a small ensemble consisting of a harpsichord, a lute, a viol, an archlute and a triple flute. For the first […]
A 30-year-long opera: The Ring of the Nibelung
Wagner was born in Lipsia in 1813. He lost his father at the age of six, so he received his education from his stepfather, who was a painter and an actor. He studied philosophy and literature and he learnt music as autodidact. He was an undiscussed genius and the author of priceless masterpieces. He introduced […]
The only opera by Beethoven: Fidelio
Ludwig Van Beethoven, a mysterious and charming man, a genius, but also a human being with flaws and vulnerabilities.
Mozart at the movies: a soundtrack of the most famous films in the world
Mozart’s music has radically contributed to the making of many films, and not only … Let’s see which ones. AMADEUS (1984): the works of the famous composer could not miss a role in his biography! TRADING PLACES (1983): among the many songs that form part of the soundtrack of the movie, there is one taken […]
Cavalleria Rusticana, from Mascagni to movie
“Cavalleria Rusticana” is an opera in a one act by Pietro Mascagni, adapted from a short story of the same name by Giovanni Verga. The libretto was made by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menaschi.
Falstaff: Verdi last opera
Giuseppe Verdi’s last opera “Falstaff”, whose libretto was adapted by Arrigo Boito, premiered on 9 February 1893 at La Scala in Milan.
Giuseppe Verdi: Life
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born on 10 ottobre 1813 in Roncole, a village near Busseto, in the province of Parma. His father, Carlo Verdi, was an innkeeper and his mother was a spinner.
Aida by Giuseppe Verdi
Aida is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi. At first, in 1860, Verdi declined to compose the hymn that had been commissioned to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal: he refused the 80,000 francs that had been offered to him by replying that he would never write music for occasions. The musician […]