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Virginia MacWatters
Virginia MacWatters (June 19, 1912 – November 5, 2005) was an American coloratura soprano and university professor. Early life MacWatters was born in Philadelphia on June 19, 1912 to Frederick K. and Idoleein ( Hallowell) MacWatters. She began her musical studies in piano at the age of eight at the Zeckwer Hahn Musical Academy in Philadelphia. This led to a one year scholarship at the age of twelve to study voice with Henrietta Conrad, formerly of the Dresden Royal Opera. Her first appearance in a singing role was as Mabel in ''The Pirates of Penzance'' while still in junior high school. After graduating from the Philadelphia Normal School for Teachers, MacWatters supported her studies through substitute teaching and singing primarily in churches throughout the Philadelphia area. Career She received a scholarship to the renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. MacWatters studied opera and acting under Ernest Lert and Greta Stauber. After graduating from Cur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1854, the city has been coextensive with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the Delaware Valley, the nation's seventh-largest and one of world's largest metropolitan regions, with 6.245 million residents . The city's population at the 2020 census was 1,603,797, and over 56 million people live within of Philadelphia. Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Quaker. The city served as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony during the British colonial era and went on to play a historic and vital role as the central meeting place for the nation's founding fathers whose plans and actions in Philadelphia ultimately inspired the American Revolution and the nation's inde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luigi Infantino
Luigi Infantino (; 24 April 1921 – 22 June 1991) was an Italian operatic tenor, particularly associated with the lyric Italian and French repertories. Luigi Infantino was born in Racalmuto, and studied at the Parma Conservatory with Italo Brancucci. He made his debut in 1943, at the Teatro Regio in Parma, as Rodolfo in ''La bohème'', which was also his debut role at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, in 1945. With that company, he appeared in London as the Duke in ''Rigoletto'', and Rodolfo. In 1948, he made his debut at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, as Nadir in ''Les pêcheurs de perles'', later singing Ramiro in ''La cenerentola'', which he also sang that same year at the Verona Arena. The tenor sang regularly in Naples and Bologna, and made guest appearances at the New York City Opera in 1947: ''La traviata'' (with Enzo Mascherini as Giorgio), ''Rigoletto'' (opposite Giuseppe Valdengo and Virginia MacWatters), ''Madama Butterfly'', ''La bohème'', ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erich Leinsdorf
Erich Leinsdorf (born Erich Landauer; February 4, 1912 – September 11, 1993) was an Austrian-born American conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a reputation for exacting standards as well as an acerbic personality. He also published books and essays on musical matters. Biography Leinsdorf was born to a Jewish family in Vienna, and was studying music at a local school by the age of 5. He played the cello and studied composition. In his teens, Leinsdorf worked as a piano accompanist for singers. He studied conducting at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and later at the University of Vienna and the Vienna Academy of Music. From 1934 to 1937 he worked as an assistant to the noted conductors Bruno Walter and Arturo Toscanini at the Salzburg Festival. In November 1937, Leinsdorf travelled to the United States to take up a position as assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New Yor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria De Los Ángeles
Victoria de los Ángeles López García (1 November 192315 January 2005) was a Catalan Spanish operatic lyric soprano and recitalist whose career began after the Second World War and reached its height in the years from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Early life She was born Victoria de los Ángeles López García in the porter's lodge of the University of Barcelona, to Bernardo Lopez Gómez (or Gamez), a university caretaker, and Victoria García. She studied voice under Dolores Frau, and guitar with Graciano Tarragó, at the Barcelona Conservatory, graduating in 1941 after just three years, at the age of 18. Career in music In 1941, while still a student, she made her operatic debut as Mimì in ''La bohème'' at the Liceu, afterwards resuming her musical studies. In 1945, she returned to the Liceu to make her professional debut as the Countess in ''The Marriage of Figaro''. After winning first prize in the Geneva International Music Competition in 1947, she sang Salud in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eleanor Steber
Eleanor Steber (July 17, 1914October 3, 1990) was an American operatic soprano. Steber is noted as one of the first major opera stars to have achieved the highest success with training and a career based in the United States. Biography Eleanor Steber was born in Wheeling, West Virginia on July 17, 1914. She was the daughter of William Charles Steber, Sr. (1888–1966) and Ida Amelia (née Nolte) Steber (1885–1985). She had two younger siblings – William Charles Steber, Jr. (1917–2002) and Lucile Steber Leslie (1918–1999). She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1940 and was one of its leading artists through 1961. She was known for her large, flexible silvery voice, particularly in the high-lying soprano roles of Richard Strauss. She was equally well known for her lyrical portrayals of Mozart's heroines, many in collaboration with conductors Kurt Adler, Bruno Walter. Beyond Mozart and Strauss her repertoire was quite varied. She was noted for success in the m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regina Resnik
Regina Resnik (born Regina Resnick, August 30, 1922 – August 8, 2013) was an American opera singer who had an active international career that spanned five decades. She began her career as a soprano in 1942 and soon after began a lengthy and fruitful relationship with the Metropolitan Opera that spanned from 1944 until 1983. Under the advice of conductor Clemens Krauss, she began retraining her voice in the mezzo-soprano repertoire in 1953 and by 1956 had completely removed soprano literature from her performance repertoire. While the Met was Resnik's artistic home, she worked regularly as a guest artist with other major American opera companies and with the top European opera houses, including La Scala, the Paris Opera, the Royal Opera, London, the San Francisco Opera, and the Vienna State Opera. After the mid-1980s, her performance career transitioned away from opera towards musical theater. In addition to performing, Resnik worked as a stage director at several Europe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garson Kanin
Garson Kanin (November 24, 1912 – March 13, 1999) was an American writer and director of plays and films. Early life Garson Kanin was born in Rochester, New York; his family later relocated to Detroit then to New York City. He attended James Madison High School in Brooklyn, dropping out to take up a career on the theatre stage. He subsequently became a professional saxophone player and leader of his own band that went by the name Garson Kanin and His Red Hot Peppers. During this period, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts pursuing an acting career. He was of Jewish descent. Stage career Garson Kanin began his show-business career as a jazz musician, burlesque comedian, and actor. He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and made his Broadway debut in ''Little Ol' Boy'' (1933). In 1935, Kanin was cast in a George Abbott play and soon became Abbott's assistant. Kanin made his Broadway debut as a director in 1936, at the age o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager. As of 2018, the company's current music director is Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The Met was founded in 1883 as an alternative to the previously established Academy of Music opera house, and debuted the same year in a new building on 39th and Broadway (now known as the "Old Met"). It moved to the new Lincoln Center location in 1966. The Metropolitan Opera is the largest classical music organization in North America. Until 2019, it presented about 27 different operas each year from late September through May. The operas are presented in a rotating repertory schedule, with up to seven performances of four different works staged each week. Performances are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Treigle
Norman Treigle (né Adanelle Wilfred Treigle (March 6, 1927February 16, 1975) was an American operatic bass-baritone, who was acclaimed for his great abilities as a singing-actor, and specialized in roles that evoked villainy and terror. Biography Treigle ( ) was born in New Orleans, the fifth and final child of a poor carpenter and his wife. Following his 1946 marriage to the former Loraine Siegel, the bass-baritone began vocal studies with the contralto Elisabeth Wood. In 1947, he made his operatic debut with the New Orleans Opera Association, as the Duke of Verona in '' Roméo et Juliette''. Between 1949 and 1951, he attended Loyola University of the South's College of Music, while performing various roles with the local opera company. ( Loyola's archives now preserve Treigle's personal papers.) In 1953, Treigle made his New York City Opera debut, as Colline in ''La bohème''. Three years later, the bass-baritone scored his first significant success, as the tormented Reve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Hayward (tenor)
Thomas T. Hayward (born Thomas Albert Tibbett; December 1, 1917, Kansas City, Missouri – died February 2, 1995, Las Vegas, Nevada) was an American operatic tenor. He was a cousin of opera singer Lawrence Tibbett. Career The lyric tenor made his debut with the New York City Opera in November 1944, as Edmondo in Giacomo Puccini's ''Manon Lescaut'', opposite Dorothy Kirsten in the title role. In 1945 and 1946, he was seen there as Turiddu in ''Cavalleria rusticana'' and in ''The Gypsy Baron''. Soon after his City Opera debut, he won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air along with baritone Robert Merrill. Immediately following, Hayward was first seen in his many appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, his debut being the part of Tybalt in '' Roméo et Juliette''. More notable roles at the Met included the Italian Singer in ''Der Rosenkavalier'', Alfred in ''Die Fledermaus'' (with Hilde Gueden and Virginia MacWatters), the name part in ''Faust'', "B.F. Pinkerton" in ''Madam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Orleans Opera
Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in addition to theaters hosting traveling performers and companies. Earlier opera houses Operas were staged at a variety of theaters in the city, the first documented was André Grétry's ''Sylvain'' at the Theatre de la Rue Saint Pierre on 22 May 1796. On 30 January 1808, the Théâtre St. Philippe was opened with the U.S. premiere of Étienne Méhul's ''Une folie''. The U.S. premiere of Luigi Cherubini's ''Les deux journées'' took place at this theater on 12 March 1811. The city's most famous opera venue between 1819 and 1859 was the Théâtre d'Orléans. That theater was succeeded in 1859 by the French Opera House, located on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. Living in a cosmopolitan city, New Orleans' inhabitants, whether high in sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
