Born in Yorkshire in 1933, the famed English mezzo-soprano Janet Baker never had a formal musical education. Coming from a far from affluent family, she left school to work in...
Read MoreHere is my tale of woe with respect to this mezzo. There are very few recordings of her on youtube. Pulling excerpts off of youtube makes my life much easier....
Read MoreI thought that for the end of the year/the beginning of next year, I would post what some might call "opera's greatest hits". These are two duets, one from Delibes'...
Read MoreZara Aleksandrovna Dolukhanova: March 15, 1918 – December 4, 2007 Dolukhanova was an important Russian mezzo-soprano of Armenian descent, who was not heard that frequently in the West for political...
Read MoreDolukhanova was an important Russian mezzo-soprano of Armenian descent, who was not heard frequently in the West for political reasons. I wanted to post tis one song by Rimsky-Korsakov with...
Read MoreI had a friend who once told me that Giulietta Simionato was an Italian institution. He was only exaggerating slightly. Giulietta Simionato (May 12, 1910 – May 5, 2010) was...
Read MoreBefore introducing Régine Crespin, I want to describe what a Falcon soprano is. The term "Falcon" comes from Marie Cornélie Falcon, a French singer who lived from 1814–1897. Roles that...
Read MoreOn September 23, 1921, Bizet's opera Carmen was performed at the Vienna State Opera, and an unknown 18-year-old woman sang the most difficult arias of the opera. Franz Schalk, the...
Read MoreThe following is a duet, a wildly popular duet, from Wagner's opera "Lohengrin". As can happen in Wagner, the story is a bit complicated, and I have inserted a synopsis...
Read MoreI am going to do something a little different in this post. I have put various performers side by side singing lieder in the past, but I have never done...
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