Verdi’s Don Carlo in Geneva
One of William Shakespeare’s biggest fans in the 19th century was the great Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), who based three of his operas on Shakespeare plays, namely Macbeth, Otello Read More …
Tag: Operas
Love in the Forest of Fontainebleau, 1559
My favorite thing about Fontainebleau is the music it inspired at the beginning of the five-act versions of the opera Don Carlos (in French) or Don Carlo (in Italian), by Read More …
Seating in the Arena
In this daytime photo you can see the various seating categories in the Arena of Verona. The most expensive seats look white in the photo because they are protected during the Read More …
Operas in the Arena
On my visit to Verona in August 2006 I saw three open-air opera performances in the Arena: Verdi’s Aida, Bizet’s Carmen and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. What they had in common Read More …
Building the Aida stage set
The stage for Zeffirelli’s production of Verdi’s Aida in the Arena of Verona is dominated by two large statues of ancient Egyptian pharaohs (rulers), which between performances are stored out Read More …
Candles in the Arena
If you are sitting on the steps (reserved or unreserved) for an opera performance in the Arena di Verona, don’t forget to pick up a candle from the large unmarked Read More …
The ice cream girls
There were three intermissions during the Aida performance, two during Carmen and one during Madama Butterfly. Before each intermission (‘interval’ to you) there is a ritual in which the singers Read More …
Opera in Innsbruck
Looking at this sturdy little theater today, you’d never guess that it used to have the reputation of being one of the most totally botched and bungled construction projects of Read More …
Opera in Massy
Massy is the only suburb of Paris which has its own opera house. Admittedly the opera house does not look very prestigious from the outside. In fact, I would call Read More …
Opera in Pforzheim
Pforzheim is a city of nearly 120,000 people at the northern edge of the Black Forest in Germany. It has a full-scale city theater with its own opera ensemble, orchestra, Read More …