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: Verdi
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 …
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 …
Galeries Lafayette in Paris
Most of you are too young to remember this, but back in the twentieth century it was customary for department stores to consist of — departments. If you were looking Read More …
Verdi’s Troubadour in the opera tent
The Kuppeltheater (‘dome theater’) was originally built in Freiburg, where it was used for two years while their theater was being renovated. Then it was taken down and moved to Read More …
The opera house in Strasbourg
When people ask me which opera I would take with me to a desert island if I could only take one (I’ve really been asked that), I always say it Read More …
The Opera House in Hannover
From the outside, the Hannover Opera House still (or again) looks much the same as it did when it first opened as the Royal Court Theatre (Königliches Hoftheater) on September Read More …
Verdi’s Nabucco in Mönchengladbach
This banner proclaims: “People from 29 nations work under this roof.” The roof in question is the one on the city theater in Mönchengladbach, Germany, and the banner serves to Read More …
The Semper Opera House in Dresden
Performances at the Semper Opera House in Dresden are often sold out weeks or months in advance. When this happens you will notice because they remove the ticket icon from Read More …