b. 1965 Romanian soprano She studied in Bucharest and made her operatic debut as Mimì in (La bohème) at the Romanian National Opera in 1990, reprising the role at Covent Garden in 1991 and the Metropolitan Opera (her house debut) in 1993. In addition to Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini, she has had notable success in French-language opera, ...
(Vocals, b. 1945) This raw-edged songstress emerged from the same Austin, Texas scene that yielded Stevie Ray Vaughan, with her 1986 debut Stranger Blues. Strehli, who was born in Lubbock, perfected her slow phrasing and dynamic attack at the famed Antone’s nightclub, learning from visiting artists Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, Albert Collins and ...
‘The Triptych’ In constructing an operatic triple-bill, Puccini followed no precedent. He had nursed the idea for some time, to the despair of Giulio Ricordi, who felt it would be a box-office disaster. With the publisher’s death in 1912, Puccini soon felt able to work on the project. His librettist for La rondine, Giuseppe Adami, ...
‘The Fallen Woman’ La dame aux camélias (‘The Lady of the Camellias’) by Alexandre Dumas had barely been staged in 1852 before Verdi took it up for La traviata, one of the great operas from his middle period. It premiered at Teatro La Fenice, Venice on 6 March 1853, and the first performance was disastrous. Verdi blamed the ...
b. 1959 American soprano She completed her formal study at the Juilliard School and in Europe on a Fulbright scholarship with Arleen Augér and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1991 as the Countess (Mozart’s Figaro), which, along with the Marschallin (Strauss’s Rosenkavalier) has become one of her best-known roles. She created the role of Blanche DuBois ...
b. 1963 French-Italian tenor Born in Paris to a Sicilian family, Alagna began his career in the city’s cabarets. After winning the Pavarotti International Voice Competition in 1988, he began his professional career with Glyndebourne Touring Opera as Alfredo in La traviata, a role he repeated at La Scala in 1990. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut (1996) ...
Baritones Baritones, it is said, sing and act, while tenors merely sing. That may tell us more about the roles they take than about the singers themselves, but certainly the finest baritones excel in both skills, none more than Tito Gobbi, whose most noted roles were Falstaff in Verdi’s eponymous opera, and Scarpia in ...
Bowie’s mega-success with his artistic low point was followed by what can only be described as a lost decade. A Homeland No. 1 At Last In 1979 Bowie had a non-album UK Top 10 hit with ‘John I’m Only Dancing (Again)’, a song that – the old rascal – bore no relation to his 1972 non-album No. 12 hit ‘John I’m ...
(Guitar, harmonica, piano, vocals, b. 1947) Simmonds emerged as the leader of early British blues-rock band Savoy Brown in 1965. Although the Welsh-born guitarist’s group grew louder and heavier into the 1970s, he never lost his interest in the acoustic country blues that had sparked his playing. Savoy Brown soldiers on, but in 1997 Simmonds ...
September Bridges To Babylon A genuine return to some sort of form, and their best since Some Girls, Bridges To Babylon was again the product of a band working as two different factions, but at least getting it to sound right. Even so, the band weren’t speaking by the end of the recording, and throughout Mick ...
Death metal and grindcore both had roots in the decaying thrash metal scene of the mid-1980s. As that decade concluded, musicians on both sides of the Atlantic were looking for new and horrific ways to shock. The styles ended up gravitating towards one another, but began life as very different entities. Death metal bands like Morbid Angel and Death ...
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An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
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Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.