AUTHORITATIVE | CURATED | First 500 words Free

• Personalities
• Classical
• Conductor
• Modern Era

1867–1957 Italian conductor Trained as a cellist, Toscanini was artistic director of La Scala, Milan 1898–1903, 1906–08 and 1920–29, and of the Metropolitan Opera, New York 1908–15. A strict disciplinarian, he inspired devotion for his artistic integrity, his respect for the composer’s intentions and the electricity of his performances. He conducted the New York ...

• Personalities
• Contemporary Era
• Jazz & Blues

(Piano, orchestra leader, b. 1960) Arturo O’Farrill is the pianist and music director of the Latin jazz orchestra his father, Chico O’Farrill, organized upon his comeback in the mid-1990s; he has also worked with keyboardist-composer-bandleader Carla Bley, trumpeter Lester Bowie and the Fort Apache Band. Upon Chico’s death in 2000, Arturo inherited his bandbook and ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Conductor
• Contemporary Classical

1912–97 British conductor Solti joined the Budapest Opera as a répétiteur (coach), and assisted Arturo Toscanini (1867–1957) at the 1936 and 1937 Salzburg Festivals. After spending the war years in Switzerland, he was music director at the Bavarian State Opera 1946–52, in Frankfurt 1952–61, and at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden 1961–71. He was also music director ...

• Personalities
• High Romantic
• Opera

1842–1918, Italian Although best known as a librettist, Arrigo Boito was also a composer in his own right. He studied music in Milan with Alberto Mazzucato (1813–77). Later he went to Paris, where he met Verdi and began to think about subjects for operas. The choice was between Nero, the Roman Emperor, and Faust – a ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Late Romantic

(Joo’-sep-pa Ver’-de) 1813–1901 Italian composer Verdi composed 28 operas over a period of 54 years. In his native Italy he became immensely popular early in his career, and by the time he died he was idolized as the greatest Italian composer of the nineteenth century. In other musical centres of Europe it took a little longer for Verdi’s genius to be ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Composer
• Conductor
• Late Romantic

(Goos’-taf Ma’-ler) 1860–1911 Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler bestrode the world of music at the end of the nineteenth century. ‘My time will come’, he remarked about his often misunderstood compositions. For Mahler the conductor, due recognition did come during his lifetime, but another half-century had to pass before a fully sympathetic appreciation of his creative achievement was possible ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Conductor
• Modern Era

1882–1977 American conductor Born in London, Stokowski was organist of St James’s, Piccadilly, and of St Bartholomew’s, New York. A conducting post in Cincinnati led to his appointment as music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, 1912–36, where he created the world-famous ‘Philadelphia sound’. Introduction | Modern Era | Classical Personalities | Arturo Toscanini | Modern ...

• Personalities
• Modern Era
• Opera

1922–2004, Italian Tebaldi studied at the Conservatory of Milan before auditioning for Arturo Toscanini in 1946. Impressed with her exceptional voice, Toscanini offered Tebaldi a concert engagement at La Scala, where she remained on the roster for the next five years. By the mid-1950s, both Tebaldi and Maria Callas were performing regularly at the Met and, ...

• Houses & Companies
• High Romantic
• Opera

The Teatro alla Scala – known outside Italy as La Scala, Milan – is one of the world’s most famous opera houses and originally opened in the sixteenth century as the Salone Margherita in the Palazzo Ducale. Both this theatre and another built on its site, the Teatro Regio Ducale, burned down, in 1708 and 1776 respectively. ...

• Jazz

Like a great river that runs endlessly, forming numerous tributary streams as it flows, jazz continues to evolve over time. And no matter how far the River Jazz may flow from its source – whether through stylistic evolution or technological innovation – the essential spirit of the music remains intact. Granted, the more academic and esoteric extrapolations of ...

• Major Operas
• Opera
• Turn of the Century

Composed: 1902 Premiered: 1902, Milan Libretto by Arturo Colautti, after Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé’s play Adrienne Lecouvreur Act I Backstage at the Comédie-Française, the stage manager Michonnet tries to propose to the actress Adriana Lecouvreur, but she loves Maurizio, who is the Count of Saxony in disguise. She gives Maurizio some violets. An intercepted letter ...

• Major Operas
• Early Romantic
• Opera

While writing Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti observed a common custom of the 1830s; tailoring his music to the voices of the original cast. For example, Fanny Tacchinardi-Persiani (1812–67), who created the role of Lucia, was technically brilliant and Donizetti’s writing reflected her outstanding abilities. Matching music to performers was a shrewd move: the formula increased the popularity of ...

• Major Operas
• Opera
• Turn of the Century

Puccini spent the last five years of his life working on Turandot. He patched up his differences with Adami who, together with Renato Simoni, got to work on creating a libretto from Carlo Gozzi’s fairy-tale. Through the usual prevarications, doubts and rows, Puccini slowly worked on the score. At the beginning of 1924, he began to ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Modern Era
• Singer

1892–1990 English soprano Turner’s early career was spent with the Carl Rosa company, with which she appeared at Covent Garden in 1920. As Madam Butterfly she was spotted by Toscanini’s assistant at La Scala; her subsequent Italian career included her first Turandot, at Brescia in 1926. At Covent Garden, 1928–39 and 1947–48, she sang not only Turandot ...

• Personalities
• Classical
• Conductor
• Modern Era

1899–1970 English conductor Born in London to an Italian musical family, Barbirolli made his debut as a cellist at the age of 17 before pursuing a career conducting. In the 1920s and 30s he conducted the British National Opera Company, the Covent Garden Opera Company and the Scottish Orchestra. He succeeded Toscanini as permanent conductor of the New York ...