Portal:Opera/DYK/Did you know?

The following is a list of Opera-related WP:DYKs that have previously appeared at Template:DYK. Did you know....

DYKs which have already been added to the Opera Portal rotation are marked . When adding a new DYK here, add to the top of the relevant section. For DYKs which have not been added to the portal yet, it is helpful to include a link to the relevant Wikipedia:Recent additions archive in which it appears. This will be required for sourcing when the DYKs are added to the rotation.

Companies and theatres

.... that the Grand Opera House staged plays with a star who spoke only Italian amidst an English-speaking ensemble? 24 Aug 2026
... that John Darrenkamp sang with OperaLancaster in 2015 in the same opera that he performed with the company for his debut in 1959? 5 Aug 2026

... that multiple dancers were arrested at the Capitol Theatre in San Francisco for allegedly not wearing bras during striptease numbers? 24 Apr 2025

... that a will bequeathing the Chestnut Street Opera House to the University of Pennsylvania was contested at the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania? 16 May 2024

... that a temple once housed the New York City Opera and New York City Ballet? 21 Mar 2023

... that New York's Wieting Opera House burnt down and was rebuilt on three separate occasions by its proprietors, John Wieting and Mary Elizabeth Wieting? 6 Feb 2022

... that the Theater Trier runs a series including the premiere of Zemlinsky's Sarema, the German premiere of The Voyage by Philip Glass, and the revival of Koanga by Frederick Delius? 15 Jun 2021
... that the Oper am Brühl was the venue for the world premiere of Telemann's Germanicus in 1704, when he was director of the opera house? 25 Apr 2021

... that the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt manage stages for opera and drama in Frankfurt under one roof (pictured), in a building incorporating the ruins of the bombed former playhouse? 6 Sep 2019
... that theatre in Saarbrücken began as court theatre directed by Iffland, while plans for today's State Theatre were commissioned by Goebbels? 24 Jun 2019
... that the main venue of the Landestheater Detmold was built from 1914–18, after the 1825 court theatre of the Principality of Lippe burnt down? 26 Feb 2019

... that the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz (pictured) in Munich, a royal theatre for operettas in the 19th century, presented the German premiere of Harold Rome's musical Fanny in 1955? 3 Nov 2018
... that the Bockenheimer Depot (pictured) in Frankfurt, built to house trams, is now a theatre which staged the German premiere of Olga Neuwirth's Lost Highway? 24 Oct 2018
... that Theater Bremen, the state theatre in Bremen for operas, plays, dance, and student programs, was selected as opera house of the year by Opernwelt in 2007? 21 Oct 2018
... that the palace theatre Schlosstheater Schönbrunn (hall pictured), commissioned by Maria Theresa, opened on 4 October 1747, the emperor's name day? 4 Oct 2018

... that the Theater Chemnitz has staged "rediscovered" operas, such as Meyerbeer's Vasco da Gama, in the opera house (pictured)? 11 Sep 2017
... that the Stadttheater Minden, a municipal theatre without an ensemble, received international attention for its Wagner opera project? 27 Aug 2017
... that the Theater Bonn opened a new opera house in 1965? 13 Aug 2017
... that Theater Magdeburg's opera house (pictured) is a re-built operetta and variety theatre destroyed in World War II? 5 Aug 2017
... that when the Theater Münster opened in 1956, it was regarded as the first new theatre in Germany after World War II? 28 July 2017

... that in the past three years, Odyssey Opera has performed the Boston premieres of Korngold's Die tote Stadt and Massenet's Le Cid? (2 Dec 2015)

... that the opera house for the Dresden court, Opernhaus am Taschenberg (pictured), opened in 1667 and was dedicated as a church in 1708? (17 December 2014)
... that over 210,000 tickets were sold in the 1867 lottery in which Chicago's Crosby's Opera House (pictured) was one of the prizes? (7 August 2014)
... that according to one reviewer, the productions of the Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company "can match a West End show"? (1 July 2014)
... that during its centenary season, the Theater Kiel premiered an opera, Cristóbal Halffter's Lázaro, in the 1907 Opernhaus (pictured)? (27 February 2014)

... that the Staatstheater Darmstadt opened a new theatre building in 1972? (1 August 2013)
... that the Staatstheater Mainz and the University of Mainz collaborated on the program "Mathematics and Physics in the World of Sound"? (31 July 2013)
... that in the Opernhaus Wuppertal production of The Rite of Spring (revival pictured), choreographed by Pina Bausch, the dancers performed on a stage covered with soil? (30 July 2013)
... that Royal Tunbridge Wells has a church dedicated to King Charles I that had no vicar for 33 years, an opera house that became a pub, and a rugby club whose alumni include an RFU regional administrator and aftershave-drinking Colin Smart? (8 March 2013)

... that the Vienna "pocket opera" Wiener Taschenoper took children to John Cage's A House Full of Music and adults on Stockhausen's Michael's Journey Around the Earth? (3 August 2012)
... that Berlin's Theater des Westens (pictured) was the stage for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes with Anna Pavlova, the premiere of Henze's opera König Hirsch, and the premiere in German of My Fair Lady? (18 February 2012)

... that Voltaire's tragedy Olimpie premiered in 1762 and Henze's opera Elegie für junge Liebende in 1961 at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen (pictured)? (12 December 2011)
... that the Lope de Vega Theatre (pictured) in Seville has twice been flooded by the Guadalquivir river? (6 December 2011)
... that in 2011 the annual festival Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, founded in 1896 after the model of the Bayreuth Festival, opened at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (pictured) with the first performance in German of Rodion Shchedrin's opera Lolita? (6 May 2011)
... that Piper's Opera House (pictured) was used by boxing champion Gentleman Jim Corbett as a training facility in preparation for his title bout with Bob Fitzsimmons? (21 April 2011)
... that the original walk-in safe from a bank that once occupied the first floor of the Wheeler Opera House (pictured) in Aspen, Colorado, is still on display in the lobby? (17 April 2011)
... that the Musiktheater im Revier (pictured) in Gelsenkirchen staged a new musical for the 100th anniversary of the soccer club FC Schalke 04 in 2004? (6 February 2011)

... that the Opernhaus Dortmund was opened in 1966 with Der Rosenkavalier, performed in Dortmund first in 1911? (28 August 2010)
... that the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company started in 1924, but went bankrupt after the Wall Street Crash of 1929? (12 March 2010)

... that the Opera Krakowska, one of the leading Polish opera companies, founded in 1954, moved into its first permanent house only in 2008? (15 July 2009)
... that the Royal Opera House in Mumbai is India's only surviving opera house? (14 July 2009)
... that an early Washington National Opera, unrelated to its modern namesake, presented Bidu Sayão in her 1936 U.S. operatic debut with organ, not orchestra, accompaniment owing to a financial dispute? (7 May 2009)
... that the Cobb and Frost-designed Chicago Opera House, built 1884–85, was one of the first buildings constructed using general contracting? (2 January 2009)

... that the Woodland Opera House was the first opera house to serve the Sacramento Valley? (29 November 2008)
... that Süreyya Opera House in Istanbul, built in 1927 as a musical theater but used all the time as a cinema, gained its intended status only in 2007 after redevelopment? (30 October 2008)
... that the Manila Grand Opera House also served as a theater, residence, cinema and nightclub before its original building was demolished and re-constructed as a hotel? (17 August 2008)
... that Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù (pictured), founded in 1720, was the first modern opera theatre in Greece? (27 June 2008)
... that the Neoclassical Hollywood Masonic Temple (pictured) has been used as a Masonic Lodge, opera house, and nightclub, and is now the home of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! television show? (29 May 2008)

...that the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie is the oldest continuously operating theater in New York State? (3 March 2007)

..that the Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater, in Lviv, Ukraine combines details of the Renaissance and Baroque architecture? (13 August 2006)
... that in exchange for shutting down the Manhattan Opera Company and refraining from producing opera in the United States for ten years, Oscar Hammerstein I received over a million dollars from the Metropolitan Opera?
...that Catherine the Great wrote several comedies and an opera libretto for the productions of the Hermitage Theatre (pictured) in Saint Petersburg? (7 March 2006)

...that the Cork Opera House in Ireland was built in 1855, burned down in 1955, and rebuilt in 1963? (8 September 2004)
...that Beijing opera did not originate in Beijing but in the Chinese provinces of Anhui and Hubei? (26 April 2004)
...that the Auditorium Building in Chicago was intended to rival New York City's Metropolitan Opera House? (30 March 2004)

Composers

... that Oleksandr Rodin's opera Kateryna was staged despite barricades, bombings, and an air-raid alarm? 20 Jul 2025
... that Alexander Goehr formed New Music Manchester, described as a "distinctive, progressive force", with Peter Maxwell Davies, Harrison Birtwistle, Elgar Howarth and John Ogdon? 7 Marb 2025

... that after composer Maxim Berezovsky's death, Catherine the Great allegedly ordered that the papers in his rooms be burned? 4 Sep 2024
... that opera composer and librettist Joseph Redding (pictured) was also a chess polymath and lawyer who won a landmark decision before the United States Supreme Court? 7 May 2024

... that composer Guglielmo Zuelli (pictured), a former director of the Palermo Conservatory, spent time in prison before the age of eight? 3 Nov 2023

... that Azio Corghi composed his second and third operas with author José Saramago – the second for La Scala in Milan, and the third for a 1993 premiere at the Theater Münster? 17 Dec 2022
... that Alfred Koerppen, who taught music theory and composition at the Musikhochschule Hannover, wrote the text and music of a 1951 opera after Virgil? 6 Sep 2021
... that the composer Francis Burt, who came from London and settled in Vienna, was inspired by the drumming of the Nigerian Ibo people? 21 Aug 2021
... that John Thomas Douglass's Virginia's Ball, which premiered in 1868, is generally regarded as the first opera written by a black composer? 4 May 2021
... that with compositions such as Con brio, clarinetist Jörg Widmann was ranked the third-most-performed contemporary composer in 2018? 24 Feb 2021
... that Peter Herrmann composed a Second Symphony that premiered at the Gewandhaus with Kurt Masur, and a Kant Pop Symphony that premiered at the Musikhochschule Leipzig, where he had taught for decades? 21 Feb 2021
... that music educator Siegfried Borris was dismissed from the Musikhochschule Berlin by the Nazis, but after World War II became a professor there and president of the Deutscher Musikrat? 12 Feb 2021
... that cellist, composer, and conductor Rudolf Hindemith was the brother of the famous Paul Hindemith, with whom he played in the Amar Quartet, but later used pseudonyms to hide the relation? 7 Sep 2020
... that Jean Kurt Forest played violin in German film orchestras in the 1930s, defected to the Red Army in 1945, and composed operas and film scores from 1954 onwards? 3 Sep 2020
... that Ferdinand Zellbell the Younger was the only co-founder of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music who was a professional musician? 10 Jun 2020
... that music academy director Hermann Reutter composed "Hymne an Deutschland", which President Theodor Heuss suggested as a new German national anthem after World War II?29 May 2020
... that Srećko Albini, a conductor at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, composed operettas that were also performed in Venice, London, and New York? 24 Apr 2020
... that Diether de la Motte, who taught composition and music theory in Berlin and Vienna, wrote an opera that premiered at the Staatsoper Hannover in 1970?5 Apr 2020
... that Herbert Willi composed Montafon, a cycle of four concertos with orchestra – for trumpet, flute and oboe, clarinet, and horn? 7 Jan 2020

... that the oboist and composer Rolf Riehm taught music theory in Frankfurt from 1974 to 2000 and wrote an opera, Sirenen, for a 2014 premiere at the Oper Frankfurt? 20 Jul 2019
... that the Dutch-Belgian composer Oscar van Hemel created two operas, one of them about a prostitute? 11 Apr 2019

... that Toshio Hosokawa composed several operas based on Japanese Noh theatre, including Vision of Lear after Shakespeare? 7 Dec 2018
... that Udo Zimmermann composed two operas about the resistance group White Rose, one while he was a student? 19 Nov 2018
... that Franz Schubert (pictured), a prolific composer of songs, symphonies and other works, gave only one public concert presenting his own works? 4 Aug 2018
... that Volker David Kirchner, who composed operas for the Wiesbaden State Theatre and a mass for the Mainz Cathedral, was the first recipient of the Rheingau Musikpreis? 25 Jun 2018
... that the third opera by Alessandro Solbiati, Il suono giallo, is based on Wassily Kandinsky's experimental play The Yellow Sound and premiered in Bologna in 2015? 11 Feb 2018
... that Wolfgang Stockmeier made around 150 recordings of organ music, taught at three music academies, and composed an opera on a libretto by Gabriele Wohmann? 12 Jan 2018

... that the first opera by Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini premiered at the Theater Erfurt, the second at the Theater Basel, and the third at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2017? 26 Oct 2017
... that Don Checco, composed by Nicola De Giosa, was one of the greatest successes in the history of Neapolitan opera buffa and a favourite of King Ferdinand II? 17 Sep 2017
... that Annelies Van Parys has composed music for Muziektheater Transparant, including her first opera, Private Views, which premiered in 2015? 4 May 2017
... that Tilo Medek set Lenin's Decree on Peace for speaking voice and four percussionists, and wrote an opera based on a Böll novel? (6 Feb 2017)

... that Louisa Melvin Delos Mars was one of the first black women to achieve recognition as a composer? (25 Mar 2016)

... that the composer Joseph Maria Wolfram became mayor of Teplice? (20 October 2014)
... that Irénée Berge composed the opera Corsica and silent film music? (22 March 2014)

... that Reinhard Febel composed an opera on Caspar Hauser, Sekunden und Jahre des Caspar Hauser, which premiered in 1992 at the Opernhaus Dortmund? (30 November 2011)
... that Il sogno di Scipione, an opera by Luca Antonio Predieri, was first performed in 1735 to celebrate the birthday of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor? (13 October 2011)
... that Miguel Ángel Coria's first opera, Belisa, based on Lorca's play Amor de Don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín, premiered in 1992 at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid? (11 September 2011)
... that Iván Erőd composed a Sinfonietta called Minnesota Sinfonietta, an opera titled Silk Worms, and a song cycle for soprano and chamber orchestra, named Baby Tooth Songs? (17 August 2011)
... that the opera Die Stadt hinter dem Strom, composed by Hans Vogt and based on Hermann Kasack's novel of the same name, was first staged at the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden in 1955? (11 June 2011)
... that millionaire banker Baron Frédéric Alfred d'Erlanger was also a noted composer who wrote an opera based on Thomas Hardy's novel, Tess of the d'Urbervilles? (10 June 2011)
... that "Musica proibita" by Italian composer Stanislao Gastaldon (pictured) was the first of six songs for which he also wrote the lyrics under the pseudonym "Flick-Flock"? (18 May 2011)
... that Christoph Schlingensief died before the Berlin premiere of the opera which he had staged, Metanoia. Über das Denken hinaus by Jens Joneleit, conducted by Daniel Barenboim? (18 April 2011)
... that playwright Franz Xaver Kroetz turned his controversial play Stallerhof into an opera libretto for Gerd Kühr, which premiered at the Munich Biennale? (18 April 2011)
... that the story of Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, the topic of Sandeep Bhagwati's opera for the 1998 Munich Biennale, was considered fit for a film? (13 April 2011)
... that Detlev Glanert's opera Caligula, after the play by Albert Camus on the cruel Roman emperor, was first staged at the Oper Frankfurt in 2006? (12 April 2011)
... that the 1859 symphonic work Hiawatha composed by Robert Stoepel (pictured) is based on Longfellow's epic poem The Song of Hiawatha? (10 March 2011)

... that Prenkë Jakova wrote Mrika, the first Albanian opera, which premiered in 1958? (11 October 2010)
... that Philip Michael Faraday authored a standard book on property taxes before writing comic operas, including the curtain raiser to H.M.S. Pinafore? (6 September 2010)
... that although Aniceto Ortega had a distinguished career as a physician and surgeon in Mexico, he is also remembered today for his 1871 opera Guatimotzin? (9 April 2010)
... that Sir Henry Bate Dudley not only chronicled the life of Gainsborough but also wrote the comic opera The Flitch of Bacon (1 March 2010)

... that Jean Nouguès is believed to have written the first opera specifically composed for gramophone recording? (10 December 2009)
... that Violeta Dinescu composed the children's opera Der 35. Mai based on The 35th of May, or Conrad's Ride to the South Seas by Erich Kästner? (11 November 2009)
... that a witch-hunt in 1590 inspired Hans Wiers-Jenssen's 1908 play Anne Pedersdotter, which was the basis for an opera by Respighi from 1934, a film from 1943, and a second opera by Edvard Fliflet Bræin from 1971? (3 November 2009)
... that an electronic opera Raab by the Czech composer Jaroslav Krček was banned by the communist regime in 1972? (26 January 2009)

... that the latest opera by composer Andy Vores is a 2008 chamber opera adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit? (12 August 2008)
... that Tunisian writer, actor, and director of theatre Mohamed Driss paid tribute to the historian Ibn Khaldoun by writing an opera in his honor? (2 June 2008)

...that American composer Stephen Paulus gained fame with a 1982 opera based on The Postman Always Rings Twice, one of his nine operas? (20 December 2006)
...that Antonio Bagioli, musical director for one of the first Italian opera companies to tour the United States, stayed behind for love, rather than continuing on to Cuba? (17 August 2007)
...that composer Veniamin Fleishman was killed early in WWII before he could complete his opera Rothschild's Violin, but that his teacher Dmitri Shostakovich rescued his sketches from besieged Leningrad, and completed the opera? (9 July 2006)
...that Russian composer Ella Adayevskaya took her pseudonym from the notes played by the kettledrum in Mikhail Glinka's opera Ruslan and Ludmila? (25 June 2006)

...that William Bergsma wrote an opera about a dog who turned into a man in 1920s Moscow as the result of a crazy experiment? (25 May 2005)

... that composer Egidio Duni was particularly influential in creating a new genre of opera which blended Italian opera elements with traditional French ones? (25 January 2009)
... that following the London premiere of Fabio Campana's opera Esmeralda in 1870 (Adelina Patti pictured in the title role), The Saturday Review pronounced it "irredeemably bad"?"
... that 17th-century Italian composer Filippo Acciaiuoli was also an inventor of machines used for theatrical effects in operas andplays?
... that the majority of the more than 90 stage works composed by Thomas Arne (pictured) are now lost, probably destroyed in the disastrous fire at Covent Garden in 1808?
... that composer Michael Arne's obsession for alchemy and the search for the philosopher's stone led him into serious financial problems resulting in his arrest and confinement in a Dublin sponging-house?
... that composer Jonathan Battishill once performed several airs from Samuel Arnold's oratorio The Prodigal Son without the sheet music, and after not hearing the work for more than 20 years?

Operas

... that György Kurtág dedicated his second opera, Die Stechardin, to his wife Márta and attended its premiere a day after turning 100? 8 May
... that Agostino Steffani missed the 1709 premiere of his opera Amor vien dal destino because he was in Rome mediating between the pope and the emperor? 14 Mar 2026
... that the opera Complications in Sue was written by ten different composers, each writing without knowledge of what the others were doing? 9 Mar 2026

... that Oleksandr Rodin's opera Kateryna was staged despite barricades, bombings, and an air-raid alarm? 20 Jul 2025

... that Wolfgang Rihm said of the music of his 1987 opera Oedipus: "Sound is a weapon here – or a scalpel?" 26 Aug 2024
... that Grounded, an opera about drone warfare, was sponsored by General Dynamics, a major military contractor? 23 Mar 2024
... that Kaija Saariaho's 2021 opera Innocence includes traditional Finnish cow-herding calls? 4 Feb 2024

... that Le Vin herbé is a 1942 musical setting of the story of Tristan and Iseult by Frank Martin for twelve vocalists, seven strings and piano? 1 Sep 2023
... that while Dmitri Shostakovich composed his opera Katyusha Maslova, Sergei Prokofiev was also contemplating an opera based on the same subject? 22 Jun 2023
... that the opera Omar, about the Muslim scholar Omar ibn Said, had its world premiere in a theater located less than a mile (1.6 km) from the site where he was sold as a slave? 6 Apr 2023
... that jazz composer Duke Ellington worked on his only opera, Queenie Pie, from the 1930s until his death in 1974 without finishing it? 17 Mar 2023

... that the Ukrainian composer Borys Lyatoshynsky (pictured) composed his second opera, Shchors in 1937–38, about a military figure from Ukraine who fought for the Soviet Red Army in the Ukrainian–Soviet War? 8 Nov 2022
... that The Maiden in the Tower, the only opera by Jean Sibelius, was withdrawn after only three performances with the intention to revise it, which never happened? 23 Sep 2022
... that the titular character of Verdi's Nabucco, the opera that established his fame, is a combination of three historic rulers? 15 Apr
... that Rudi Stephan was already composing the opera Die ersten Menschen when the 1908 drama about the first humans by Otto Borngräber, on which it is based, was banned in Bavaria? 4 Feb 2022
... that in Die Schneekönigin, an opera for children by George Alexander Albrecht after Andersen's "The Snow Queen", members of a children's choir play the roles of birds and ice crystals? 9 Jan 2022

... that the opera The Devil and Daniel Webster features a jury of ghosts made up of famous historical American figures who are now residents of Hell; including the pirate Blackbeard? 31 Oct 2021
... that the title of La Passion selon Sade, an opera by Sylvano Bussotti, caused a scandal at its premiere and had to be changed for the next performance? 24 Oct 2021
... that Joe Hill, the last opera by Alan Bush, contains four songs by the real Joe Hill? 11 Sep 2021
... that in Inferno, an opera by Lucia Ronchetti premiered in 2021 at the Oper Frankfurt, the main character Dante has a speaking voice and an inner voice of four male singers? 7 Aug 2021
... that in The Gamblers, Shostakovich tried to set Gogol's play word for word but gave up after one act, and Krzysztof Meyer completed the opera decades later? 13 May 2021
... that a Financial Times reviewer described Der Mieter (The Tenant), a German opera based on a French novel, as "a journey to the blackest regions of an anguished psyche in a hostile world"? 7 May 2021
... that Russian writer Leonid Andreyev's 1915 play He Who Gets Slapped was his most successful work in the US, spawning a silent film (1924), a novel, and an opera (1956)? 123 Apr 2021
... that although The Most Important Man was poorly received by critics, composer Gian Carlo Menotti thought it was one of his finest operas? 12 Mar 2021
... that a few years after Pacini's opera La schiava in Bagdad premiered in Turin, Rosalbina Caradori performed the title role of the slave girl (pictured) in London? 13 Jan 2021

... that in Cassandre, an opera by Michael Jarrell based on the novel by Christa Wolf, Cassandra speaks and acts without singing? 14 Dec 2020
... that The Alcestiad, an opera based on a Greek myth and written collaboratively by Thornton Wilder and composer Louise Talma, was premiered by the Oper Frankfurt in German? 14 Dec 2020
... that the opera Die Prinzessin Girnara, by composer Wellesz and librettist Wassermann, and based on a legend from India, premiered simultaneously at two opera houses in 1921? 5 Nov 2020
... that in Bettina, the chamber opera's only solo singer portrays both Bettina von Arnim and Karoline von Günderrode, reflecting their friendship and Günderrode's suicide? 31 Oct 2020
... that Eli is an opera by Walter Steffens, who based the libretto on a mystery play by Nelly Sachs which dealt with the suffering of Israel? 24 Oct 2020
... that the comic opera Scalia v. Ginsburg is based on the friendship of the two U.S. Supreme Court justices and their shared love of opera? 16 Aug 2020
... that the earliest of the three surviving operas by Claudio Monteverdi, L'Orfeo from 1607, is the oldest extant opera still regularly performed today? 23 Jun 2020
... that the opera The Devil in Love by Alexander Vustin took 15 years to be completed and 30 more years to be premiered, debuting at the centenary of a Moscow theatre? 11 Jun 2020
... that the opera Doktor Johannes Faust by Hermann Reutter, which was premiered by the Oper Frankfurt in 1936, is based on a puppet play? 5 Jun 2020
... that Cyrano de Bergerac by Eino Tamberg was the first opera to be broadcast internationally from Estonia? 4 Jun 2020
... that Haroun and the Sea of Stories, an opera by Charles Wuorinen, is based on a children's novel by Salman Rushdie about free imagination in battle with thought control? 26 Apr 2020
... that the 2020 opera Eurydice was created by three geniuses? 15 Feb 2020
... that Albert Lortzing (engraving shown), who adapted a 1733 French play for his German Spieloper Die Opernprobe, died the day after its successful premiere at the Oper Frankfurt on 20 January 1851? 20 Jan 2020

... that Siegfried Matthus composed the opera Judith for the reopening of the restored Semperoper, but it premiered at the Komische Oper Berlin, staged by Harry Kupfer? 13 Dec 2019
... that in his opera Sirenen – Bilder des Begehrens und des Vernichtens, Rolf Riehm included instruments such as archaic wood planks, a musical saw, an accordion, and a piano? 3 Sep 2019
... that the opera Behold the Sun by Alexander Goehr, about the Anabaptists in Münster, was premiered in an abridged version in German, but the BBC aired it in full in English? 26 Aug 2019
... that librettist Gerhard Müller and composer Georg Katzer wrote Antigone oder die Stadt in East Germany, but it premiered at the Komische Oper Berlin only after reunification? 19 Aug 2019
... that East German Udo Zimmermann composed his fifth opera, Die wundersame Schustersfrau, based on a Spanish play by Federico García Lorca, on a commission for the West German Schwetzingen Festival? 2 Aug 2019
... that Werner Egk wrote the libretto for Irische Legende, his first opera after World War II, based on The Countess Cathleen by W. B. Yeats? 3 Jul 2019
... that John Casken's opera Golem won the 1991 Gramophone Classical Music Award for Best Contemporary Recording? 1 Jul 2019
... that for his opera Stephen Climax, composer Hans Zender wrote a libretto which juxtaposes the life of Simeon Stylites with scenes from Ulysses by James Joyce? 30 Jun 2019
... that Troy is the first Turkish opera composed by a foreigner, the Romanian conductor Bujor Hoinic? 26 May 2019
... that Giselher Klebe's opera Das Märchen von der schönen Lilie, on a libretto by his wife based on Goethe's fairy tale, was premiered at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen (pictured) 50 years ago today? 15 May 2019
... that the staged version of Henze's radio opera Ein Landarzt, closely based on a short story by Kafka, premiered at the Frankfurt Opera? 7 Mar 2019
... that Johannes Brahms attended the premiere of the operetta Die Göttin der Vernunft by Johann Strauss, but the composer himself did not, and heard about its reception only by telephone? 3 Jan 2019
... that Tadashi Suzuki, librettist for the opera Vision of Lear, also served as stage director and costume and lighting designer for its premiere at the 1998 Munich Biennale? 14 Dec 2018
... that in the fairy-tale opera Der Schuhu und die fliegende Prinzessin by Udo Zimmermann, two orchestras play on stage, representing two empires in conflict? 9 Nov 2018
... that in his opera Tri sestry (Three Sisters), composer Péter Eötvös wants the three sisters from Chekhov's play to be sung by countertenors? 28 Oct 2018
... that in his 1994 opera La Belle et la Bête, Philip Glass wrote dialogue and music for soloists and ensemble to match the 1946 film by Jean Cocteau? 9 Oct 2018
... that Das goldene Kreuz (The Golden Cross), the second opera by Ignaz Brüll (pictured), was an immediate international success but was later banned by the Nazi regime? 14 Sep 2018
... that Liebe und Eifersucht (Love and Jealousy), an 1807 opera with libretto and music by E. T. A. Hoffmann, premiered in 2008? 27 Jul 2018
... that in Der goldene Drache, the ninth opera by Péter Eötvös, five singers perform 18 characters, switching age and gender? 18 Jul 2018
... that Otar Taktakishvili's opera Mindia was based on Vazha-Pshavela's epic poem The Snake-eater and premiered in 1961, the centenary of the poet's birth? 2 Apr 2018
... that Nicholas Nabokov composed an opera Love's Labour's Lost, setting the same play by Shakespeare as the fictional hero of Mann's Doctor Faustus, "in a spirit of the most artificial mockery"?
... that Wolfgang Rihm's opera Dionysos, with a libretto by Rihm using only words by Nietzsche, was first performed at the Salzburg Festival and called premiere of the year? 2 Oct 2017
... that in Telemaco, one of Alessandro Scarlatti's last operas, Minerva enters in a chariot which holds a string orchestra with trumpets? 22 Sep 2017
... that the clarinetist Jörg Widmann composed Babylon, an opera in seven scenes, on a commission from the Bavarian State Opera to a libretto by Peter Sloterdijk? 19 Sep 2017
... that the opera Das Schloß by Aribert Reimann, on his own libretto after Kafka's novel, premiered in 1992 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin? 18 Sep 2017
... that Don Checco, composed by Nicola De Giosa, was one of the greatest successes in the history of Neapolitan opera buffa and a favourite of King Ferdinand II? 17 Sep 2017
... that Wolfgang Fortner composed the chamber opera In seinem Garten liebt Don Perlimplin Belisa after Lorca for the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen, where it opened the Festival in 1962? 8 Sep 2017
... that the premiere of the opera Wintermärchen by Philippe Boesmans, based on Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, featured jazz-rock music by the Belgian group Aka Moon? 7 Sep 2017
... that the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki co-wrote the German libretto of Ubu Rex, his only opera buffa, based on the French play Ubu Roi? 5 Sep 2017
... that Aribert Reimann (pictured) composed Medea for the Vienna State Opera, based on the drama by Franz Grillparzer? 22 Aug 2017
... that the composer Giselher Klebe wrote the libretto for his opera Die tödlichen Wünsche based on Balzac's La Peau de chagrin? 21 Aug 2017
... that French composer Pascal Dusapin wrote the English libretto for his opera Faustus, the Last Night, which premiered in Germany in 2006? 18 Aug 2017
... that the opera Alceste, composed by Anton Schweitzer with a libretto by Wieland, is regarded as a milestone of German opera? 16 Aug 2017
... that Melusine, the second opera by Aribert Reimann, premiered at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen in 1971 and was revived in 2016 by students in Berlin for the composer's 80th birthday? 7 Aug 2017
... that in the John Gay version of Achilles, the hero is introduced as a cross-dresser? 22 July 2017
... that in the opera Don Quichotte auf der Hochzeit des Comacho, Georg Philipp Telemann (pictured) characterized the noble people by elements from the opera seria, and the peasants by Spanish folk music? 18 July 2017
... that Gottfried von Einem's opera Der Prozeß, based on the novel by Franz Kafka, was premiered at the Salzburg Festival?3 July 2017
... that the short satirical opera Das geheime Königreich (The Secret Kingdom) by Ernst Krenek premiered in Wiesbaden in May 1928? 7 June 2017
... that The Great Friendship had distinctly unfriendly consequences? 8 May 2017
... that the historic characters in Françoise de Rimini, the last opera by Ambroise Thomas, include not only Francesca da Rimini, but also Dante and Virgil? 27 Mar 2017
... that the opera Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen (Murderer, Hope of Women) was based on a play by an expressionist artist and was performed with stage set and choreography by a Bauhaus artist? (23 Mar 2017)
... that when Siegfried Wagner wrote the libretto for his opera An allem ist Hütchen schuld!, he used themes from many fairy tales? (18 Mar 2017)
... that Daniel Catán's opera Il Postino is set in Italy but sung in Spanish?
... that an Earnest performance necessitates the rhythmic smashing of forty dinner plates? (15 Apr 2016)
... that upon its 1641 premiere in Venice, the opera La finta pazza was performed twelve times in seventeen days? (5 Apr 2016)
... that the premiere of Arthur Honegger's first opera, Antigone, was staged in sets by Picasso and costumes by Coco Chanel? (17 Mar 2016)
... that the 1835 opera La casa disabitata, composed by Princess Amalie of Saxony, received its first modern performance in 2012 after its previously lost score was discovered in a library in Moscow? (2 Mar 2016)
... that the 1753 opera Ciro in Armenia was created by Maria Teresa Agnesi Pinottini, one of the earliest female Italian opera composers? (21 Feb 2016)
... that no more than twelve people at a time can ascertain what is found and lost at a London hotel? (14 Feb 2016)
... that Sophie's choice took an hour less in Washington than in London? (7 May 2015)
... that Figaro's divorce will take place in Cardiff more than two centuries after his marriage? (29 March 2015)
... that the premiere of Erik Bergman's only full-length opera, Det sjungande trädet (The Singing Tree), was delayed for over a year because of its complex staging requirements? (27 March 2015)
... that the opera La Loca (The Madwoman) was written as a vehicle for Beverly Sills in honor of her 50th birthday? (6 March 2015)
... that Ralph Benatzky wrote the libretto and music for Meine Schwester und ich, a "more intellectual, more cabaret-style" operetta which premiered in Berlin in 1930? (25 February 2015)
... that although Aulis Sallinen (pictured) composed Kullervo for the opening of Helsinki's new national opera house, it was first performed in Los Angeles? (24 February 2015)
.. that in Roger Scruton's musical vision of the eccentric love-life of Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, a leading lady is sung by a baritone? (4 February 2015)
... that The sacred duck was seen widely across Germany until the Third Reich silenced it? (2 February 2015)

... that music from Joaquin Turina's opera Margot (libretto cover pictured) about a Parisian courtesan has become a popular piece during the processions of Holy Week in Seville? (28 December 2014)
... that Giacomo Orefice's 1901 opera Chopin, based very loosely on Chopin's life, has been called "a kitsch contribution to the last vestiges of late 19th-century romanticized bohemianism"? (10 August 2014)
... that the climax of the opera L'ultimo giorno di Pompei by Giovanni Pacini is the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79? (20 February 2014)
... that Les cadeaux de Noël, an opera in one act by Xavier Leroux, premiered on Christmas Day at the Opéra-Comique during World War I? (26 December 2013)

... that Mozart wrote a cat duet for The Philosophers' Stone? (9 August 2013)
... that Franz von Suppé's operetta Fatinitza stars a Russian army lieutenant who, while dressed as a woman, wins the love of a hot-tempered elderly general? (30 July 2013)
... that the opera Die Hamletmaschine by Wolfgang Rihm has been described as "a total theatre of sound and nonnarrative, ritualistic drama"? (29 July 2013)
... that Krzysztof Meyer's opera Cyberiada is based on a series of humorous science fiction stories by Stanisław Lem? (26 July 2013)
... that the "fantasy opera" Gormenghast by Irmin Schmidt was performed at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Völklingen Ironworks? (22 July 2013)
... that the title role of Boris Blacher's last opera, Yvonne, Prinzessin von Burgund, is performed by a mute dancer? (17 July 2013)
... that Bluthochzeit (Blood Wedding), Wolfgang Fortner's opera based on García Lorca's play Bodas de sangre, premiered in 1957 at the Cologne Opera (pictured)? (9 July 2013)
... that the first production of Ghost Patrol, a chamber opera composed by Stuart MacRae, won the 2013 South Bank Sky Arts Award for Opera? (29 March 2013)
... that in the first version of the chamber opera In the Penal Colony, based on the short story by Franz Kafka, composer Philip Glass (pictured) included the character of Kafka as narrator? (11 March 2013)
... that the appearances of Maria Malibran (pictured) in Nicola Vaccai's opera Giovanna Gray marked the last time she performed at La Scala? (6 March 2013)

... that Hans Pfitzner (pictured) composed Das Christ-Elflein (The Little Elf of Christ, sometimes given as The Little Christmas Elf) first as incidental music, then in 1917 as an opera? (25 December 2012)
... that Pauline Duvernay (pictured) rose apparently naked from a cauldron surrounded by demons in Fromental Halévy's opera-ballet La tentation? (22 March 2012)
... that Jonathan Harvey visited Chamonix to sample a thunderclap for use in his opera Wagner Dream? (13 February 2012)
... that Mikhail Sokolovsky's 1779 opera The miller who was a wizard, a cheat and a matchmaker was for many years mistakenly attributed to Yevstigney Fomin? (17 January 2012)

... that Gavin Bryars's Doctor Ox's Experiment is the third opera to be based on Jules Verne's science fiction novella "Dr. Ox's Experiment"? (19 December 2011)
... that Marco da Gagliano's opera La Flora (libretto pictured) was first performed on 14 October 1628 to celebrate the marriage of Margherita de' Medici and Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma? (21 September 2011)
... that the career of soprano Cornélie Falcon (pictured), star of the Paris Opéra, collapsed after she lost her voice in 1837 performing in the opera Stradella by Louis Niedermeyer? (23 June 2011)
... that the libretto for Phyllis Tate's opera The Lodger was written by singer and broadcaster David Franklin? (7 June 2011)
... that Rodion Shchedrin's opera Lolita, which uses a Russian-language libretto based on Nabokov's novel, was performed in German in the presence of the composer and his wife (pictured)? (14 May 2011)
... that Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s new opera about student activism, Kommilitonen!, was intended to be performed by students? (16 April 2011)
... that, in 1869, Johannes Brahms conducted the chamber opera Le dernier sorcier (The Last Sorcerer), composed by Pauline Viardot to a French libretto by Ivan Turgenev? (11 March 2011)
... that Patience and Sarah has been called the first lesbian opera? (8 January 2011)

... that Louis Gruenberg's The Emperor Jones was available to premiere at New York City's Metropolitan Opera because an opera by a Jew about a black was not wanted in Berlin in 1933? (26 December 2010)
... that after Rosa Ponselle created the role of Carmelita in Joseph Breil's "Lyric Tragedy in One Act" The Legend (libretto pictured) at the Met, she burned her copy of the score? (24 December 2010)
... that The Pretty Druidess (1869) was the last of W. S. Gilbert's early operatic burlesques, written before the Gilbert and Sullivan operas? (22 November 2010)
... that the first Klingon language opera, ’u’, premiered at The Hague on 9 September 2010? (16 September 2010)
... that Tsar Alexander II of Russia had a monument (pictured) erected in an English churchyard to commemorate Finnish prisoners of war whose story inspired a 2007 opera? (15 September 2010)
... that Austrian composer Franz Schreker's most successful opera Der Schatzgräber was performed 354 times in over fifty cities between 1920 and 1925? (14 August 2010)
... that it took until 2010 for Franz Schreker's opera Die Gezeichneten, premiered in 1918 in Frankfurt, to appear in the Western Hemisphere as The Stigmatized? (14 August 2010)
... that Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold (of Hollywood film score fame) composed his first opera, Der Ring des Polykrates, when he was only seventeen years old? (8 August 2010)
... that according to official North Korean sources, the opera The Flower Girl was written exclusively by North Korean leader Kim Il-sung? (3 July 2010)
... that a gala performance of The Rose of Castille was given on 21 January 1858 as part of the nuptials of Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Victoria, and Prince Frederick William of Prussia? (2 July 2010)
... that the composer Anton Rubinstein conducted his own opera The Merchant Kalashnikov so badly that the performance had to be stopped? (12 April 2010)
... that L'ange de Nisida, an opera semiseria by Gaetano Donizetti, was completed but never performed due to the bankruptcy of the theater company Donizetti contracted? (29 January 2010)

... that Franz Liszt's abandoned opera Sardanapale was in part inspired by Eugène Delacroix's painting, The Death of Sardanapalus (pictured)? (5 December 2009)
... that one part of Mendelssohn’s operetta Son and Stranger comprises only a few bars, all on the note F, because the composer’s brother-in-law, Wilhelm Hensel, had no ability as a singer? (1 December 2009)
... that John Metcalf's opera Tornrak features Inuit throat singing? (9 November 2009)
... that, with The Duchess of Dantzic, composer Ivan Caryll took a break from writing hit Edwardian musical comedies to produce a comic opera? (4 November 2009)
... that Jerusalem Delivered, the epic poem by Torquato Tasso (pictured), has inspired at least 100 operas set in the Crusades? (29 September 2009)
... that composer Gian Carlo Menotti considered his opera The Island God "a big bore"? (18 August 2009)
... that William Michael Rooke's opera Amilie, or the Love Test enabled New Yorkers of 1838 to appreciate "a broad new repertoire"? (5 July 2009)
... that the Pyne and Harrison Opera Company paid composer William Vincent Wallace only 10 shillings for the rights to his opera Lurline and later made £50,000 from its performances? (9 June 2009)
... that The Amber Witch, an opera by William Vincent Wallace (pictured), was based on a popular Gothic novel of the same name, first published in Britain in 1844? (5 June 2009)
... that Ritter Pázmán was the only opera composed by Johann Strauss II? (25 April 2009)
... that hours before the curtain raised on his debut opera Guntram, composer Richard Strauss (pictured) was reportedly engaged in a heated discussion of John Henry Mackay's Die Anarchisten? (20 April 2009)
... that baritone William Dooley performed the title role in the world premiere of Marcel Mihalovici's one character opera Krapp, ou, La dernière bande in 1961? (28 March 2009)
... that although La princesse jaune is the third opera that Saint-Saëns’ composed, it was his first opera to actually be mounted on the stage? (10 March 2009)
... that the 1911 opera Déjanire by Camille Saint-Saëns (pictured) was originally a 1898 play accompanied by symphonic music, choruses and a ballet? (6 March 2009)
... that Camille Saint-Saëns's opera Hélène was recorded in 2008 after not being heard since 1919? (5 March 2009)
... that Isidore de Lara's Messaline was the first opera by an English composer to be produced at La Scala? (4 February 2009)
... that Maurice Maeterlinck threatened legal action and physical violence against Claude Debussy after he did not cast Maeterlinck's lover, Georgette Leblanc, in the title role of their opera Pelléas et Mélisande? (1 February 2009)
... that Isaac Albéniz's opera Pepita Jiménez has been adapted several times by numerous people into different constructs and languages? (30 January 2009)
... that The Visitors is the only opera Mexican composer Carlos Chávez ever scored? (23 January 2009)

... that Udo Zimmermann's opera, Weiße Rose tells the story of Hans and Sophie Scholl, a brother and sister who were guillotined by the Nazis for leading a non-violent resistance group? (25 September 2008)
... that Partenope was the first opera written by an American-born composer? (25 September 2008)
... that the French one-act opera Le trompeur trompé had its première given as 14 Thermidor an VIII, since the French Republican Calendar was still in use? (18 September 2008)
... that La púrpura de la rosa is the first known opera to be written in and performed in the Americas? (9 September 2008)
... that Felix Mendelssohn walked out in disgust in the middle of the 1827 premiere of his opera Die Hochzeit des Camacho, and cancelled the remaining performances? (3 August 2008)
... that D'Oyly Carte Opera Company star Donald Adams could only perform in his own Gilbert and Sullivan for All theatre group on his nights off? (1 July 2008)
... that Carlisle Floyd decided to adapt Olive Ann Burns' novel Cold Sassy Tree into an opera after his sister gave him a copy? (11 June 2008)
... that Lorin Maazel (pictured) was 75 years old when his first opera, 1984, had its world premiere in 2005? (9 June 2008)
... that Troubled Island is an opera about the Haitian revolution leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who crowned himself emperor after independence was declared? (24 May 2008)
... that A Bayou Legend by William Grant Still was the first opera composed by an African American to be broadcast on television? (17 May 2008)
... that Robert the Devil, an operatic parody by W. S. Gilbert of Meyerbeer's opera Robert le diable, ends with the devil being punished by becoming part of the exhibit at Madame Tussaud's? (7 May 2008)

...that Are You There? was widely promoted because of its score by Ruggero Leoncavallo (best known for his opera Pagliacci), but the first-night audience were incensed when it turned out to have very little music? (7 December 2007)
...that Antonio Salieri's opera Europa riconosciuta was recently (2007) revived for the re-opening of La Scala in Milan, after not being seen for 226 years after it premiered? (24 July 2007)
...that the Don Cesar beach resort in Florida is named after the title character in William Vincent Wallace's 1845 opera Maritana? (14 October 2007)
...that The Haunted Manor is the most famous and popular of Polish operas? (15 May 2007)

...that the Met's new opera The First Emperor by Tan Dun has been in development for ten years? (10 December 2006)
...that the libretto for Howard Hanson's opera Merry Mount was written without a composer in mind? (4 November 2006)
...that Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov referred to his opera Kashchey the Immortal as a "short autumnal fairy tale", as opposed to Snegurochka, a "spring fairy tale"? (16 September 2006)
...that Francesca Caccini's La liberazione di Ruggiero, which premiered in 1625, was the first opera written by a woman? (17 June 2006)

...that both Charles Dibdin and Ira Aldridge were famed for their portrayals of the black servant Mungo in the comic opera The Padlock? (14 November 2005)
...that the opera King Arthur by Henry Purcell (pictured) is unusual because the principal characters do not sing, rather they recite dialogue accompanied by music? (1 August 2005)

...that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera seria Idomeneo is set on the island of Crete following the Trojan War? (24 April 2004)

... that Francesca Caccini's La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina (first performed in Warsaw in 1628) was the first opera by a woman composer?
... that Gaetano Donizetti's opera Le duc d'Albe didn't receive its first performance until more than 40 years after his death?
... that when it was shown at the Metropolitan Opera, Diana von Solange by Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was so poorly received that three hundred people signed a petition demanding that it be removed from the repertory?
... that the opera Europa riconosciuta was first performed at the opening of La Scala in 1778 and was not performed again for more than two hundred years?
... that a riot erupted at the opening night of Adelia, an opera by Gaetano Donizetti, because an unscrupulous promoter sold too many tickets?
... that La púrpura de la rosa is the first known opera to be written in and performed in the Americas?
... that Partenope was the first opera written by an American-born composer?
... that Udo Zimmermann's opera, Die weisse Rose tells the story of Hans and Sophie Scholl, a brother and sister who were guillotined by the Nazis for leading a non-violent resistance group?
... that although Antonio Maria Bononcini's 1718 opera Griselda was successful, his older brother, Giovanni Bononcini, composed a more popular version in 1722?
... that Vivaldi's opera Griselda is based on the folklore character Griselda as told by Giovanni Boccaccio in the The Decameron?
... that Isaac Albéniz's opera Pepita Jiménez has been adapted several times by numerous people into different constructs and languages?
... that Maurice Maeterlinck threatened legal action and physical violence against Claude Debussy after he did not cast Maeterlinck's lover, Georgette Leblanc, in the title role of their opera Pelléas et Mélisande?

Arias

... that the melody of Mozart's aria "Dove sono" from Le nozze di Figaro, asking "Where are those happy moments ...?", begins similarly to the Agnus Dei from his earlier Coronation Mass? 28 Apr 2022

Singers

... that opera singer Mariska Aldrich had a prize-winning German shepherd (pictured) who excelled in police-dog competitions? 9 Jun 2026

... that several composers wrote coloratura arias specifically for the voice of Italian opera singer Maria Giustina Turcotti 23 May 2023

... that John Whitworth, a singing lay vicar at Westminster Abbey for 22 years, was praised for his "voice of great beauty, rich in the lower register, trumpet-toned in the upper"? 15 Jul 2020

... that 19th-century concert singer Sarah Mundell Crane was the mother of silent movie actor Harry Ogden Crane? 17 Sep 2017

... that the solo parts of Joseph Haydn's oratorio Die Schöpfung were performed by Elisabeth Scholl, Daniel Sans and Andreas Pruys in the Basilika of Schloss Johannisberg? (26 November 2010)
... that Italian castrato Carlo Scalzi performed at the wedding of Anne, Princess Royal and William IV, Prince of Orange in London, 1734? (13 September 2010)
... that Andrew McKinley, David Aiken, and Leon Lishner created the parts of the Three Kings in the world premiere of Menotti's Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors which was broadcast live by NBC to an audience of millions on Christmas Eve 1951? (25 December 2010)
... that the vocal quartet of Monika Frimmer, Christa Bonhoff, Dantes Diwiak, and Peter Kooy recorded the Augsburger Tafel-Confect ("Augsburg Table Confectionary") of Valentin Rathgeber and Johann Caspar Seyfert? (2 November 2010)
... that opera singers Marguerite Bériza (pictured) and Orville Harrold appeared in 1917 at the Ravinia Festival in both Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and Massenet's Manon? (15 October 2010)
... that the Italian castrato Domenico Annibali (pictured) made a sensational debut at the Royal Opera House in London in the title role of Handel's opera Poro? (12 September 2010)
... that soprano Erminia Frezzolini (pictured) created the title role in Verdi's opera Giovanna d'Arco at La Scala in 1843 opposite her husband, Antonio Poggi, as Charles VII of France? (9 September 2010)
... that Bach's solo cantata for alto Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV 170 for the sixth Sunday after Trinity, was recorded by Maureen Forrester, Andreas Scholl and Julia Hamari? (11 July 2010)
... that singers Anne Sofie von Otter and Christian Gerhaher recorded music written in the concentration camp of Terezín by artists such as Ilse Weber, Hans Krása, Pavel Haas and Viktor Ullmann? (19 March 2010)

... that the original "Three Little Maids from School" in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 opera The Mikado were Sybil Grey, Jessie Bond and Leonora Braham? (28 November 2009)
... that English singer and actor Walter H. Fisher created the role of the Defendant in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1875 opera Trial by Jury? (23 November 2009)
... that opera singers Johann Nepomuk Beck, Marie Wilt, and Hans von Rokitansky all performed in the world premiere of Karl Goldmark's Die Königin von Saba on 10 March 1875? (10 February 2009)
... that soon after understudy Eric Lewis left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in frustration that George Grossmith rarely took a day off, Grossmith fell gravely ill? (20 January 2009)
... that Bantcho Bantchevsky, former singer and voice coach, committed suicide during a nationally-broadcast performance from the Metropolitan Opera?
... that the Balık sisters from Turkey are the only identical twins singing opera?
... that in the 1720s and 1730s, at the height of the craze for castrato, it has been estimated that up to 4000 boys were castrated annually?
... that Anthony, Charles, Cecilia, Isabella, Sr., Isabella, Jr., Esther, Elizabeth, and Polly Young were part of an English family of musicians that included several professional opera singers and organists in the 17th and 18th centuries?

Sopranos

... that Felicity Lott, among the leading voices in operas by Richard Strauss and operettas by Jacques Offenbach, had a special love for French mélodies and German lieder? 28 Aug 2026
... that British opera singer Suzannah Clarke performed annually in North Korea? 15 Jul 2026
... that Rainelle Krause (pictured) sang the "Queen of the Night aria" while doing aerial silks upside down? 9 Apr 2026
... that Clara E. Thoms toured the United States as a concert pianist at the age of eight? 3 Apr 2026
... that opera singer Ritva Auvinen (pictured) also worked as a gymnastics and swimming teacher? 28 Feb 2026
... that Marie Engle (pictured) was one of the earliest operatic singers to be recorded on rare Bettini cylinders? 24 Feb 2926
... that soprano Sherry Zannoth was the assistant to the director of the Mystery Writers of America when not working as an international opera star? 10 Jan 2026

... that an on-stage incident traumatized Antonie Mielke so much that she retired from opera? 4 Dec 2025
... that Linda Anne Hutchison performed as a leading soprano of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, including during its first visit to continental Europe since the 1880s? 23 Oct 2025
... that soprano Sarah Fischer (pictured) sang excerpts from the title role in Carmen for the very first televised BBC broadcast of opera music? 22 Oct 2025
... that Lourdes Ambriz, singing voice of Belle in the Spanish version of Beauty and the Beast, became the artistic director of the Mexican national opera? 12 Oct 2025
... that musical theatre actress Josephine Hall (pictured) became famous for performing a song in which she purposefully sang high and off-key? 1 Oct 2025
... that opera singer Olga Olgina used the same stage name as her mother? 23 Sep 2025
... that Mirella Freni (pictured) and Luciano Pavarotti, who co-starred as the lovers Mimì and Rodolfo in La bohème at La Scala in 1968, shared the same wet nurse? 13 Apr 2025
... that after becoming a born again Christian, soprano Jane Stuart Smith abandoned a successful opera career to pursue a life of Christian service? 9 Jan 2025

... that comic-opera performer Celie Ellis Turner pursued a stage career against her family's wishes? 7 Dec 2024
... that soprano Grace Panvini stood 4 ft 11.75 in (151.8 cm) tall – a height described by one reviewer as an asset for appearing youthful on stage?31 Aug 2024
... that voice teacher Verna Osborne retired at the age of 101? 13 Aug
... that although Agnes Kimball was a popular recording artist of opera and musical theatre, she never appeared as a singing actress on the stage? 14 May 2024
... that a reviewer described the approach of soprano Magdalena Hinterdobler to her role as Grete in Zemlinsky's Der Traumgörge as "bold" and "sassy"? 10 May 2024
... that soprano Olga von Türk-Rohn (pictured) was celebrated for her interpretations of Franz Schubert's lieder? 30 Apr 2024
... that the Soviet soprano Tamara Milashkina performed alongside her husband Vladimir Atlantov at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1975? 20 Feb 2024
... that before the age of thirty, Anna Nekhames performed the dual role of Venus and Chief of the Gepopo in Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, one of opera's most demanding coloratura soprano parts? 26 Jan 2024

... that soprano Rachel Yakar, who received international attention in 1977 as Poppea with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, was also described as an "ideal" Mélisande and "a Mozartian at heart and in style"? 17 Nov 2023
... that Isabelle Cals, who turned to singing after a degree in Chinese, appeared as Wagner's Kundry in a production of Parsifal at the Stadttheater Minden? 28 Oct
... that soprano Vera Curtis was the first singer trained exclusively in the United States to perform with the Metropolitan Opera? 29 Sep 2023
... that dramatic soprano Berit Lindholm (pictured) was said to have been called "that damn primary school teacher" by the director of the Royal Swedish Opera, and used it in the title of her memoir? 30 Aug
... that in Strauss's Elektra, Aile Asszonyi was said to be convincing as a woman close to madness? 5 Jun
... that soprano Carolina White performed the title role in the United States premiere of Il segreto di Susanna at the Metropolitan Opera in 1911? 26 Apr 2023
... that Erich Korngold's Die tote Stadt had simultaneous premieres in Cologne and Hamburg in 1920, one with Johanna Geisler and her husband Otto Klemperer? 16 Apr 2023
... that soprano Galina Pisarenko studied economics, English, and Norwegian at the same time she was studying to become a professional opera singer? 12 Jan 2023

... that Talia Or (pictured), who sang as the Voice of a Falcon at La Scala, was born in Israel and is based in Germany? 26 Dec 2022
... that Enriqueta Legorreta (pictured), who was the first Mexican woman to appear as Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre, became an award-winning environmental activist? 17 Nov 2022
... that in 2021 Sarah Aristidou recorded Jörg Widmann's Labyrinth V, a wordless piece for her soprano voice with "ululations, sobs, jazz inflections and wild laughter"? 17 Oct 2022
... that Colombian singer Juanita Lascarro became a soprano at the Oper Frankfurt, where she appeared as both Calypso and Penelope in a new production of Dallapiccola's Ulisse? 9 Aug 2022
... that Avelina Carrera (pictured) made her debut at the Liceu in Barcelona in 1889, stepping in as Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin, and created the role of Maddalena in Giordano's Andrea Chénier at La Scala? 8 Aug 2022
... that after the Italian soprano Fausta Labia (pictured) worked at the Royal Swedish Opera, she appeared as Mascagni's Iris at La Fenice in Venice and as Wagner's Sieglinde at La Scala in Milan? 27 Jul 2022
... that French soprano Marguerite Vaillant-Couturier created the role of Micaëla in the world premiere of Lecocq's Le coeur et la main (pictured) in Paris in 1882? 23 Jul 2022
... that soprano Sarah Traubel appeared as Inanna in Jörg Widmann's Babylon for the opening of the 2022 Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden? 23 Jul 2022
... that after finding success in Poland and South America, soprano Adalgisa Gabbi performed at La Scala as Eva in the Italian premiere of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg? 22 Jul
... that Danish-born soprano Louise Janssen appeared at the Grand Théâtre de Lyon as Eva in the French premiere of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg? 21 Jul
... that the favourite role of Wilma Schmidt, who performed at the Staatsoper Hannover for more than five decades in German, Italian and Slavic operas, was the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier? 20 Jul 2022
... that Paula Lizell, a former star of the Royal Swedish Opera, advanced from coloratura to dramatic Wagnerian roles?12 Jun 2022
... that when Nadja Stefanoff portrayed the title role of Giordano's Fedora at the Oper Frankfurt, one reviewer complimented the brilliance and agility of her voice, assertive even when singing softly? 27 May 2022
... that Magna Lykseth appeared as Isolde (pictured) when Wagner's Tristan und Isolde was first performed at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1909? 25 May 2022
... that that American soprano Emily Pogorelc went from winning the 2018 "Most Promising Talent" prize at Glyndebourne to appearing as Mozart's Cherubino at the Munich Opera Festival? 22 Apr 2022
... that Monika Buczkowska, who appeared as a student at the Grand Theatre, Poznań, as Mozart's Susanna, was a soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at a charity concert for Ukraine at the Alte Oper? 20 Apr 2022
... that Katharina Konradi, a soprano born in Kyrgyzstan, made a recording of lieder with pianist Gerold Huber including settings by Lori Laitman of children's poems written in Terezin? 18 Apr 2022
... that when soprano Rosina Buckman returned to New Zealand for a concert tour in 1922, the prime minister and a former prime minister spoke at the reception? 14 Apr 2022
... that the Polish soprano Zofia Kilanowicz appeared as Roxana in Szymanowski's King Roger in Paris, and recorded Górecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs? 12 Apr 2022
... that when Heather Phillips made her European debut in Rossini's Bianca e Falliero at the Oper Frankfurt, reviewers agreed that her nuanced coloraturas served to portray Bianca's development? 9 Apr 2022
... that after the Ukrainian soprano Olga Bezsmertna won the Neue Stimmen competition in 2011 (pictured), she was engaged at the Vienna State Opera? 29 Mar 2022
... that Rose Delaunay (pictured), a French operatic soprano who began her career at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, and her husband, an actor, celebrated their diamond wedding in 1937? 25 Mar 2022
... that when Lviv-born Maria Moscisca (pictured) performed the title role of Verdi's La traviata at the San Francisco Opera in 1913, a review described her as "the impersonation of grace and refinement"? 19 Mar 2022
... that operatic soprano Elena Tsallagova has been described as a natural actress who can make even looking around a corner interesting? 9 Mar 2022
... that Elena Guseva's training as a choral conductor helped her analyse the score when playing Polina in Prokofiev's The Gambler at the Vienna State Opera? 30 Jan 2022
... that when Helena Braun visited New York "just for the trip", she sang the role of Brünnhilde in Wagner's Die Walküre at the Metropolitan Opera with four hours' notice? 17 Jan 2022
... that Marie Litta (pictured) started her own opera company in her early 20s, just a few years before her death in 1883? 30 Nov 2021
... that Elizabeth Reiter portrayed the double role of Renee, an "icy wife"; and Alice, an "insatiable lover"; in the German premiere of Olga Neuwirth's opera Lost Highway? 18 Nov 2021
... that more than fifty years after Hilde Scheppan appeared in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the 1943 Bayreuth Festival, reviewer Alan Blyth called her "a dream of an Eva"? 18 Sep 2021
... that the Romanian soprano Iulia Maria Dan was Hamlet's Ophelia in the Bregenz Festival's revival of Franco Faccio's revived opera Amleto? 2 Sep 2021
... that Linda Watson, a dramatic soprano born in San Francisco who made a career in Europe, is proud of a Grammy nomination for Wagner's Ring cycle with her as Brünnhilde? 28 Aug 2021
... that Australian soprano Ada Baker toured India and China before becoming a singing teacher in Perth in 1889? 24 Aug 2021
... that Vera Schoenenberg's performance in the title role of Kálmán's Die Csárdásfürstin at the Mörbisch Lake Festival was broadcast by German and Austrian stations? 19 Aug 2021
... that soprano Heidi Grant Murphy, who has given over 200 performances at the Met, said that becoming a singer "takes work on your psyche, your innermost being"? 11 Aug 2021
... that operatic soprano Natalia Shpiller was beloved by Joseph Stalin, and he frequently had her perform at the Moscow Kremlin to impress visiting dignitaries? 26 Jul 2021
... that when Ingrid Haubold recorded the role of Senta in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer, reviewer Alan Blyth found "a certain raw edge" of her soprano voice apt for the role? 23 Jul 2021
... that Henriette Spitzeder and her husband Josef Spitzeder appeared on stage as Mozart's Figaro and his bride Susanna? 27 Jun 2021
... that Rosa Ponselle blamed Metropolitan Opera star Giovanni Martinelli's poor singing on his love affair with French soprano and actress Colette D'Arville? 26 Jun 2021
... that soprano Estelle Liebling, the voice teacher of Beverly Sills and Meryl Streep, performed in more than 1600 concerts with John Philip Sousa and his band? 4 Jun 2021
... that soprano Joyce Mathis won the Marian Anderson Award in 1967 and the Young Concert Artists singing competition in 1968? 1 Jun 2021
... that Rosa Agthe (pictured) and her future husband performed the roles of Elsa and Telramund, respectively, in the world premiere of Wagner's Lohengrin, conducted by Franz Liszt in Weimar? 6 May 2021
... that soprano Florence Kirk's temperamental fit over her costume as Lady Macbeth led to the professional debut of opera star Regina Resnik who replaced her? 4 May 2021
... that Olena Tokar, a soprano of the Leipzig Opera from Ukraine, recorded Charmes, a collection of art songs by women including Clara Schumann and Vítězslava Kaprálová? 29 Apr 2021
... that Leontyne Price described her relationship with voice teacher Florence Kimball as "the most important relationship of my life. Like sex it was pure chemistry"? 27 Apr 2021
... that Madame Gavaudan, a soprano of the Opéra-Comique in Paris, created the role of Benjamin in Étienne Méhul's Joseph? 19 Apr 2021
... that Aga Mikolaj, a soprano who studied with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, appeared as Mozart's Donna Elvira from San Francisco to Tokyo, and sang the Four Last Songs with "a degree of abandon and rapture"? 18 Apr 2021
... that Anja Petersen performed the role of the leading woman in the world premiere of Arnulf Herrmann's Der Mieter at the Oper Frankfurt? 15 Apr 2021
... that Marita Napier is the first South African opera singer to have performed lead roles in each of the four "Grand Slam" opera houses? 14 Apr 2021
... that after Erna Schlüter had appeared as Elektra at the Royal Opera House, the composer, who was in the audience, told her that she was the fulfilment of the character? 9 Apr 2021
... that the pioneering Turkish soprano Mesude Çağlayan was presented a tiny doll of "Madama Butterfly" by the government of Japan for performing the Japanese title role in Puccini's opera? 8 Apr 2021
... that Elsa Dreisig appeared at the Berlin State Opera in soprano roles from Diane in Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie to Natascha in the world premiere of Beat Furrer's Violetter Schnee? 18 Mar 2021
... that Andréa Guiot appeared internationally in French soprano roles such as Mireille, Marguerite, Manon, and Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen, which she recorded alongside Maria Callas in the title role? 8 Mar 2021
... that Libuše Domanínská, a soprano of Prague's National Theatre, performed in all of Janáček's operas, and a recording she made as his Jenůfa made his works better known beyond their home country? 25 Feb 2021
... that Dorothee Manski, a soprano of the Berlin Court Opera, gave 335 performances at the Metropolitan Opera after being invited to appear there as the Witch in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel in 1927? 16 Feb 2021

... that the soprano Nina Dorliak recorded works by Bach with her husband, the pianist Sviatoslav Richter, sung in Russian? 10 Dec 2020
... that Marjon Lambriks, who studied voice in the Netherlands with Paula Lindberg (both pictured) and made a career in Vienna, recorded La traviata alongside Pavarotti? 9 Dec 2020
... that Maddalena Mariani Masi performed the title role of Ponchielli's La Gioconda in the 1876 world premiere at La Scala? 24 Nov 2020
... that Agnes Stavenhagen was the soprano soloist in the first performance of Mahler's Second Symphony in Munich, conducted by the composer? 5 Nov 2020
... that soprano Hermine Finck became the third wife of Eugen d'Albert (couple pictured), who composed songs and a cantata based on The Little Mermaid for her? 25 Oct 2020
... that soprano Ilse Helling-Rosenthal, her husband, and two others formed a vocal ensemble that appeared as the soloists in Bruckner's Te Deum at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in 1920? 13 Oct 2020
... that Hildegard Uhrmacher, a coloratura soprano who appeared as Mozart's Konstanze and Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Marie, titled her 2006 autobiography Hilde, du schaffst das (Hilde, you'll manage)? 22 Sep 2020
... that Johanna André, who appeared in dramatic soprano roles such as Wagner's Isolde, took part in the 1882 world premiere of Parsifal? 11 Sep 2020
... that when Elza van den Heever made her debut as the Metropolitan Opera as the bald queen Elisabetta in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, she had her head shaved? 26 Jul 2020
... that Elisabeth Lindermeier sang in performances of Wagner's Ring cycle at the Royal Opera House in London, conducted by her husband Rudolf Kempe and recorded in 1957? 25 Apr 2020
... that soprano and voice teacher Henny Wolff performed lieder by Hermann Reutter at the inaugural Ferienkurse für internationale neue Musik in Darmstadt in 1946, with the composer at the piano? 16 Apr 2020
... that the Dutch soprano Jo Vincent appeared in Willem Mengelberg's 1939 recording of Bach's St Matthew Passion, and in the world premiere of Britten's Spring Symphony in 1949? 10 Apr 2020
... that soprano Jessye Norman (pictured), whose voice was described as a "grand mansion of sound", performed at U.S. presidential inaugurations and sang La Marseillaise at the French Revolution's bicentennial? 29 Mar 2020
... that Hildegard Heichele, a soprano of the Oper Frankfurt known for performing Mozart roles, appears as Adele on a DVD of Die Fledermaus from the Royal Opera House? 23 Feb 2020
... that the coloratura soprano Julia Bauer played five roles in Der Ring in Minden, including her on-stage portrayal of the Forest Bird in Siegfried? 19 Feb 2020
... that Italian soprano Carolina Crespi was born in Prague, appeared in Barcelona in a child role, met her husband in Paris, and performed with him in world premieres of operas at La Scala in Milan? 5 Feb 2020
... that American coloratura soprano Laura Aikin (pictured), who began her opera career in Berlin, appeared as Marie in Zimmermann's Die Soldaten at the 2012 Salzburg Festival? 10 Jan 2020

... that soprano Irma Beilke appeared as Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio on 4 September 1945 in the first opera performance in Berlin after World War II? 22 Dec 2019
... that Isabelle Kabatu, a Belgian soprano of African origin, recorded the role of Dolly in Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's opera Sly alongside José Carreras in the title role? 27 Nov 2019
... that when Marie-Thérèse Gauley premiered the title role of Ravel's opera L'enfant et les sortilèges, he praised both her acting and her "ravishing voice"? 6 Oct 2019
... that Andrea Ihle performed the role of Ännchen in Weber's opera Der Freischütz in the opening performance of the rebuilt Semperoper in Dresden? 28 Sep 2019
... that Ulrike Sonntag, a soprano at the Staatsoper Stuttgart and an academic voice teacher in Stuttgart, recorded an oratorio by Fanny Hensel and psalm settings by Lili Boulanger? 17 Sep 2019
... that lieder singer and voice teacher Franziska Martienssen-Lohmann's textbook for singers was recommended for general readers interested in "the human instrument"? 16 Sep 2019
... that Barbara Zechmeister, who appeared in world premieres at the Oper Frankfurt, portrayed Clarissa in a recorded production of Weber's Die drei Pintos at the 2004 Wexford Festival? 30 Aug 2019
... that among the musical roles performed by Anke Sieloff at the Musiktheater im Revier are Maria in West Side Story, and a witch in the first German production of The Witches of Eastwick? 22 Aug 2019
... that Jeanne Laisné appeared as Aurore in the 1894 world premiere of Massenet's Le portrait de Manon, a sequel to his Manon? 4 Aug 2019
... that the German soprano Melanie Diener began her stage career in Mozart roles in 1996, and appeared as Isolde with the Canadian Opera Company and the Opéra national du Rhin in 2013? 3 Jul 2019
... that the Hungarian coloratura soprano Sylvia Geszty (pictured) was a member of the Berlin State Opera in East Germany before joining the Stuttgart State Opera in the West? 29 Jun 2019
... that the artistry of Ruth-Margret Pütz, a leading coloratura soprano of the 1960s, was published in a 2018 Recital, including excerpts as Konstanze and Zerbinetta? 11 Jun 2019
... that the soprano Elżbieta Szmytka recorded Chopin's Polish songs and performed in Górecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, celebrating a century of Polish independence? 30 May 2019
... that Celestina Casapietra, an Italian soprano at the Berlin State Opera, and the conductor Herbert Kegel were regarded as the glamour couple of the GDR in the 1960s? 24 May 2019
... that Liselotte Hammes, a soprano with the Cologne Opera, appeared as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier at the Glyndebourne Festival alongside Teresa Żylis-Gara in the title role and Montserrat Caballé as the Marschallin? 3 May 2019
... that Rosl Schwaiger appeared as Mozart's Blonde at the Salzburg Festival in 1945 and the Glyndebourne Festival in 1957? 30 Apr 2019
... that Margit Schramm appeared as Hanna Glawari, the "merry widow" in Lehár's operetta, more than 500 times? 21 Apr 2019
... that the soprano Melitta Muszely appeared as the four women Hoffmann loves in Felsenstein's production at the Komische Oper Berlin in 1958, and still sang recitals at age 80? 30 Mar 2019
... that the soprano Margit Bokor (pictured) created the role of Zdenka in Arabella by Richard Strauss at the Semperoper in Dresden in 1933, and performed the role in the UK premiere at the Royal Opera House? 22 Mar 2019
... that the soprano and voice teacher Ria Ginster sang recitals at Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall, and recorded Rossini's Petite messe solennelle conducted by Sir John Barbirolli? 20 Mar 2019
... that the soprano Ursula Wendt-Walther appeared in more than 60 operatic roles at the Staatstheater Nürnberg, including Marei in the world premiere of Zemlinsky's Der Traumgörge? 13 Mar 2019
... that Alma Webster Powell earned a law degree from New York University while on a break from her operatic career? 11 Mar 2019
... that Zuzana Marková's last-minute performance as Lucia di Lammermoor at Opéra de Marseille in 2014 was described as "dazzling" and praised for its depth of understanding? 11 Mar 2019
... that Ruthilde Boesch, who performed as Mozart's Susanna and in 37 other roles at the Vienna State Opera, made five world tours of recitals with her second husband as her accompanist? 10 Mar 2019
... that at the height of her opera career Marlise Wendels sometimes sang in up to 300 performances in a single season? 8 Mar 2019
... that the soprano Claire Born appeared in Bayreuth as Wagner's Eva and Gutrune, and in Salzburg as Mozart's Countess and Donna Elvira? 4 Mar 2019
... that the soprano Julia Kleiter has appearedinternationally in Mozart operas, as both Susanna and the Countess in Figaro, and both Papagena and Pamina in The Magic Flute? 27 Feb 2019
... that among the Mozart roles sung by soprano Sophie Karthäuser (pictured) are Ilia, Tamiri, and Serpetta? 26 Feb 2019
... that Genia Kühmeier appeared as Mozart's Pamina at the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, and recorded the soprano solo in Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem with Nikolaus Harnoncourt? 22 Feb 2019
... that Megan Marie Hart has performed on stage in Detmold, Germany, as Puccini's Tosca and was soprano soloist in Mahler's Resurrection Symphony? 16 Feb 2019
... that soprano Ildikó Raimondi, who appeared at the Vienna State Opera in more than 40 roles including Pamina and Mimì, sang the role of Marzelline in the opening season of the Valencia Opera? 12 Feb 2019
... that Marianne Schech appeared as the Dyer's Wife in the U.S. premiere of Die Frau ohne Schatten by Richard Strauss at the San Francisco Opera? 26 Jan 2019

... that Renate Behle (pictured) made her operatic debut in 1968 and appeared as Sara in the premiere of Giorgio Battistelli's Lot at the Staatsoper Hannover in 2017? 1 Dec 2018
... that on her hundredth birthday, British soprano Carrie Tubb was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Music? 3 Nov 2018
... that singer Elise Barensfeld is a possible dedicatee of Ludwig van Beethoven's Für Elise? 23 Sep 2018
... that opera singer Catherine-Nicole Lemaure was imprisoned overnight for refusing to perform? 20 Aug 2018
... that Marie Lehmann, one of the Rhinemaidens (pictured) at the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, sang the soprano solo in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for the groundbreaking of the Bayreuth Festival Theatre? 13 Aug 2018
... that Sara Hershkowitz, who usually appears on the opera stage as the Queen of the Night and Zerbinetta, parodied Donald Trump in Ligeti's Mysteries of the Macabre at the Lowlands Festival? 2 Aug 2018
... that Catherine Gayer, who was a coloratura soprano for four decades at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, premiered Nono's Intolleranza 1960 in Venice, and Reimann's Melusine at the Schwetzingen Festival? 1 Aug 2018
... that Kateryna Kasper appeared at the Los Angeles Opera as Belinda in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, staged by Barrie Kosky, and in Frankfurt as Antonida in Glinka's Iwan Sussanin, staged by Harry Kupfer? 30 Jul 2018
... that Petra Schmidt has performed operatic title roles such as Dvořák's Rusalka and Ponchielli's La Gioconda at the Musiktheater im Revier? 24 Jul 2018
... that Britta Stallmeister, the Forest Bird in Bayreuth in 2001, appeared as Germa in a new chamber opera at the Schlachthof Wiesbaden in 2018? 6 Jul 2018
... that a reviewer found Maria Bengtsson (pictured) believable and expressive when she first performed the title role of Arabella by Strauss? 28 Jun 2018
... that soprano Christina Gerstberger recorded the role of Lisida in E. T. A. Hoffmann's Liebe und Eifersucht in a performance at the Ludwigsburg Festival? 13 Jun 2018
... that Franz Schubert dedicated compositions to Cathinka Buchwieser (pictured), a soprano who appeared in Vienna as Mozart's Sesto and Elvira, and as Ferdinando Paer's Achille and Leonora? 29 Apr 2018
... that in 1851, the German soprano Anna Bochkoltz-Falconi appeared at La Scala in Milan in Pergolesi's Lo frate 'nnamorato? 28 Apr 2018
... that Elisabeth Speiser was the first to record Sandrina in Haydn's opera L'infedeltà delusa, and recorded Debussy's Ariettes oubliées? 25 Apr 2018
... that soprano Margarete Luise Schick, who performed roles such as Gluck's Iphigenie and Mozart's Zerlina with noted diction and acting, sang for the coronation of Leopold II? 23 Apr 2018
... that Canadian soprano Kirsten MacKinnon, a winner of the Met Auditions, appeared as Fiordiligi at the Glyndebourne Festival, and as Meyerbeer's Inès at the Frankfurt Opera, staged as a space mission? 31 Mar 2018
... that Camilla Nylund (pictured) appeared as the Countess in Capriccio by Richard Strauss at the Frankfurt Opera, staged by Brigitte Fassbaender, who set the opera in Occupied France? 14 Mar 2018
... that the lyric soprano Anny Felbermayer, who performed 54 roles at the Vienna State Opera, created the role of Xanthe in Die Liebe der Danae by Richard Strauss at the 1952 Salzburg Festival? 1 Mar 2018
... that when soprano Lucy Crowe became ill, her replacement Sabina Puértolas had only three hours to rehearse before performing at the Royal Opera House in London? 3 Feb 2018
... that Colette Lorand made her debut as Gounod's Marguerite in 1945, created Reimann's Regan in 1978, and retired as Janáček's Emilia Marty in 1983? 27 Jan 2018
... that soprano Cristina Pasaroiu played Manon in boots, even in bed with her lover? 13 Jan 2018
... that the dramatic soprano Catherine Foster, a former midwife, appeared as Brünnhilde at the Bayreuth Festival celebrating Wagner's bicentenary? 3 Jan 2018

... that when operatic soprano Cynthia Clarey's voice lowered with age, she took up cabaret singing instead? 4 Oct 2017
... that coloratura soprano Joan Carroll appeared as Alban Berg's Lulu more than 100 times, including the U.S. premiere at the Santa Fe Opera? 30 Sep 2017
... that American soprano Pamela Coburn appeared as Mozart's Countess in Vienna and New York, and as Ellen, the friend of Peter Grimes, in Munich and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino? 28 Sep 2017
... that Caroline Stein appeared as Mozart's Queen of the Night at the Berlin State Opera, and sang his Mass in C minor and Alban Berg's Altenberg Lieder at The Proms? 15 Sep 2017
... that according to reviewers, soprano Simone Schneider of the Staatsoper Stuttgart "expresses Alcestis' agitation, nobility and joy with a moving simplicity" and "was a headstrong, vibrant Empress"? 5 Sep 2017
... that award-winning soprano Christiane Karg appeared as Sophie at the Frankfurt Opera, the Semperoper and La Scala, and in Mahler's Second Symphony at the Rheingau Musik Festival? 20 Aug 2017
... that the Slovenian soprano Sabina Cvilak (pictured) was Puccini's Mimi in Washington, Wagner's Sieglinde in Wiesbaden, and performed Britten's War Requiem in London on the composer's centenary? 10 Aug 2017
... that Gertrude Förstel was Sophie when Der Rosenkavalier was first performed in Vienna, and sang in the premieres of Tiefland and Mahler's Eighth Symphony? 30 July 2017
... that Nicole Chevalier was awarded Der Faust for her performance of the four female characters in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann at the Komische Oper Berlin? 22 July 2017
... that the story of Hannah Norsa (pictured) has been described as "an archetypal tale of how stage stardom might lead to social transformation"? 22 July 2017
... that Dara Hobbs appeared as Wagner's Isolde at many venues, including Theater Bonn, Stadttheater Minden, and Schloss Neuschwanstein? 10 July 2017
... that Maria Friesenhausen sang soprano solo with the NDR Chor in the 1950s and trained students of the University of Dortmund for an opera performance in 2001? 10 July 2017
... that Claudia Barainsky performed operatic title roles including Daphne, Lulu, Medea, and Melusine? 8 July 2017
... that the soprano Margot Guilleaume recorded the part of Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio in a complete live recording without dialogue in 1948? 27 May 2017
... that the soprano Leonore Kirschstein appeared as Alice Ford, with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Falstaff? 29 Mar 2017
... that the soprano Émilie Ambre was portrayed by artist Édouard Manet in the title role of Bizet's Carmen (pictured)? (13 Mar 2017)
... that the soprano Erna Ellmenreich appeared in the premieres of Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss and of Hindemith's Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen, the latter causing a scandal? (8 Mar 2017)
... that after the ballet dancer Franziska Romana Koch sang in the opera Alceste which was composed for her, its librettist celebrated her performance in a poem? (11 Feb 2017)

... that the soprano Katharine Fuge took part in John Eliot Gardiner's Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, both as a member of the Monteverdi Choir and as a soloist?
... that Elin Rombo (pictured) played Sister Blanche in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites in a 2011 production at the Royal Swedish Opera? (30 September 2016)
... that Petra Lang, who performed the parts of Brangäne and Ortrud at the Bayreuth Festival as a mezzo-soprano, was the Isolde of 2016? (26 August 2016)
... that Kari Lövaas appeared in the premiere of Orff's De temporum fine comoedia at the Salzburg Festival? (11 July 2016)
... that soprano Tamara Wilson won the Richard Tucker Award, "one of the most prestigious prizes in opera"? (28 Apr 2016)
... that the soprano Rotraud Hansmann performed six parts in three Monteverdi operas conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, including Euridice in L'Orfeo? (28 Mar 2016)
... that the soprano Emily Van Evera appeared with the Taverner Consort at The Proms in Bach's St Matthew Passion? (25 Mar 2016)
... that the soprano Greta De Reyghere recorded Bach's motets, Mozart's vespers, and music by the Belgian composers Joseph Ryelandt and Joseph-Hector Fiocco? (19 Mar 2016)
... that Hana Blažíková is a soprano with the Bach Collegium Japan, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki, for the project to record the complete Bach cantatas? (8 Mar 2016)
... that Antonia Fahberg, a lyric soprano of the Bavarian State Opera for 25 years, recorded Bach with Karl Richter, including an aria described as "a beguiling and beautifully restrained performance"? (2 Mar 2016)
... that Astrid Schirmer appeared in roles by Richard Wagner, both Venus and Elisabeth in his Tannhäuser, and in the Bayreuth Jahrhundertring as both Ortlinde and Sieglinde? (22 Feb 2016)
... that Maria Carbone appeared in 1931 as Desdemona in a complete recording of Verdi's Otello, one of her only two recordings? (22 Feb 2016)
... that Anna Korondi appeared at the Bavarian State Opera as Zdenka in Arabella by Richard Strauss and in a leading role in the premiere of Aribert Reimann's Bernarda Albas Haus? (21 Feb 2016)
... that when Ilse Hollweg recorded the part of Blonde in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Sir Thomas Beecham, she was one of two soloists who also spoke the dialogue? (20 Feb 2016)
... that the soprano Friederike Sailer appeared in the premiere of Werner Egk's Der Revisor at the Schwetzingen Festival, conducted by the composer? (18 Feb 2016)
... that Yvonne Ciannella, who performed the title roles of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Puccini's Suor Angelica, recorded Telemann's cantata Ino with "dramatic colouring"? (6 Feb 2016)
... that Yolanda Marculescu, prima donna of the Romanian National Opera of Bucharest, defected to the U.S. in 1968 and founded the International Festival of the Art Song in Milwaukee, Wisconsin? (5 Feb 2016)

... that opera singer Camellia Johnson performed at Donald Trump's wedding ceremonies to Marla Maples and Melania Knauss? (22 Dec 2015)
... that in 2000 Midori Suzuki was a soprano in Sigiswald Kuijken's recording of Bach's Mass in B minor which uses one voice per part? (14 Dec 2015)
... that Chinese soprano Guanqun Yu won the Belvedere International Singing Competition and placed 2nd in Operalia, The World Opera Competition? (4 Dec 2015)
... that soprano Ying Fang has won the Golden Bell Award, the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, and the Lincoln Center Segal Award? (4 Dec 2015)
... that Zhou Xiaoyan was described by The New York Times as "China's First Lady of Opera"? (27 Nov 2015)
... that soprano Rosa Lamoreaux, who recorded Bach's Mass in B minor with The Bach Choir of Bethlehem and at the Carmel Bach Festival, won the 2009 Wammie as classical vocal soloist? (19 Aug 2015)
... that dramatic soprano Evelyn Herlitzius appeared as Elektra, staged by Patrice Chéreau at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2013, reviewed as "a creature of mesmerising intensity"? (9 Aug 2015)
... that soprano Susanne Rydén combined music by various Baroque composers in the musical show Christina's Journey, in which she sang, recited, and danced? (8 August 2015)
... that Hedy Graf performed soprano parts in premieres of oratorios by Swiss composers? (16 July 2015)
... that Constanze Backes performed the leading female part in Joseph Schuster's rediscovered opera Il Marito Indolente? (15 July 2015)
... that the soprano Romy Gundermann and her husband received a medal from Aschaffenburg for expanding music awareness and adding to the town's cultural heritage? (12 Jul 2015)
... that Orlanda Velez Isidro was Madame Mao in a Dutch production of John Adams' Nixon in China? (12 July 2015)
... that the first American grand opera was written for soprano Ann Childe Seguin? (20 May 2015)
... that there is no evidence that an English Flowermaiden was Richard Wagner's nemesis? (24 April 2015)
... that Jeannette Zarou performed the title role in the stage premiere of Healey Willan's opera Deirdre? (17 April 2015)
... that Italian soprano Teresina Brambilla was known for performing leading parts in operas by Amilcare Ponchielli, whom she married? (10 March 2015)
... that Giuseppina Brambilla, one of five opera-singer sisters, was a prima donna in Barcelona and Odessa? (16 February 2015)

... that Gabriela Eibenová (pictured) flew from Prague to Frankfurt to fill in for a soprano in Bach's Mass in B minor in St. Martin, Idstein, a year ago? (30 September 2014)
... that Romanian opera singer and film actress Maria Forescu died in the Buchenwald concentration camp? (19 August 2014)
... that Klesie Kelly, soprano and academic voice teacher in Cologne, recorded love songs for voices and instrumental soloists with tenor Ian Partridge?
... that soprano Ada Cherry Kearton was married to wildlife photographer Cherry Kearton and recounted their travels in her autobiography On Safari? (5 August 2014)
... that soprano Kristīne Opolais made two Met Opera debuts, as Puccini's Cio-Cio-San and Mimi, within a day? (19 April 2014)
... that soprano Carmen Reppel performed several parts in the Jahrhundertring, Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle staged by Chéreau, and sang in Siegfried Wagner's Schwarzschwanenreich? (11 April 2014)
... that soprano Hannelore Bode appeared in the Bayreuth centenary Jahrhundertring as both Sieglinde and Gutrune? (31 March 2014)
... that soprano Norma Sharp performed Mozart's Countess at her debut at La Scala and the voice of the forest bird in Bayreuth? (28 March 2014)
... that soprano Nadine Secunde was praised for "formidable acting skills" in the title role of Dmitri Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk? (26 March 2014)
... that aged 15 and never having seen a live opera, Alessandra Marianelli placed second in the Cascinalirica singing competition and made her professional opera debut the following year? (24 March 2014)
... that soprano Lucy Crowe, performing Janáček's Cunning Little Vixen at the Glyndebourne Festival, was described as "a powerhouse of foxy ingenuity"? (17 March 2014)
... that Simone Osborne, "one of Canada's most sought-after sopranos", busked on Toronto's streets to afford singing lessons? (13 March 2014)
... that Swan Lake was shown live in 100 French cinemas, with Steffi Scherzer, a dancer of the Berlin State Opera for 28 years, in the double role of Odette/Odile? (13 March 2014)
... that Swedish soprano Erika Sunnegårdh, who has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, said that her voice was "like a wild horse"? (28 January 2014)

... that at the time of her much-heralded 1926 debut, 19-year-old Marion Talley (pictured) was the youngest prima donna to perform at the Metropolitan Opera? (2 August 2013)
... that soprano Rachel Nicholls, a performer of Wagner's Brünnhilde, sang in Bach's dialogue cantata Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen (Dearest Jesus, my desire) "a clear Lutheran analogy to a love duet"? (13 January 2013)
... that Carolyn Sampson was the first soprano to record all of Bach's aria BWV 1127, which had been lost until 2005? (11 October 2012)
... that Helene Wildbrunn, a celebrated Wagnerian soprano at the Vienna State Opera and La Scala, began her career in 1907 as a contralto at the Stadttheater Dortmund? (2 August 2012)
... that soprano Ursula Schröder-Feinen appeared at the Bayreuth Festival as Senta, Brünnhilde, Ortrud and, with "intensity, ... freshness and spontaneity", as Kundry in Parsifal? (16 May 2012
... that Georges Bizet dedicated his song "Rêve de la bien-aimée" ("Dream of the beloved") to the Belgian coloratura soprano Léontine de Maësen? (25 December 2011)
... that a reviewer wrote that Katia Plaschka, "quite accurately described as a high soprano, sings music of stratospheric difficulty" when performing Luigi Nono's music? (23 September 2011)
... that the career of soprano Cornélie Falcon (pictured), star of the Paris Opéra, collapsed after she lost her voice in 1837 performing in the opera Stradella by Louis Niedermeyer? (23 June 2011)
... that opera singer Edyth Walker portrayed the title heroine in the UK premiere of Richard Strauss' Elektra at Covent Garden in 1910? (16 May 2011)
... that opera singer Maria di Gerlando created the role of Carmela in the 1954 world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's The Saint of Bleecker Street? (9 May 2011)
... that after soprano Gianna Galli's opera career ended at the age of 40 due to problems with her vocal cords, she had a second successful career as a talent manager of singers in Italy? (8 May 2011)
... that even in her thirties, Scottish coloratura soprano Anne Sharp was able to pass as a teenager, performing the role of Emmie Spatchett in Britten's Albert Herring at the first Aldeburgh Festival? (8 March 2011)
... that the two leading sopranos in the 1711 world premiere of Handel's Rinaldo, Isabella Girardeau and Elisabetta Pilotti-Schiavonetti, were bitter rivals? (19 February 2011)
... that Christine Weidinger returned to the Metropolitan Opera after 16 years to appear as Semiramis, the title role of Rossini's Semiramide? (11 February 2011)

... that soprano Janis Martin appeared at the Zurich Opera as Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde? (6 November 2010)
... that soprano Myrna Sharlow once upstaged acclaimed opera singer Mary Garden in a performance of a minor role at the Boston Opera House? (5 November 2010)
... that soprano Marie Sasse (pictured) created the role of Elisabeth de Valois in the world premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlos? (30 October 2010)
... that American soprano Lauren Flanigan premiered the title role of Hugo Weisgall's opera Esther at the New York City Opera in 1993? (22 October 2010)
... that soprano Dolores Wilson lamented that "the Italian I'd learned by studying operas enabled me to talk intelligently only about poisons and suicide and tragic love affairs"? (14 October 2010)
... that a deadly anti-Semitic riot involving approximately 10,000 people erupted in Warsaw in 1922 in response to a planned concert of Yiddish song by soprano Isa Kremer? (13 October 2010)
... that Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg had two sons with his mistress, the Berlin Opera star Mafalda Salvatini? (14 September 2010)
... that operatic soprano Shirlee Emmons won an Obie Award for her portrayal of Susan B. Anthony in the 1956 Off-Broadway revival of Virgil Thomson's The Mother of Us All?
... that soprano Gerlinde Sämann performed with La Petite Bande Bach's cantata for the 14th Sunday after Trinity, Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17? (5 September 2010)
... that Italian operatic soprano Angiolina Bosio (pictured) portrayed Gilda in the UK premiere of Verdi's Rigoletto and Lady Macbeth in the US premiere of Verdi's Macbeth? (2 September 2010)
... that soprano Ada Adini, a singer of Verdi's Gilda and Leonora, appeared as Brünnhilde in the Italian premiere of Wagner's Die Walküre at La Scala in 1893? (12 September 2010)
... that soprano June Card appeared as Freia and Gutrune in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, conducted by Michael Gielen and staged by Ruth Berghaus at the Frankfurt Opera? (27 August 2010)
... that Camilla Tilling was the soprano soloist in Mahler's Resurrection Symphony in the opening concert of the Rheingau Musik Festival 2010, conducted by Paavo Järvi? (14 July 2010)
... that soprano Siri Thornhill performed a Bach cantata for the fourth Sunday after Trinity, Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 177, at the Rheingau Musik Festival in the Eibingen Abbey?
... that soprano Edith Selig recorded the early Bach cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21, performed in Weimar in 1714 on the third Sunday after Trinity?
... that soprano Ursula Buckel recorded the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147, which Bach had written for the feast of the Visitation always celebrated on 2 July? (2 July 2010)
... that Ingeborg Reichelt performed the soprano part of the Bach cantata Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot, BWV 39, written for the first Sunday after Trinity of 1726? (6 June 2010)
... that soprano Dorothee Mields sang solo and tutti in five cantatas composed for Pentecost by the prolific Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, a contemporary of Bach?) (23 May 2010)
... that soprano Adele Stolte recorded the Bach cantata for Pentecost Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172 with the Thomanerchor conducted by Erhard Mauersberger? (23 May 2010)
... that American soprano, Anna Fitziu, was the singing instructor for Shirley Verrett? (24 March 2010)
... that soprano Annette Dasch appeared as Elettra in Mozart's Idomeneo at the reopening of the Cuvilliés Theatre, where that opera had been premiered in 1781? (23 March 2010)
... that when Scottish soprano Muriel Dickson toured with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to New York City in 1934–1935, she was invited to join the Metropolitan Opera? (22 March 2010)
... that after a falling out in 1877, Georgina Weldon refused to return Gounod's original score for his opera Polyeucte, forcing him to rewrite it? (18 January 2010)
... that coloratura soprano Alice Verlet gave a 1922 opera and song recital at Carnegie Hall accompanied on violin by a young Xavier Cugat, who later achieved fame as the "rhumba king"? (10 January 2010)

... that less than two years after Julia Goss thought she failed her audition, she became the principal soprano of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company? (27 November 2009)
... that soprano Ruth Holton sang at Bach's church on the 250th anniversary of his death? (6 November 2009)
... that Clara Dow (pictured) was one of the last principal sopranos personally trained by W. S. Gilbert at the Savoy Theatre? (28 October 2009)
... that American opera singer Margaret Harshaw portrayed more Wagnerian heroines on stage at the Metropolitan Opera than anyone else in the opera's history? (2 October 2009)
... that Giuseppe Verdi did not want Eugenia Tadolini (pictured) to sing Lady Macbeth in his opera Macbeth because her voice was too beautiful? (11 September 2009)
... that lyric soprano Lois Hunt was introduced to then Vice President Lyndon Johnson while he was wearing a pair of green silk pajamas embroidered with his initials? (6 August 2009)
... that Marie Wittich (pictured), the soprano who created the title role in Richard Strauss' opera Salome, refused to perform the Dance of the Seven Veils saying "I won't do it. I'm a decent woman."? (4 August 2009)
... that between 1909 and 1912, soprano Margarethe Siems (pictured) sang leading roles in the world premieres of three operas by Richard Strauss—Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier and Ariadne auf Naxos? (31 July 2009)
... that as a child, Swedish opera singer Hjördis Schymberg and her four sisters performed live music to accompany silent films? (22 June 2009)
... that Pauline Rita played three roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas for Richard D'Oyly Carte, but left his company in 1878 never to return? (21 June 2009)
... that Evelyn Scotney, an Australian coloratura soprano, sang opposite Enrico Caruso in his final appearance on the opera stage? (9 June 2009)
... that soprano Deborah Voigt lost over 100 pounds (45 kg) by means of gastric bypass surgery after she was fired in the "Covent Garden incident"? (9 June 2009)
... that Teresa Saporiti, the soprano who created the role of Donna Anna in Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, lived to be 106? (30 May 2009)
... that soprano Sylvia Cecil joined and left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company three times during her career? (7 April 2009)
... that soprano Margaret Lloyd portrayed the role of Lightfoot McClendon in the world premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree at the Houston Grand Opera in 2000? (6 April 2009)
... that operatic soprano Dawn Kotoski won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1990? (2 April 2009)
... that Donizetti wrote the title role of his opera Adelia for Giuseppina Strepponi (pictured), the second wife of Giuseppe Verdi? (5 March 2009)
... that as a blindfolded child, opera singer Pauline Joran (pictured) could identify absolute pitch and the notes of chords? (24 February 2009)
... that Georgette Leblanc (pictured) portrayed the role of Ariane in the original 1899 play Ariane et Barbe-bleue by Maurice Maeterlinck and in the 1907 opera adaptation by Paul Dukas? (9 February 2009)
... that Alice May starred as a soprano in comic opera in the 1870s but toured as a contralto in the 1880s? (12 January 2009)

... that operatic soprano Romilda Pantaleoni sang the role of Desdemona in the original 1887 production of Giuseppe Verdi's Otello? (17 December 2008)
... that in spite of her great reputation in Europe, operatic soprano Lucienne Bréval had limited success in America as critics thought her singing lacked polish? (1 December 2008)
... that operatic soprano Celestina Boninsegna sang her first leading role at the unusually young age of 15? (28 October 2008)
... that before becoming a famous opera singer, Ines Maria Ferraris had a career as a concert pianist beginning at the age of 12? (27 November 2008)
... that soprano Meagan Miller, accustomed to wearing US$10,000 gowns on stage in her opera performances, chose to wear her mother's simple gown for her summer 2008 wedding? (6 November 2008)
... that lyric coloratura soprano Harolyn Blackwell replaced opera diva Kathleen Battle when she famously got fired from the Metropolitan Opera? (4 July 2008)
...that in the late 1860s, the soprano Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa and her husband Carl Rosa founded the Parepa-Rosa English Opera Company, which introduced opera to places in the United States that had never staged it before? (3 February 2008)
...that American lyric soprano Helen Jepson was first soprano on the original recording of Porgy and Bess? (15 January 2008)

...that Icelandic operatic soprano Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir, better known as Diddú, began her singing career in the 1970s with a folk and pop group? (6 October 2007)
...that the Austrian government gave the American soprano Teresa Stich-Randall the title of Kammersängerin given to esteemed artists? (28 July 2007)
...that, in addition to having a passion for opera, dramatic soprano Othalie Graham enjoys music by Prince and Jamaican reggae musician Jimmy Cliff? (24 July 2007)
...that 18th-century operatic star Anna Maria Strada was known as "the Pig" on account of her ugliness? (24 March 2007)

... that lyric coloratura soprano Harolyn Blackwell replaced opera diva Kathleen Battle when she famously got fired from the Metropolitan Opera?
... that soprano Adele Addison stepped into the role of Bess in the 1969 film version of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess as a last-minute replacement of a singer who sounded too shrill?
... that the 19th-century Mexican soprano Ángela Peralta once sang Donizetti's opera Maria di Rohan in a theatre improvised from a disused sand pit in La Paz, Baja California?
... that operatic soprano Celestina Boninsegna sang her first leading role at the unusually young age of 15?
... that operatic soprano Gail Robinson won the Metropolitan Opera auditions at the young age of 19?
... that after retiring from the stage opera singer Emma Carelli managed the Rome Opera House for almost 15 years?
... that soprano Cesira Ferrani originated two of the most iconic roles in opera history, Mimì in the world premiere of Puccini's La bohème and the title role in the premiere of Puccini's Manon Lescaut?
... that before becoming a famous opera singer, Ines Maria Ferraris had a career as a concert pianist beginning at the age of 12?
... that operatic soprano Romilda Pantaleoni sang the role of Desdemona in the original 1887 production of Giuseppe Verdi's Otello?
... that operatic soprano Maria Zamboni was the first person to record the title role of Puccini's Manon Lescaut in its entirety?

Mezzo-sopranos

... that opera singer Joyce Castle specialized in "portraying nuts, mamas, lesbians, nymphomaniacs, witches, and men"? 24 Jun 2026

... that Béatrice Uria-Monzon, in the title role of Bizet's Carmen, preferred a "meditative" and "dreamy" performance over a "sexy" one? 6 Oct 2025
... that Ana María Iriarte (pictured) made her professional opera debut in 1945, retired from the stage in 1960, and created a foundation promoting zarzuela in 2006? 17 Mar 2025

... that when Kelsey Lauritano portrayed Mozart's Cherubino, a reviewer from the FAZ noted her "almost metallic-brittle approach that spreads androgynous infatuation"? [[Wikipedia:Recent additions/2024/March#26 March 2024|26 Mar] 2024]
... that American mezzo-soprano Cecelia Hall portrayed the lead male role in Mozart's Ascanio in Alba? 23 Mar 2024

... that international opera singer Soňa Červená (pictured) won the Alfréd Radok Award for Best Actress when she was 83 years old? 29 Jun 2023
... that as a last-minute substitute in a premiere performance at Oper Frankfurt, Elena Manistina sang from the side while the assistant director mimed onstage? 27 Jan 2023

... that Silvia Hauer, a singer of Rossini's Rosina and Bizet's Carmen at Staatstheater Wiesbaden, performed the mezzo-soprano solo of Verdi's Requiem in 2022? 30 Oct 2022
... that Victória Pitts from Brazil portrayed characters in all three parts of Puccini's Il trittico at the Oper Frankfurt in 2022, including Zita in Gianni Schicchi? 19 Aug 2022
... that the mezzo-soprano Wilhelmine Holmboe (pictured), who studied in Paris with Pauline Viardot and moved to Italy to perform, was one of the first Norwegian women to be acclaimed internationally for her singing? 25 Jun 2022
... that Liva Järnefelt performed leading roles at the Royal Swedish Opera, such as Ortrud in Wagner's Lohengrin (pictured), and Bizet's Carmen, which she also performed for her 25th anniversary with the company? 7 Jun 2022
... that Germaine Bailac (pictured) created in 1911 the role of Phenice in Déjanire, the last opera by Camille Saint-Saëns, at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo? 30 Apr 2022
... that during a German charity concert for Ukraine, Slovakian singer Judita Nagyová performed a solo in the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony? 23 Apr 2022
... that the mezzo-soprano of Beth Taylor was the only lower voice when she appeared as Dardano in Handel's Amadigi, portraying her male character with fine vocal lines and "remarkable coloraturas"? 19 Apr 2022
... that the Polish mezzo-soprano Agnieszka Rehlis, who sang in the Grammy Award–winning album Penderecki conducts Penderecki, was Verdi's Azucena in Zürich in 2021? 15 Dec 2021
... that New Zealand opera singer Helen Medlyn's first performing role was as one of the Three Kings? 1 Sep 2021
... that mezzo-soprano Margarita Gritskova was José Carreras's partner for his farewell concert in Carnegie Hall? 17 Aug 2021
... that Jane Margyl (pictured) began her stage career as a mime at the Folies Bergère, and became a leading singer of the Paris Opera? 6 Jul 2021
... that when Honor McKellar studied voice in England, Ralph Vaughan Williams called her "the girl who does things with the words"? 14 Jun 2021
... that Marie Desbrosses made her operatic debut at the Comédie-Italienne in Paris in 1776, and created the role of Marguerite in Boieldieu's La dame blanche there in 1822? 26 May 2021
... that Isabelle Andréani appeared as Bizet's Carmen (pictured in the role) first at the Opera de Marseille, and from 1960 in a production of the Opera de Paris? 8 May 2021
... that Polly Batic appeared at the Salzburg Festival in roles such as Annina in Der Rosenkavalier from 1931 to 1937, and became a member of the Vienna State Opera in 1948? 8 Mar 2021
... that Biserka Cvejić, a Serbian mezzo-soprano who appeared at the Vienna State Opera in 372 performances, made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1961 as Amneris in Verdi's Aida? 18 Feb 2021
... that while Ute Trekel-Burckhardt was a leading mezzo-soprano of the State Opera of East Berlin, she appeared as the Rosenkavalier in Vienna, and in the premiere of Sutermeister's Le roi Béranger in Munich? 9 Jan 2021
... that Rosl Zapf, a mezzo-soprano of the Oper Frankfurt who took part in world premieres, appeared at the Salzburg Festival in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte conducted by Georg Solti? 8 Jan 2021

... that the Japanese mezzo-soprano Mihoko Fujimura, who appeared as Fricka at the Bayreuth Festival in 2002, toured Mahler's Resurrection Symphony with the CBSO conducted by Andris Nelsons? 26 Nov 2020
... that Saadet İkesus Altan studied music in Berlin, performed as a mezzo-soprano in Germany, and became the first female vocal coach and opera director in Turkey after her return home in 1941? 8 Nov 2020
... that mezzo-soprano Marina de Gabaráin appeared as Bizet's Carmen in Scotland, and as Rossini's La Cenerentola in Glyndebourne in 1952, recorded the following year? 3 Oct 2020
... that when Annette Jahns portrayed Bettina von Arnim in an opera by Friedrich Schenker, the role required her to scream as well as sing? 2 Oct 2020
... that Vera Little from Memphis, Tennessee, was for four decades a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she appeared as Bizet's Carmen and in the world premiere of Henze's Der junge Lord?2 Sep 2020
... that mezzo-soprano Grace Hoffman from Cleveland appeared as Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Bayreuth Festival in 1957 and 1970? 10 Jun 2020
... that Renée Gilly studied under her parents and became a leading mezzo-soprano at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, where she sang roles such as Bizet's Carmen? 21 Apr 2020

... that Kathrin Göring portrayed both Fricka and Waltraute in Der Ring in Minden, and a critic called her scene in Götterdämmerung a highlight, noting her dramatic mezzo-soprano and intense acting? 1 Dec 2019
... that Isoldé Elchlepp began her career as a protest song singer and later appeared as Wagner's Ortrud at the Bayreuth Festival and as Schoeck's Penthesilea at the Staatsoper Hannover? 6 Aug 2019
... that Lilian Benningsen, a singer at the Bavarian State Opera for decades, appeared as Carolina in the world premiere of Henze's Elegie für junge Liebende (Elegy for Young Lovers)? 26 Jul 2019
... that American opera singer Jennifer Holloway portrayed Grete in Der ferne Klang as a young girl whose lover leaves her, as a courtesan, and as an old woman who holds the returned lover while he dies? 7 Jun 2019
... that a critic at The Musical Times described Ruth Hesse's performance as the Nurse in Die Frau ohne Schatten as "tirelessly ingenious"?2 Jun 2019

... that Angela Brower performed her signature role as Octavian at the Colombian premiere of Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier? 10 Dec 2018
... that the mezzo-soprano Sophie Koch became known internationally when she appeared as Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden? 6 Dec 2018
... that mezzo-soprano Sybille Specht appeared as La Belle in a chamber opera by Philip Glass at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz? 10 Sep 2018
... that the Argentinian mezzo-soprano Alicia Nafé appeared in her signature role as Bizet's Carmen alongside Plácido Domingo in San Francisco, and at the Metropolitan Opera with Domingo as conductor? 9 Aug 2018
... that the mezzo-soprano Carla Henius performed in the premiere of Luigi Nono's Intolleranza 1960 at La Fenice, and had a composition by Dieter Schnebel written for her voice? 7 Aug 2018
... that when Minna Lammert, Lilli Lehmann and her sister Marie rehearsed as the Rhinemaidens for the first performance of Das Rheingold in Bayreuth, Wagner thanked them "with tears of joy"? 25 Jul 2018
... that mezzo-soprano Patricia Payne made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Ponchielli's La Gioconda, and took part in the first performance of Britten's Peter Grimes in New Zealand? 21 Jul 2018
... that French mezzo-soprano Isabelle Druet, a fan of reggae, performed with Les Arts Florissants at Carnegie Hall and has played as Carmen in Nancy and Düsseldorf? 10 Jul 2018
... that Cornelia Wulkopf made her operatic debut in the centenary production of Wagner's Ring Cycle at the Bayreuth Festival and recorded the alto part in Bach's Mass in B minor with Sergiu Celibidache? 8 Jul 2018
... that mezzo-soprano Hedwig Fassbender, who also appeared in soprano roles such as Wagner's Isolde, has been an influential voice teacher in Frankfurt? 14 Jun 2018
... that an opera was composed for mezzo-soprano Birgit Remmert – Iokaste by Stefan Heucke – in which the mother and wife of Oedipus is the only role? 27 May 2018
... that mezzo-soprano Melinda Paulsen was the first to record songs by Nadia Boulanger and Ethel Smyth? 8 May 2018
... that the Italian mezzo-soprano Armanda Degli Abbati appeared as Ortrud in Rome and as Amneris in Rio de Janeiro, had an affair with a Russian revolutionary, and trained Estonian singers? 4 Jan 2018

... that mezzo-soprano Mechthild Georg, a voice teacher at the Musikhochschule Köln, performed music by C. P. E. Bach at the first Rheingau Musik Festival? 27 Nov 2017
... that mezzo-soprano Patricia Johnson appeared as Eboli at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and created the roles of a Nabokov Princess and a Henze Baroness? 18 Oct 2017
... that the Swiss mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Glauser performed in the Jahrhundertring in Bayreuth, and created the role of Babette in Henze's The English Cat? 20 Sep 2017
... that Elisabeth Kulman, Gora in the premiere of Reimann's Medea at the Vienna State Opera, changed from soprano to mezzo, and from opera singer to concert singer? 1 Sep 2017
... that Maria Riccarda Wesseling appeared as Gluck's Orfeo in Paris and at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, and as Henze's Phaedra in Berlin? 28 Aug 2017
... that Paula Murrihy, who appeared in operatic title roles such as Dido, Carmen, Hänsel and the Rosenkavalier, sang Lieder with viola and piano for the Hessischer Rundfunk? 23 July 2017
... that Lioba Braun, who became known appearing as Brangäne in Bayreuth in 1994, was the first soloist to record Reger's Die Weihe der Nacht? 14 July 2017
... that Margit Neubauer appeared as Sesto in Handel's Giulio Cesare, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, at the start of her 39-year career at the Frankfurt Opera? 26 June 2017
... that a recording of Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle with Cornelia Kallisch as Judith was nominated for a Grammy Award? 22 June 2017
... that mezzo-soprano Eva Randová was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for her performance as the Kostelnička Buryjovka in Janáček's Jenůfa at the Royal Opera House? 31 May 2017
... that Clotilde Bressler-Gianoli played the titular character in Carmen in 1907 with "the allurement of sheer wickedness", and was accidentally stabbed on stage? 24 May 2017
... that mezzo-soprano Claudia Mahnke appeared as Dido in Les Troyens by Berlioz, and according to a reviewer, in the final 25 minutes convincingly ranged from hurt vulnerability to furious despair? 4 Mar 2017
... that Belgian mezzo-soprano Jeanne Deroubaix was a soloist in the premiere of Stravinsky's Threni, and performed with Boulez in his Le marteau sans maître at The Proms? 31 Mar 2017
... that mezzo-soprano Tanja Ariane Baumgartner has portrayed such characters as Schoeck's Penthesilea, and Cassandre in Les Troyens? 22 Mar 2017
... that the mezzo-soprano Iris Vermillion, who became known for Mozart roles with Harnoncourt in 1988, received a prize for her portrayal of Schoeck's Penthesilea at the Semperoper 20 years later? 13 Mar 2017

... that the mezzo-soprano Pamela Dellal, who recorded music by Hildegard von Bingen and Fanny Mendelssohn, translated all texted works by Bach? (21 Mar 2016)
... that Delores Ziegler, who teaches voice at the University of Maryland, appeared as Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte for her debut at La Scala, and in the film by Ponnelle and Harnoncourt? (10 Mar 2016)
... that only a year after joining the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at age 21, Eileen Sharp (pictured) was promoted to be the company's principal mezzo-soprano? (7 Dec 2015)
... that actress Maria Möller is a classically trained mezzo-soprano and soloist? (29 Oct 2015)
... that Wilke te Brummelstroete performed the alto parts in Volume I of the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage which received the 2005 Gramophone Award Record of the Year? (22 Aug 2015)
... that mezzo-soprano Ruth Sandhoff performed a soprano part in the Magnificat by Johann Sebastian Bach and an alto part in his son's Magnificat? (21 July 2015)
... that the mezzo-soprano Marga Schiml (pictured), an academic voice teacher in Karlsruhe, appeared as a Rhinemaiden and a valkyrie in the Jahrhundertring? (20 May 2015)
... that mezzo-soprano Marie-Louise Gilles appeared in trousers roles in Wiesbaden and as a valkyrie in Bayreuth? (11 March 2015)
... that mezzo-soprano singer Jaklin Çarkçı can speak six languages? (13 February 2013)
... that mezzo-soprano Martina Koppelstetter has recorded Lieder by Rudi Spring for BR, Bavarian Radio? (20 December 2011)
... that mezzo-soprano opera singer Olivia Ward won season 11 of US television show The Biggest Loser? (26 May 2011)
... that in 1957, at the pinnacle of the Cold War, mezzo-soprano Blanche Thebom became the first American to perform at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow? (15 May 2011)
... that temperance activist Carrie Nation was the subject of a 1966 opera by Douglas Moore, starring mezzo-soprano Beverly Wolff? (13 March 2011)

... that mezzo-soprano opera singer Martha Lipton performed 401 times at the Metropolitan Opera? 7 November 2010)
... that mezzo-soprano Débria Brown (pictured) created the role of Tituba in the world premiere of Robert Ward's Pulitzer-winning opera, The Crucible, at the New York City Opera in 1961? (22 Octoember 2010)
... that mezzo-soprano Petra Noskaiová recorded alto parts with La Petite Bande in Bach cantatas such as Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12? (3 October 2010)
... that Gioachino Rossini's opera Tancredi premiered in 1813 at Teatro La Fenice in Venice with Adelaide Malanotte performing in the title role?? (20 September 2010)
... that, after a 15-year career as a principal with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Peggy Ann Jones moved to musicals, including in the original cast of The Phantom of the Opera? (14 September 2010)
... that the operatic mezzo-soprano Adelaide Borghi-Mamo sang the part of Azucena in the French premiere of Verdi's Il trovatore at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris in 1854? (10 September 2010)
... that American mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer created the role of the mother of Yueyang in Tan Dun's opera The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006? (30 May 2010)
... that mezzo-soprano Claudia Eder sang the parts of the Muse and Nicklausse in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann on a recording with Plácido Domingo as Hoffmann? (15 April 2010)
... that opera singer Zélie de Lussan sang 2,000 performances in the title role of Carmen? (10 December 2009)
... that Luise Jaide created two roles in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle? (10 October 2009)
... that Sandra Warfield met future husband James McCracken when they sang the leads in Samson and Delilah, the same opera in which the couple performed in her Metropolitan Opera farewell performance? (16 July 2009)
... that mezzo-soprano Stephanie Novacek created roles in the premieres of two important operas, the role of Maria Callas in Daugherty's Jackie O and the role of heroine Jo March in Adamo's Little Women? (25 March 2009)
... that opera singer Rosemary Kuhlmann was an assistant to the international vice-president of PepsiCo for 16 years from the age of 56, despite intending to stay for only four months?
... that opera singer Nell Rankin used her pet jaguar, King Tut, as a negotiating tool at the Metropolitan Opera?
... that although [opera singer Rita Fornia began her career as a coloratura soprano, her voice lowered and darkened causing her to sing mostly mezzo-soprano roles?
... that Italian mezzo-soprano Flora Perini originated the role of the Princess in the world premiere of Puccini's Suor Angelica at the Metropolitan Opera in 1918?

Contraltos

... that Anne Bierwirth has performed the alto part in Bach's Christmas Oratorio, and in a recording of the first Passion oratorio in German by Reinhard Keiser? 9 Feb 2021
... that Enid Szánthó, a leading contralto of the Vienna State Opera, appeared as Erda in Wagner's Ring cycle at the Bayreuth Festival in 1930, but was no longer invited by 1938? 2 Jan 2020

... that African-American contralto Marian Anderson (pictured) was denied permission by the Daughters of the American Revolution to sing at Constitution Hall in 1939, prompting thousands of its members to resign? 7 Nov 2020
... that Wiebke Lehmkuhl was the alto soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the 2017 opening of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg? 19 Oct 2020
... that after contralto Florence Wickham made her debut in Germany, she was engaged for an American tour as Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal? 23 Sep 2020
... that contralto Simone Schröder performed as a soloist at the Bayreuth Festival while she was still studying, and went on to sing there in three different productions of Parsifal? 9 Sep 2020
... that Hanna Ludwig appeared in the title role of Der Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera, and in five roles at the first Bayreuth Festival after World War II? 8 Sep 2020
... that after joining her father's church choir at the age of six, contralto Portia White (pictured) grew up to become the first Black Canadian concert singer to achieve international fame? 12 Jun 2020

... that Ursula Boese, a long-time member of the Hamburgische Staatsoper, appeared as Stravinsky's Iocaste at La Scala, and at the San Francisco Opera in the presence of the composer? 6 Sep 2019
... that Lula Mysz-Gmeiner (pictured), a contralto and influential voice teacher from Transylvania, performed lieder written for her by Max Reger and other prominent contemporaries? 28 Nov 2018
... that Katharina Magiera, a member of the Frankfurt Opera, has appeared as Lisa, a former SS officer in Auschwitz, in Weinberg's opera The Passenger? 23 May 2018
... that Elsa Cavelti, who appeared in dramatic roles at the Opernhaus Zürich and taught voice at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt, was Wagner's Brangäne at La Scala? 25 Mar 2018
... that Ilona Durigo, one of the leading concert contraltos of her time, performed in the first recording of Bach's St Matthew Passion, conducted by Willem Mengelberg? 31 Jan 2018

... that Gerhild Romberger, an award-winning contralto and professor of voice, was a soloist in Mahler's Second Symphony at the Rheingau Musik Festival? 9 Sep 2017
... that Carol Smith appeared as Verdi's Eboli, Amneris and Azucena at the Opernhaus Zürich, and recorded his Mrs. Quickly in German? 1 Sep 2017
... that Joseph and Amalie Joachim (pictured) received two songs from Johannes Brahms, one to begin their marriage, the other decades later to repair it? 29 Aug 2017
... that contralto Ruth Siewert appeared as Erda not only in Bayreuth, but also at La Scala, La Fenice, and La Monnaie? 27 July 2017
... that the contralto Anna Erler-Schnaudt performed in the premiere of Mahler's Eighth Symphony in 1910? 7 May 2017
... that Ursula Zollenkopf, a contralto of the NWDR Chor, performed solo and choral parts in a posthumous Schoenberg opera premiere and in an Easter cantata by Bach? 4 Mar 2017
... that the American contralto Margarethe Bence appeared as Marcellina at the Salzburg Festival, as Erda in Bayreuth, and in a premiere at the Schwetzingen Festival? (24 Mar 2017)
... that the contralto Dorothy Gill was so popular during the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's visit to New York in 1934 that American fans petitioned for her return?
... that the contralto Caroline Trevor, who has been a member of The Tallis Scholars for over three decades, broke a tradition of nine centuries when she became a singer at St Paul's Cathedral? (27 April 2016)
... that the contralto Elisabeth Schärtel, known for performing many Wagner parts at the Bayreuth Festival, sang Verdi's Meg Page alongside Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Falstaff? (6 Mar 2016)
... that Simone Ballard performed the title role in the premiere of Arthur Honegger's Antigone at La Monnaie? (19 Feb 2016)
... that Ilse Gramatzki appeared as a Rhinemaiden in the Jahrhundertring at the Bayreuth Festival, and in Zimmermann's Die Soldaten in Frankfurt and Brussels? (9 Feb 2016)
... that Gertrude Pitzinger, who toured Europe and the United States singing Lieder, recorded the alto part of Mozart's Requiem, conducted by Ferenc Fricsay? (30 Jan 2016)

... that contralto Hildegard Rütgers recorded Bach's Magnificat with Christmas interpolations with Helmuth Rilling? (17 July 2015)
... that the contralto Maria Radner, who died in the Germanwings plane crash, performed Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder at his villa, Wahnfried? (11 April 2015)
... that contralto Jenny Twitchell Kempton sang in the first performance of Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah in Boston? (8 April 2015)
... that Margaret Kennedy (pictured as Captain Macheath) was the first person to perform Thomas Arne's song "A-Hunting We Will Go"? (17 March 2015)
... that contralto Marga Höffgen, known as a Bach singer for Karajan and as Erda in Bayreuth, recorded Max Reger's Requiem compositions? (17 March 2015)
... that after originating the role of Lady Sangazure in The Sorcerer, Mrs Howard Paul walked out of the cast of H.M.S. Pinafore when her part was reduced? (16 May 2014)
... that Lyndsie Holland played the Gilbert and Sullivan contralto roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company? (25 April 2014)
... that soon after starting her career at the Met, Gwendolyn Killebrew appeared as a valkyrie in Wagner's Die Walküre in a live broadcast alongside Birgit Nilsson in the title role? (1 April 2014)
... that Hilde Rössel-Majdan, for decades a contralto with the Vienna State Opera, recorded with Hermann Scherchen music by Bach including his solo cantata Widerstehe doch der Sünde, BWV 54? (27 July 2012)

... that contralto Hildegard Laurich performed in Bach's cantata for Ratswahl (inauguration of the Leipzig town council) Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille, BWV 120? (2 October 2010)
... that contralto Sonia Prina performed the title role of Antonio Vivaldi's 1727 opera Orlando furioso at the Frankfurt Opera, staged as a rocker? (13 September 2010)

...that opera singer Jessie Bartlett Davis (pictured) volunteered to pay for the publishing of the parlor song "I Love You Truly", the first song written by a woman to sell one million copies? (23 January 2008)

...that although opera contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink had a son fighting on the other side, she toured the United States to raise money for the USA in World War I? (2 May 2004)

Countertenors

... that countertenor Christopher Lowrey's voice has been described as "packed with enough character to sink a battleship"? 4 Jul 2023

... that in 2020 when Persian-Canadian countertenor Cameron Shahbazi performed in Written on Skin in Cologne, his "Luciferian charm" and "iridescent voice" were noted? 28 Nov 2022

... that countertenor David Cordier performed operatic title roles such as Handel's Giulio Cesare and one of the three sisters in Tri sestry by Péter Eötvös? 9 Dec 2020

... that countertenor David Erler was one of five singers invited by amarcord for the performance of Monteverdi's Vespers as the annual Marienvesper of the Rheingau Musik Festival in Eberbach Abbey? (15 Aug 2014)

... that American countertenor Bejun Mehta began his musical career as a boy soprano, praised by Leonard Bernstein? (29 Oct 2009)

Tenors

... that tenor René Barbera sang a leading role in his first opera when he was eleven years old? 29 May 2026
... that international opera star Julius Prott (pictured) was also a horticulturalist who was acclaimed for his cultivation of roses? 19 May 2026

... that tenor Jean Bonhomme played for seven years on his university's Canadian football team before becoming an international opera star? 4 Nov 2025
... that operatic tenor Klaus König, who performed for more than 30 years, also worked as a house painter?27 Jul 2025
... that operatic tenor Vladyslav Gorai was a Merited Artist of Ukraine who died while on a volunteer mission during the Russo-Ukrainian War? 30 Jun 2025

... that operatic tenor Walter Kirchhoff (pictured) was also an officer in the cavalry division of the Imperial German Army? 13 2024 Sep
... that opera singer Charles Holland (pictured) spent much of his career in Europe as opportunities in classical music for African Americans were limited? 20 Apr 2024
... that Stephen Gould performed three roles at the 2022 Bayreuth Festival: Tannhäuser, Siegfried and Tristan, earning him nicknames such as "Iron Man"? 7 Feb 2024
... that a 1974 recording of Mozart's Così fan tutte with Ryland Davies as Ferrando was used in a 1995 film by the Salzburg Marionette Theatre? 9 Jan 2024

... that the tenor Graham Clark appeared at the Bayreuth Festival in 16 seasons, portraying the characters Loge and Mime in the 1988 Ring cycle? 17 Sep 2023
... that the "extreme lightness and luminous agility" of Michael McCown's voice in the roles of Britten's Tempter and Nebuchadnezzar has been likened to that of Peter Pears? 13 Aug 2023

... that Sung Min Song, who was an informatics engineer in Seoul until age 26, performed the extreme tenor role of Arnold in Rossini's Guillaume Tell as his debut at the Saarländisches Staatstheater? 9 Nov 2022
... that Rogers Covey-Crump, once the high tenor of the Hilliard Ensemble, is known as a leading Evangelist in Bach's Passions? 17 Aug 2022
... that Arnold Blackner was said to be the first person to sing over 3,000 miles on the telephone? 12 Jun 2022
... that tenor Theo Lebow performed the roles of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Pablo Picasso in the world premiere of the opera 27? 10 Jun 2022
... that when tenor Jonathan Tetelman appeared as Loris Ipanov in Giordano's Fedora, which had made Caruso famous, a reviewer called him ideal for the role? 8 Jun 2022
... that AJ Glueckert appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Erik in 2017, described as a "clarion sensitive tenor", and at the Oper Frankfurt as Flamand in 2018, with "passionate power"? 21 May 2022
... that Fabian Kelly, a tenor focused on historically informed performance, was a soloist in Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine and Handel's Messiah? 17 Dec 2021
... that Jean-Paul Jeannotte, founder and first artistic director of the Opéra de Montréal, performed the role of Bobino more than 100 times, in the premiere on CBC TV and on stages on a Canada tour? 25 Sep 2021
... that Willi Brokmeier, who participated in the world premiere of Die Soldaten at the Cologne Opera, appeared as Beethoven's Jaquino on a tour to Japan? 22 Sep 2021
... that a review by Alan Blyth of tenor Christoph Strehl's performances described him as singing "with a Wunderlich-like strength and beauty"? 14 Sep 2021
... that Erich Witte was the first performer of the title role of Britten's Peter Grimes in Berlin? 27 Aug 2021
... that a reviewer wrote that "few tenors on disc can rival the German Rainer Trost" about his 1992 performance as Ferrando in Mozart's Così fan tutte in Paris, with conductor John Eliot Gardiner? 11 Aug 2021
... that Ludwig Wüllner sang in the U.S. premiere of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder in 1910, conducted by the composer? 15 Jul 2021
... that William Wernigk performed four roles in Der Rosenkavalier during his decades at the Vienna State Opera, including the Innkeeper on a 1933 recording conducted by Robert Heger? 10 Mar 2021
... that when Johannes Chum, a tenor in operatic roles from Nerone to Lohengrin, performed in Harnoncourt's recording of Beethoven's Missa solemnis, a reviewer described his singing as "seraphic"? 16 Dec 2020
... that Rudolf Gerlach-Rusnak was the stage name of a tenor from Ukraine, with the first name chosen for his favourite role in La bohème? 3 Dec 2020
... that American tenor Scot Weir sang Hans Zender's contemporary version of Schubert's Die Winterreise with chamber orchestra in a performance of the Hamburg Ballet? 1 Jun
... that on Good Friday 2020, Benedikt Kristjánsson sang all roles in a chamber arrangement of Bach's St John Passion, broadcast live from the composer's burial place? 22 May 2020
... that Franz Klarwein, a tenor at the Bavarian State Opera from 1942 to 1977, appeared in world premieres such as those of Capriccio by Richard Strauss and Die Harmonie der Welt by Paul Hindemith? 15 May 2020
... that Peter Minich was a lead tenor for Viennese operettas at the Volksoper in the 1960s and 1970s? 22 Apr 2020
... that tenor and voice teacher Eliodoro Bianchi (depicted) performed in many world premieres of operas, with Rossini expressly writing two roles for him? 4 Mar 2020
... that tenor Roberto Saccà has portrayed musicians in opera such as Haydn's Orfeo, Pfitzner's Palestrina, and Herbert Willi's Elias? 1 Mar 2020
... that Josef Protschka, who sang as a soloist in Stockhausen's Gesang der Jünglinge at age 12, later appeared in leading tenor roles in the Mozart cycle staged by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle at the Cologne Opera? 5 Feb 2020
... that tenor Carl Demmer was possibly Beethoven's first Florestan at the Vienna Court Opera, but failed to please the composer? 3 Jan 2020

... that tenor Mirko Ludwig took part in the opening of Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie as a member of a vocal quintet? 28 Dec 2019
... that American tenor Jeff Martin has appeared as the Astrologer in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre? 14 Dec 2019
... that American tenor Joshua Guerrero stepped in at late notice to sing Almaviva in a Grammy Award-winning production of The Ghosts of Versailles? 31 Oct 2019
... that tenor Thomas Mohr, who performed the roles of Loge, Siegmund, and Siegfried in Der Ring in Minden, hosts concerts in his cowshed? 17 Oct 2019
... that tenor Enea Scala has appeared in roles by Rossini, most recently in the title role of Otello, an opera which requires at least five tenors? 16 Oct 2019
... that John Pierce has performed Wagner roles internationally, such as Tannhäuser and Lohengrin at the Stadttheater Minden, and Tristan in Prague, Rotterdam, and Rio de Janeiro? 31 Aug 2019
... that Hermin Esser performed 14 tenor roles at the Bayreuth Festival dedicated exclusively to stageworks by Richard Wagner, beginning in 1966 as Froh and ending in 1981 as Tristan? 25 Aug 2019
... that the tenor Alfred Vökt, who performed in the premiere of Henze's Il re cervo, had a Doctor of Law degree? 26 Jun 2019
... that Ernst Christoph Dressler, an 18th-century operatic tenor, violinist, composer, and music theorist, composed a march on which Beethoven based his earliest published work? 23 Jun 2019
... that after German tenor Herbert Schachtschneider was a prisoner of war in England during the Second World War, he remained in the country to study voice with a cousin of Arnold Schoenberg? 20 Jun 2019
... that the tenor Ferry Gruber performed at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich for 50 years, including in Prokofiev's Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen alongside Ingeborg Hallstein in 1960? 22 Apr 2019
... that Heinz Hoppe performed as a lyric tenor at the Hamburg State Opera, including world premieres, but became popular for operetta recordings and television shows? 16 Apr 2019
... that Horst Laubenthal appeared in Mozart operas at the Glyndebourne Festival as Belmonte, in Paris as Tamino, and in Turin as Ottavio?4 Apr 2019
... that Spas Wenkoff, first a tenor at a Bulgarian amateur theatre, appeared as Tristan at the Staatsoper Dresden, and was then invited to sing the role at the centenary Bayreuth Festival? 12 Mar 2019
... that Robert Schunk, who performed minor roles at the Bayreuth Festival, stepped in successfully for Peter Hofmann as Siegmund in Die Walküre there?10 Mar 2019
... that the tenor Ewandro Stenzowski went from early competition successes in Brazil to leading roles such as Rodolfo in La bohème at the Landestheater Detmold? 7 Mar 2019
... that tenor Daniel Behle had a single day to learn rarely performed romantic duets when he stepped in at short notice for a 2018 Rheingau Musik Festival concert with Annette Dasch? 5 Oct 2018
... that Gaqo Çako was the lead tenor for more than three decades at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Albania? 30 Aug 2018
... that the tenor Julian Podger, who took part in the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, recorded the title role in Handel's last oratorio Jephtha? 4 Apr 2018
... that the English tenor Mark Milhofer appeared as Mozart's Ferrando in Beijing and Moscow, and as Poppea's nurse in Berlin, dressed as a parody of Riff Raff? 18 Jan 2018

... that Manfred Jung is remembered as Siegfried in Bayreuth's Jahrhundertring, but also sang all other tenor roles in The Ring? 14 Dec 2017
... that Andreas Schager was called a "sensation" when he first performed Wagner's Tristan in Minden, and went on to Siegfried at the Staatsoper Berlin, La Scala, and The Proms? 14 June 2017
... that Hans Peter Blochwitz, who appeared as Mozart's Don Ottavio at the Metropolitan Opera, premiered Hans Zender's Schubert's "Winterreise" with the Ensemble Modern in 1993? 22 May 2017
... that during the last decade, Lance Ryan appeared as Siegfried at three Bayreuth Festivals? (2 Mar 2017)

... that Hans-Dieter Bader performed the title role of Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's opera Sly, recorded live at the Staatsoper Hannover, "as written", while Plácido Domingo had to cut and change the part? (3 May 2016)
... that Metropolitan Opera tenor Andrea Velis starred in the United States premieres of four different operas by Benjamin Britten? (27 Mar 2016)
... that tenor Robert White swallowed a bug while singing the best high note of his career? (6 Dec 2015)
... that the German tenor Markus Brutscher performed the part of Saul in Reinhard Keiser's oratorio Der siegende David at the Ruhrtriennale 2006?(15 Aug 2015)
... that the tenor Llewellyn Cadwaladr created the role of Frederic in the first performance of The Pirates of Penzance in 1879? (13 May 2015)
... that Corrado Miraglia, who created the role of Ismaele in Verdi's opera Nabucco, became a soloist at the Milan Cathedral when he retired from the stage? (25 March 2015)
... that in celebration of the tercentenary of the birth of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, tenor Markus Schäfer performed in his oratorio Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu at the Rheingau Musik Festival? (6 August 2014)
... that opera singer Paul Hansen was also a copper-engraver and silent film star? (28 March 2014)
... that Martin Krumbiegel sang the tenor part in Bach's cantata Erschallet, ihr Lieder (Resound, ye songs) and his "Pipe Aria"? (21 May 2013)
... that tenor Martin Lattke performed with the ensemble amarcord in the Frauenkirche Dresden Bach's lost St Mark Passion in a reconstruction by Diethard Hellmann? (29 March 2013)
... that Knut Schoch appeared as the tenor soloist on many volumes of Pieter Jan Leusink's complete recording of the Bach cantatas with the Holland Boys Choir, including cantatas BWV 1, 2, 3, ... 198? (27 January 2013)
... that the Austrian tenor Karl Beck became a master baker after his singing career, which included creating the title role in Wagner's opera Lohengrin, was cut short by a deterioration in his voice? (23 January 2013)
... that tenor Martin Petzold, a former member of the boys' choir Thomanerchor and a singer of Bach's Evangelist parts with the group, co-published 800 Years Thomana? (13 September 2012)
... that Johan van der Meer conducted the first historically informed performance in the Netherlands of Bach's St Matthew Passion in 1973, with Marius van Altena as the Evangelist and Max van Egmond as the Vox Christi?(20 January 2012)
... that John Stewart, a regular tenor with the New York City Opera and then the Frankfurt Opera, recorded the part of Oronte in Handel's Alcina opposite Cristina Deutekom in Carnegie Hall in 1974? (17 November 2011)
... that tenor William Brown, who performed for presidents Kennedy and Johnson, created the role of Lieutenant Jean l'Aiglon in Hugo Weisgall's Nine Rivers from Jordan? (10 November 2011)
... that during his 43 years with the New York City Opera, tenor buffo Jack Harrold appeared in more than 100 productions? (30 October 2011)
... that tenor Ulrich Cordes was the Evangelist in Bach's St Matthew Passion in St. Martin, Idstein, the Berliner Philharmonie and the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels? (30 September 2011)

... that Robert Wilson was a principal tenor with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1930s before beginning a 25-year concert, variety and radio career? (5 November 2010)
... that Italian operatic tenor Lodovico Graziani was described as lacking "dramatic gifts"? (20 October 2010)
... that Italian tenor Nicola Zerola began his professional operatic singing career in 1898 performing in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, but as a baritone? (15 September 2010)
... that Italian tenor Vincenzo Calvesi created the role of Ferrando in the world premiere of Mozart's Così fan tutte at the Burgtheater in Vienna in 1790? (15 September 2010)
... that the Italian operatic tenor Giuseppe Siboni founded the Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen? (15 September 2010)
... that soprano Nellie Melba and tenor Agustarello Affré made their debut together at the Paris Opéra in 1890 as Lucia and Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor? (11 September 2010)
... that German classical tenor Marcus Ullmann has taken part in the recording of all Lieder of Franz Schubert, more than 700, set to the poetry of over 115 writers? (22 July 2010)
... that Jan Kobow sang the tenor part of Bach's chorale cantata Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2, written for the second Sunday after Trinity of 1724, with Philippe Herreweghe? (13 June 2010)
... that the tenor Kurt Huber sang the Evangelist in Bach's Ascension Oratorio Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11, composed for the feast of the Ascension of 275 years ago? (13 May 2010)
... that Andreas Karasiak recorded Bach's St Matthew Passion, scored for double chorus, with two boys choirs, Knabenchor Hannover and Thomanerchor? (10 April 2010)
... that tenor Kurt Equiluz was the Evangelist in the first recording of Bach's St John Passion on period instruments with the Concentus Musicus Wien, Vienna? (10 April 2010)
... that Adalbert Kraus performed the tenor part in Bach's Easter Oratorio Kommt, eilet und laufet (Come, hasten and run)? (30 March 2010)
... that the debut in Carnegie Hall of tenor James Taylor was in the premiere of the Levine completion of Mozart's Great Mass in C minor? (28 March 2010)
... that Lionello Cecil sang the lead tenor part in the first complete microphone recording of Verdi's La traviata in 1928? (3 March 2010)
... that during a rehearsal of Pagliacci with the Florentine Opera in 1998, tenor David Rendall sent a baritone to hospital when his prop knife failed to collapse? (2 March 2010)
... that during the Metropolitan Opera premiere of The Makropulos Case, tenor Richard Versalle suffered a fatal heart attack after singing the line "You can only live so long"?(18 January 2010) (4 February 2010)
... that the tenor in the British TV advertisement 'Go Compare' is played by Welsh opera singer Wynne Evans? (1 November 2009)
... that Gary Lakes became an opera singer because a cracked vertebra sustained as a high school football defensive tackle derailed his plans for a sports career? (4 October 2009)
... that Japanese tenor Taro Ichihara made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of the Italian tenor in Der Rosenkavalier? (26 June 2009)
... that operatic tenor Chad Shelton has sung in numerous world premieres, including leading roles in Mark Adamo's Little Women and Philip Glass's Appomattox? (29 March 2009)
... that operatic tenor Franz Ferenczy portrayed the role of Samson in the world premiere of Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila on 2 December 1877? (6 March 2009)
... that operatic tenor Gustav Walter portrayed the role of Assad in the world premiere of Karl Goldmark's Die Königin von Saba? (4 February 2009)
... that operatic tenor Andreas Dippel portrayed the title role in Alberto Franchetti Asrael in its United States premiere at the Metropolitan Opera? (2 February 2009)
... that Nino Martini appeared in numerous Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s while simultaneously starring regularly in leading tenor roles at the Metropolitan Opera? (12 January 2009)

... that tenor Albert Reiss sang in 1,070 performances at the Metropolitan Opera? (24 December 2008)
... that opera superstar Giuseppe Cremonini's career was tragically cut short upon his sudden death at the age of 36? (22 November 2008)

...that famous tenor Antonio Giuglini used to jaywalk through traffic on London's Brompton Road while flying his kite? (13 November 2007)

...that American tenor Charles Anthony has sung with the Metropolitan Opera for 52 consecutive seasons, which is unparalleled in company history? (25 June 2006)
...that, in the 1940s, the female fans of the Soviet tenor Sergei Lemeshev (pictured), often quarrelled with the fans of his rival, Ivan Kozlovsky? (31 May 2006)

... that the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City was host to the world-famous opera singer Enrico Caruso who sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" from the window of his room on Armistice Day?
... that lyric tenor Evan Gorga, who created the role of Rodolfo in the original production of Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème, reprised the role in several productions, then retired at the age of 34?
... that opera superstar Giuseppe Cremonini's career was tragically cut short upon his sudden death at the age of 36?
... that tenor Albert Reiss sang in 1,070 performances at the Metropolitan Opera?
... that Nino Martini appeared in numerous Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s while simultaneously starring regularly in leading tenor roles at the Metropolitan Opera?
... that operatic tenor Andreas Dippel portrayed the title role in Alberto Franchetti's Asrael in its United States premiere at the Metropolitan Opera?

Baritone

... that Robert Sataloff began harvesting bones from corpses at the age of eight? 26 Aug 2026
... that John Darrenkamp sang with OperaLancaster in 2015 in the same opera that he performed with the company for his debut in 1959? 5 Aug 2026
... that classical singer Mordecai Bauman used his music to support far-left American politics during the 1930s? 14 Jun 2026
... that Thomas Johannes Mayer went from performing jazz, rock, and punk, to portraying operatic characters such as Wotan and Wozzeck? 23 Feb 2026

... that baritone Simon Neal's 2020 performance as Don Pizarro in Beethoven's Fidelio included riding a horse on the stage of the Royal Opera House? 16 Mar 2025
... that baritone Ettore Verna twice "sang himself out of his pants" during a performance at the Boston Opera House, according to Billboard? 3 Jan 2025

... that cinematographer Alfredo Gandolfi also had a career as a singer that included more than 300 performances at the Metropolitan Opera? 5 Sep 2024
... that Jerzy Artysz was given a gala concert on his 70th birthday by the Chopin University of Music? 26 Aug 2024
... that baritone Liviu Holender chose lieder by five composers whose music was banned by the Nazis—Schreker, Zemlinsky, Mahler, Korngold and Schönberg—for a recital at the Oper Frankfurt? 22 May 2024
... that in opposition to his parents, opera star Joseph Schwarz began his career by running away from home to join a band of traveling minstrels? 18 Apr 2024

... that Luca Salsi (pictured) performed leading roles in two operas in a row at the Metropolitan Opera, stepping in on 30 minutes' notice in Verdi's Ernani and singing as planned in Lucia di Lammermoor? 28 Nov 2023
... that after Domen Križaj from Slovenia was a prize winner in the singing competition Neue Stimmen, he moved to the Oper Frankfurt where he appeared as Massenet's Albert and Mozart's Papageno? 6 Jan 2023

... that Quentin Oliver Lee landed a title role in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess on Broadway after a casting agent spotted him singing in a subway station? 30 Dec 2022
... that Ukrainian baritone Danylo Matviienko, who holds a master's degree in mathematics, appeared as Demetrius in Britten's opera A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Oper Frankfurt? 28 Sep 2022
... that Matti Lehtinen, a baritone of the Finnish National Opera and professor of singing at the Sibelius Academy, was the voice of God at age 93? 7 Sep 2022
... that when the Canadian baritone Iain MacNeal appeared as Odysseus in Dallapiccola's Ulisse at the Oper Frankfurt, a reviewer noted that he portrayed the "character's self-exegeses"? 21 Aug 2022
... that Wolfgang Anheisser was the leading baritone at the Cologne Opera while simultaneously a member of East Berlin's State Opera? 1 Oct 2021
... that Paul Armin Edelmann appeared in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni at Opera Ireland in 2009, while his brother Peter took the role of Leporello? 3 Sep 2021
... that Gottfried Hornik, a baritone at the Vienna State Opera for 25 years, appeared in his signature role of Beckmesser from Aachen and Barcelona in 1976 to the Municipal Theatre of Santiago in 2001? 18 Aug 2021
... that a reviewer wrote that Florian Boesch's 2011 recording of Winterreise with Malcolm Martineau was "one of the most powerful lieder albums of recent years"? 16 Aug 2021
... that the baritone Benjamin Appl, the last private student of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, was named Gramophone's Young Artist of 2016? 22 Mar 2021

... that Hermann Wiedemann, who sang the role of Beckmesser in Toscanini's recording of Die Meistersinger, appeared as Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera 196 times? 3 Dec 2020
... that Baptist Hoffmann, a leading baritone at the Berlin Court Opera, appeared as Jochanaan in the first production of Salome there in 1906? 22 Oct 2020
... that Robert Burg, a leading baritone at the Semperoper in Dresden between the First and Second World Wars, created the title roles of Busoni's Dr. Faustus and Hindemith's Cardillac there? 1 Oct 2020
... that Theodor Scheidl, who participated in the pentathlon at the 1906 Olympic Games and in the 1928 Bayreuth Festival, appeared as Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca to celebrate his 75th birthday? 2 Sep 2020
... that Anatoliy Mokrenko, a baritone and future director of the Ukrainian National Opera, performed in a Russian film based on Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor? 2 May 2020
... that Heinz Imdahl, a baritone at the Bavarian State Opera, appeared as Beethoven's Pizarro at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma and as Wagner's Hans Sachs at the Philadelphia Opera? 24 Apr 2020
... that baritone Michael Volle has appeared as Wagner's Hans Sachs at the Bayreuth Festival and was awarded Der Faust for portraying Wozzeck? 6 Mar 2020
... that Dutch baritone John Bröcheler first sang concerts including world premieres, but was "discovered" for opera in a role of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda alongside Joan Sutherland? 21 Feb 2020
... that Polish baritone Wacław Brzeziński (pictured) was praised in Italy for his performances as Rossini's Figaro and Verdi's Rigoletto? 19 Jan 2020
... that after American baritone Raymond Wolansky appeared as a guest at the Staatsoper Stuttgart as Verdi's Rigoletto, he remained at the theatre for more than 30 years and made an international career? 9 Jan 2020

... that baritone Heiko Trinsinger of the Aalto Theatre appeared as Alberich in Der Ring in Minden, in which reviewers noted expressivity in every moment and a thunderous curse of the ring? 29 Dec 2019
... that baritone Hans Braun, who performed 75 roles at the Vienna State Opera, appeared as Mozart's Count Almaviva at the Royal Opera House and as Wagner's Wolfram at La Scala? 30 Nov 2019
... that Renatus Mészár, who made his opera debut at the Munich Biennale and then was a member of the NDR Chor, has appeared as Wotan in Wagner's Ring cycle, including on DVD? 16 Nov 2019
... that the baritone Ernst Gerold Schramm was the voice of Christ for Karl Richter in Bach's St John Passion and St Matthew Passion? 18 Aug 2019
... that Günther Leib, who often sang at the Halle Handel Festival, was called a "first rate Beckmesser" by The New York Times when he first appeared at the Metropolitan Opera? 8 Aug 2019
... that in 1959 the baritone Ernst Gutstein appeared as Ernesto in Haydn's Il mondo della luna, a role originally written for a castrato?10 Jun 2019
... that Bent Norup, a Danish heldenbaritone, recorded the role of Orest live in France, alongside Ute Vinzing as Elektra and Leonie Rysanek as Chrysothemis? 29 Apr 2019
... that Ramiz Kovaçi, a baritone at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Albania, was also a jury member for a light music festival? 4 Sep 2018
... that the baritone Johannes Hill was the voice of Jesus and Pilate in Bach's Passions, and of Pope Francis in the premiere of Laudato si'? 29 Mar 2018
... that Marcel Cordes, a German baritone known for Italian opera, appeared as the King in the first recording of Carl Orff's Die Kluge? 6 Mar 2018
... that Siegfried Lorenz, the first lyrical baritone of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, recorded 151 songs by Schubert and sang "with an enviable control of line and dynamics", according to Alan Blyth? 12 Feb 2018

... that Chiyuki Urano, a soloist and choir member of the Bach Collegium Japan, recorded songs by Russian amateur composers including Diaghilev with pianist Lera Auerbach? 30 Dec 2017
that after baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle recovered from MDS, he made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival in 2017 as Beckmesser, staged by the festival's first Jewish director? 29 Sep 2017
... that baritone Georg Nigl, who names as his favourite roles Monteverdi's Orfeo, Mozart's Pagageno, and Alban Berg's Wozzeck, created the title role of Dusapin's Faustus, the Last Night? 14 Sep 2017

... that baritone Liao Changyong won first prize in three different international singing competitions in 1997? (1 Dec 2015)
... that Michael Rayner worked in his family's motor car business before starring in Gilbert and Sullivan roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company? (8 August 2015)
... that Francisco D'Andrade (pictured) appears in his signature role Don Giovanni in three paintings by Max Slevogt? (5 February 2015)

... that baritone Eike Wilm Schulte, who performed more than 100 roles since 1966, stepped in at the Bayreuth Festival as Gunther in Götterdämmerung? (6 April 2014)
... that baritone Franz Grundheber performed the title role in Alban Berg's Wozzeck in Paris and Berlin, staged by Patrice Chéreau and filmed in 1994? (22 February 2014)
... that baritone Gerhard Faulstich takes an "unpretentious, conversational approach" to the part of Jesus in his recording of Bach's St Matthew Passion? (30 June 2013)
... that baritone Robert Leonhardt was released from the Metropolitan Opera when it was determined he was an enemy alien? (19 June 2013)
... that baritone Berthold Possemeyer performed songs by John Dowland, Gerald Finzi and Thomas Morley in a parody chamber musical after Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream? (21 April 2013)

... that in 1896, baritone Anton Sistermans premiered first Gustav Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen in Berlin, then Vier ernste Gesänge by Johannes Brahms in Vienna? (2 June 2012)

... that French baritone Jean-Vital Ismaël (caricature pictured), who sang in the premieres of Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles and Gounod's Mireille, had left home at age 16 to become a street singer? (28 December 2011)
... that baritone Konrad Jarnot recorded lieder by Richard Strauss, including Four Last Songs? (13 October 2011)

... that baritone Richard Torigi created the role of Silvio de Narni in the world premiere of Alberto Ginastera's Bomarzo in 1967? (8 May 2011)
...that baritone Georges Baklanoff created the title role in Sergei Rachmaninoff's The Miserly Knight at the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, in 1906? (16 October 2010)
... that artist and sculptor Samuel Rabin was also a professional wrestler and opera singer who appeared in The Scarlet Pimpernel and won a bronze medal in wrestling at the 1928 Summer Olympics? (30 September 2010)
... that baritone Günter Reich recorded the part of Moses in Schoenberg's opera Moses und Aron with both Michael Gielen and Pierre Boulez? (27 August 2010)
... that the baritone Andreas Schmidt created the part of Ryuji in Hans Werner Henze's opera Das verratene Meer in 1990 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin? (13 June 2010)
... that after a career with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, baritone Jeffrey Skitch became Principal of Elmhurst Ballet School? (18 April 2010)
... that baritone Wolfgang Schöne premiered the role of the tomcat "Tom, Minette's lover" in the opera Die englische Katze of Hans Werner Henze (pictured) at the Schwetzingen Festival? (17 April 2010)

... that baritone Earl Wrightson won an Emmy Award for hosting the 1950s CBS Sunday afternoon television show The American Musical Theater? (6 August 2009)
... that American baritone James Billings has portrayed more than 175 opera roles on stage during his long career? (10 March 2009)

...that in eighteen years, baritone William Walker performed over 360 times at New York's Metropolitan Opera? (16 October 2007)

Bass-baritone

... that Kihwan Sim from South Korea appeared as Mozart's Figaro at the Oper Frankfurt in the first production with the new music director, acting with a hint at the French Revolution? 12 Jan 2024
... that when Robert Hale performed as Wagner's Wotan in Washington, a reviewer noted that he commanded "the spirit, from tragic grandeur to ironic detachment, from flooding tenderness to grim rage"? 14 Oct 2023

... that Vladyslav Buialskyi, a 24-year-old bass-baritone from Berdiansk, sang the State Anthem of Ukraine on the night of his debut with the Metropolitan Opera? 9 Apr 2022
... that Stephan MacLeod's 2021 recording of Bach's Mass in B minor with ten singers was said to be "characterised by swift momentum, crisp articulation and benevolent attention to detail"? 21 Mar 2022
... that bass-baritone Johann-Werner Prein took part in the 1994 premiere of Erwin Schulhoff's only opera, Flammen, which the Nazis had suppressed? 3 Jan 2022

... that Metropolitan Opera star John Gurney performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" for sporting events in which his son, racing driver Dan Gurney, competed? 19 Nov 2021
... that Hermann Schey, a Jewish bass-baritone, travelled regularly from Berlin to Amsterdam to perform in Bach's St Matthew Passion, and went into hiding there during World War II? 6 Dec 2020
... that Martin Egel appeared at the Bayreuth Festival from 1975 to 1986, including a three-year run as Donner in the Jahrhundertring? 1 Nov 2020
... that Bernard Ładysz, a bass-baritone who performed in world premieres of Krzysztof Penderecki's music in Hamburg and in Salzburg, was the only Polish singer to appear with Maria Callas? 21 Aug 2020
... that Reinhold Fritz of the Stuttgart Court Opera, who participated in world premieres such as Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, was dismissed in 1933 because his wife was Jewish? 24 Jan 2020
... that Werner Haseleu appeared as Moses in Schoenberg's Moses und Aron at the Staatsoper Dresden, and as Holofernes in the world premiere of Judith by Siegfried Matthus at the Berlin State Opera? 19 Oct 2019
... that the bass-baritone Hans Günter Nöcker appeared in several world premieres of operas in Berlin, Schwetzingen, and Munich, where he created a stirring portrayal of Gloucester in Reimann's Lear? 4 May 2019
... that bass-baritone Alfred Jerger, who appeared at the Salzburg Festival between 1922 and 1959, created the leading role of Mandryka in Arabella, an opera composed by Richard Strauss? 2 Mar 2019
... that the bass-baritone Albert Dohmen appeared as Berg's Wozzeck at the Salzburg Festival in 1997, and as Wagner's Pogner at La Scala in 2017? 6 Feb 2019

... that Willem Ravelli was the voice of Christ in Bach's St Matthew Passion more than 400 times, including the first recording of the work conducted by Mengelberg? 30 Mar 2018
... that Hanno Müller-Brachmann appeared as Papageno in Claudio Abbado's award-winning recording of Die Zauberflöte, and recorded Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Michael Gielen? 18 Sep 2017
... that Nikolaus Hillebrand, who as a boy was a member of the Regensburger Domspatzen, and recorded with them as a soloist on Bach's St John Passion in 1979 and Dittersdorf's Requiem in 2009? (19 May 2016)
... that the bass-baritone Jacques Villisech recorded Bach cantatas, including the Actus tragicus, the Hunting Cantata, and the secular solo cantata Amore traditore? (3 Apr 2016)
... that bass-baritone Louis D'Angelo sang in the world premieres of seven operas at the Metropolitan Opera, including Puccini's Gianni Schicchi? (29 Jan 2016)
... that Chinese opera singer Ao Li has won both the Operalia, The World Opera Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions? (12 Dec 2015)
... that Michael Schopper performed as a bass soloist in the first recording of Bach's St Matthew Passion with period instruments conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt? (24 Aug 2015)

... that Erich Wenk sang a "rage aria" in Bach's dramma per musica Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen? (14 August 2014)
... that just after Frederick Federici sang the final note as Mephistopheles in Gounod's Faust, descending through a trap door to hell, he died? (24 June 2014)

... that Vincenzo Negrini's earliest recorded performances were at the Teatro Comunitativo where he appeared in Mercadante's opera Didone abbandonata and Rossini's Semiramide? (25 December 2013)

... that Australian bass-baritone Horace Stevens was also a dentist, teacher, tennis player, sculler, and World War I Army officer? (30 December 2012)

... that Markus Flaig brought Handel's darkness and great light to St. Martin, Idstein? (22 September 2011)
... that after eight years singing in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Thomas Lawlor went on to perform more than 60 roles for other opera companies? (26 April 2011)

... that bass-baritone Franz Kelch sang the role of Seneca in the first recording of Monteverdi's opera L'incoronazione di Poppea with Walter Goehr and the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich? (27 May 2010)
... that Max van Egmond recorded the bass arias of Bach's St Matthew Passion with Claudio Abbado and the words of Jesus with Gustav Leonhardt? (2 April 2010)

... that opera singer Fisher Morgan, a former principal soloist with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, ended his career in pantomime? (30 November 2009)

... that the bass-baritone Gustav Hölzel was dismissed from the Vienna State Opera because he changed the words of a song that he was singing in the role of Friar Tuck? (17 September 2009)

... that Jones Hewson played leading roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1896 to 1901 but died in 1902 at the age of 27? (29 December 2008)

... that French opera singer Gustave Huberdeau performed roles ranging from lead roles to character roles to mute roles?

Bass

... that after a career as an opera singer and Broadway musical star, Winfield Blake (pictured) became a comedian in vaudeville as one half of the comic duo Blake and Amber? 8 Oct 2024
... that singer Frank Croxton performed a duet with his father for the unveiling of a monument to a Confederate States Army general? 13 May 2024

... that when public radio stations aired Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in solidarity with Ukraine on 10 March 2022, the bass voice of Anthony Robin Schneider was heard live from Frankfurt and recorded from Auckland? 23 May 2023

... that Ludwig Zottmayr, who created the role of King Marke in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, was not the composer's first choice? 26 Jan 2022

... that as general director of the Grand Theatre in Łódź, bass singer Kazimierz Kowalski led a worldwide television broadcast of Moniuszko's The Haunted Manor? 26 Aug 2021
... that Mika Kares returned to Finland to perform the title role of Boito's opera Mefistofele at the Savonlinna Opera Festival? 12 Aug 2021
... that Boris Carmeli, a basso profondo born in Poland who made an opera career in Italy, appeared in the world premieres of Penderecki's Seventh Symphony and Stockhausen's Sirius? 12 May 2021
... that Konrad Rupf, a long-term singer of the Leipzig Opera, made his stage debut in 1955 as Dulcamara in L'elisir d'amore and appeared as Tevje in Fiddler on the Roof in 2000? 11 Feb 2021
... that Leon Rains, a bass singer who studied in New York City and Paris, took part in the world premiere of Salome and an early recording of Tannhäuser? 7 Feb 2021

... that Swiss bass Peter Lagger performed in the world premieres of Louise Talma's Die Alkestiade at the Oper Frankfurt and of Penderecki's Magnificat at the Salzburg Festival? 2 Dec
... that Kwangchul Youn, a bass from South Korea, appeared as Gurnemanz in Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival, as Mephisto at the Vienna State Opera, and as King Marke at the Metropolitan Opera? 30 Nov 2020
... that Matthias Hölle, a regular bass singer at the Bayreuth Festival, appeared in the world premieres of Stockhausen's Donnerstag aus Licht and Samstag aus Licht at La Scala in Milan? 8 Sep 2020
... that Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, was a failure in its original form, but was revised partly at the behest of Carl Weinmüller, who then appeared in the premiere in the bass role of Rocco? 12 Dec 2019
... that Ignaz Saal, for decades a bass with the Imperial Court Theatre in Vienna, performed the bass parts in the world premieres of Haydn's oratorios Die Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten? 3 Dec 2019
... that Belgian bass Tijl Faveyts, recognized internationally since his 2006 performance as Mozart's Sarastro at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, has portrayed both Fasolt and Hunding in Der Ring in Minden? 9 Nov 2019
... that operatic bass Kieth Engen, who got his first role, Bluebeard, at the Bavarian State Opera because he was tall, also had a pop career under a pseudonym? 8 Jul 2019
... that Siegfried Vogel, a bass at the Berlin State Opera from 1965, appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow? 10 Apr 2019
... that bass singer Carlos Feller made his debut at the Teatro Colón in 1946, and at the Metropolitan Opera in 1988 in his signature role of Don Alfonso in Mozart's Così fan tutte? 3 Feb 2019

... that Andreas Bauer has appeared in bass roles such as Mozart's Sarastro, Verdi's Philipp II of Spain, and Wagner's Marke, but also as Bluebeard and Ibn-Hakia? 4 Dec 2018
... that Günther Morbach appeared in more than 180 operatic bass roles, including Mozart's Sarastro in the new Opernhaus Dortmund and in a Harald Weiss world premiere at the Staatstheater Braunschweig? 23 Nov 2018
... that the bass Dmitry Belosselskiy appeared internationally in title roles, as Boris Godunov, Macbeth, Simon Boccanegra, and Ivan Susanin? 22 Feb 2018
... that the bass Oskar Czerwenka appeared in 1,084 performances at the Vienna State Opera, and his home was integrated into a state music school (pictured) that was named after him? 21 July 2017
... that in 1970, Austrian Post issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring the composer and bass singer Thomas Koschat? 19 May 2017
... that the bass Thomas Thomaschke appeared as Wagner's Hunding at La Scala, as Mozart's Sarastro in Glyndebourne, and recorded Bach's Mit Fried und Freud with Harnoncourt? (2 Feb 2017)
... that opera singer Virgilio Lazzari was a leading bass with the Chicago Civic Opera from 1918–32 and the Metropolitan Opera from 1933–50? (11 Feb 2016)

... that Dominik Wörner, winner of the 2002 International Bach Competition, recorded Lieder from Vienna written in the fin de siècle period, including works by Berg, Schönberg, Schreker and Wolf? (4 Nov 2015)

... that bass Michael Pospíšil and his ensemble Ritornello recorded music from the hymnal Capella Regia Musicalis, "one of the jewels of Czech musical history"? (29 October 2014)
... that Gerd Nienstedt performed 14 different roles, including the dragon in Siegfried, during 15 consecutive summers at the Bayreuth Festival? (14 August 2014)

... that in the requiem mass for John F. Kennedy, Mac Morgan performed the bass solo of Mozart's Requiem? (30 November 2010)
... that in Bach's St John Passion in the Philharmonie Luxembourg, Christoph Prégardien was the Evangelist and Andreas Pruys sang the words of Christ? (13 November 2010)
... that bass singer Harry van der Kamp founded the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam to perform madrigals of Carlo Gesualdo and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck? (27 May 2010)
... that bass singer Jakob Stämpfli appears on the recording of the reconstructed secular Bach cantata Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a, also called Shepherd cantata? (6 May 2010)
... that within ten years bass singer Klaus Mertens recorded all vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir? (14 January 2010)

... that his fine bass voice turned Leonid Kharitonov from a poor villager in Siberia into a renowned singer performing all around the Soviet Union? (14 October 2009)
... that opera singer Richard Suart, known for his roles in Gilbert and Sullivan, has also specialised in avant-garde modern opera? (13 May 2009)
... that British actor Norman Lumsden, who played J. R. Hartley in the popular 1983 Yellow Pages Fly Fishing advert, was originally an opera singer who created roles for Benjamin Britten? (24 January 2009)

... that Signor Brocolini, the original Pirate King in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, took his stage name in honor of Brooklyn, where he grew up? 25 March 2008

...that the role of Osmin in the German opera The Abduction from the Seraglio was tailor-made by Mozart for his friend Ludwig Fischer? (29 December 2007)
...that English opera singer and actress Florence Perry (pictured) was best known for her performances with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the late 19th century? (10 October 2007)

... that Julian Konstantinov, the brother of Bulgarian volleyball team captain Plamen Konstantinov, is an opera singer?

Conductors

... that in 1994 Kazuyoshi Akiyama (pictured) conducted the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in the first performance of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron with Japanese musicians? 7 Mar 2025

... that Tilman Michael, who is set to be the Metropolitan Opera's chorus master from the 2024/25 season, helped the Oper Frankfurt win multiple awards for operatic choir of the year? 14 Sep 2024
Karsten Januschke's conducting of Offenbach's Die Banditen was described as producing a "lean, dry, delicate" sound with an ensemble of 22 soloists, including 11 tenors? 29 Mar 2024
... that as music director of the Oper Hagen, Florian Ludwig promoted a wide repertoire that included contemporary operas such as Barber's Vanessa and crossover projects? 26 Mar 2024
... that Caspar Richter co-founded an orchestra in Vienna and conducted it in performances of new musicals including Mozart! and Elisabeth? 3 Mar 2024

... that Volodymyr Kozhukhar, the chief conductor of the National Opera of Ukraine in Kyiv, led Lysenko's opera Taras Bulba and Shchedrin's ballet Carmen Suite. 12 Jan
... that when Francesco Lanzillotta conducted Dallapiccola's Ulisse at Oper Frankfurt in 2022, a reviewer noted that he "does not shy away from agglomerations of sound"? 22 Sep 2022
... that Pier Giorgio Morandi first played as the principal oboist at La Scala in Milan, and conducted a 2019 recorded production of Verdi's Il trovatore at the Verona Arena, directed by Franco Zeffirelli? 9 Sep 2022
... that Lorenzo Passerini, who has conducted several operas in Sydney, revived Giordano's Fedora at the Oper Frankfurt? 26 Jun 2022
... that at age 22, Yoel Gamzou from Tel Aviv conducted an orchestra that he had founded, playing his completion of Mahler's Tenth Symphony in Berlin? 9 Jun 2022
... that a reviewer noted that when Leo Hussain conducted Weinberg's Die Passagierin at the Oper Frankfurt, the orchestra excelled in chamber music moments, hard beats and distorted entertainment music? 4 May 2022
... that after George Alexander Albrecht collapsed when conducting Beethoven's Ninth Symphony during a New Year's concert, he returned to composing and began hospice work? 16 Jan 2022
... that Roland Böer (pictured), who made his debut at La Scala in Milan with Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, was the artistic director of the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte in Montepulciano? 17 Dec 2021
... that a reviewer from The Guardian noted after a concert at The Proms that Jonathon Heyward led Beethoven's Third Symphony "from memory – a fast and fearless performance"? 24 Nov 2021
... that Thomas Guggeis, who studied conducting and quantum mechanics, began at the Berlin State Opera as an assistant of Daniel Barenboim and became the youngest Staatskapellmeister there? 24 Nov 2021
... that Andreas Reize assumed the post of Thomaskantor as the first Swiss and the first Catholic since the Reformation? 12 Nov 2021
... that when conductor Hans Drewanz, a personal assistant to Georg Solti at the Oper Frankfurt, became Generalmusikdirektor in Darmstadt, he was the youngest GMD in Germany? 17 Sep 2021
... that Giedrė Šlekytė conducted a version of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte for children at the 2018 Salzburg Festival, and Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites at the Oper Frankfurt in 2021? 21 Aug 2021
... that Helmut Branny, a double bassist of the Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted a recording of four bassoon concertos found in the library of the Dresden Court, including two by Antonín Reichenauer? 9 May 2021
... that conductor Volker Wangenheim opened the Beethovenhalle in Bonn for music by Karlheinz Stockhausen on 15 November 1969, including the world premiere of Fresco for four orchestral groups? 5 Mar 2021

... that Gustav Classens, music director in Bonn from 1933, performed Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, Missa solemnis, and Ninth Symphony during his first two seasons, offering the Ninth in both? 16 Dec 2020
... that Otto Jochum, the organist and later the director of the Augsburg Conservatory, received a German national composition prize for a sacred oratorio in 1932, but also composed patriotic anthems under the Nazi regime? 15 Dec 2020
... that Helmut Koch, who conducted Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in 1949, taught at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler", and continued the tradition of the Berliner Singakademie in East Berlin from 1963? 11 Dec 2020
... that Pierre Bleuse, who learned conducting after a career as violinist, was chosen by composer Michael Jarrell to lead his opera Cassandre, starring Fanny Ardant? 25 Nov 2020
... that conductor Eugen Szenkar, who promoted works by Béla Bartók and Gustav Mahler in Germany, Russia, and Brazil, caused a "near riot" with the world premiere of The Miraculous Mandarin? 16 Oct 2020
... that Johannes Schüler conducted world premieres including Alban Berg's Three Orchestral Pieces in 1930, and Henze's Boulevard Solitude in 1952? 4 Aug 2020
... that for the centenary of Stravinsky's birth, Zoltán Peskó conducted three of the composer's stage works—The Flood, Renard, and Mavra—directed by Peter Ustinov at La Scala? 9 Jun 2020
... that Hans Herbert Jöris conducted the world premiere of Giselher Klebe's one-act opera Das Rendezvous, composed for the 125th anniversary of the Staatsoper Hannover? 15 May 2020
... that Paul Mägi, principal conductor of the Estonian National Opera, conducted the first recording of Eino Tamberg's opera Cyrano de Bergerac? 13 Apr 2020
... that violinist Günter Kehr, director of the Peter Cornelius Conservatory from 1953, founded the Kehr Trio, a string trio that toured South America, North Africa, and the Near East? 16 Mar 2020
... that Gustav Brecher, who conducted the world premieres of Jonny spielt auf and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Leipzig Opera, was dismissed by the Nazis in 1933? 22 Feb
... that Canadian Yves Abel, the chief conductor of a German symphony orchestra, founded Opéra Français de New York, which focuses on rarely played French operas? 1 Feb 2020

... that Peter Hirsch conducted the premiere of the revised and complete version of Luigi Nono's Prometeo at La Scala in 1985? 25 Jun 2019
... that Patrick Lange, who conducted a Stephen Sondheim musical in a youth club production at age 16, became chief music director of the Wiesbaden State Opera at age 36? 12 Apr 2019
... that the conductor Marc Piollet recorded rarely performed symphonies by Norbert Burgmüller and Hugo Staehle, and a DVD of Carmen staged by Calixto Bieito? 15 Mar 2019

... that Wolfgang Rennert conducted world premieres of operas, of Louise Talma's Die Alkestiade at the Frankfurt Opera, and of Rainer Kunad's Sabellicus at the Staatsoper Berlin, then in East Berlin? 14 Dec 2018
... that the conductor Michael Hofstetter has performed and recorded rarely played operas at the Ludwigsburg Festival, including Salieri's Les Danaïdes? 20 Jul 2018
... that a decade after suggesting that opera houses should all be "blown up", the French composer Pierre Boulez (pictured) conducted the centenary production of Wagner's Ring cycle at the Bayreuth Festival? 22 Jun 2018
... that Antonello Manacorda, who made an award-winning recording of Schubert's symphonies with his Kammerakademie Potsdam, conducted Mozart operas at La Fenice and Meyerbeer's grand opera at the Frankfurt Opera? 21 Apr 2018
... that Catherine Rückwardt, who was Generalmusikdirektorin at the Staatstheater Mainz for a decade and one of only four women in such a position in Germany, conducted a recording of the First Symphony by Hans Rott? 8 Mar 2018
... that in Nazi Germany, Karl Maria Zwißler conducted major works by composer Igor Stravinsky regarded as degenerate music, including the ballet The Firebird and the German premiere of Dumbarton Oaks? 9 Feb 2018
... that Diego Fasolis conducted L'incoronazione di Poppea at the reopened Staatsoper Unter den Linden, adding music by other composers of Monteverdi's time? 16 Jan 2018

... that the musicologist Willi Gundlach, who founded the chamber choir of Dortmund University, trained volunteers to sing a Bach cantata in one day, including Part I of Bach's Christmas Oratorio? 25 Dec 2017
... that Peter G. Davis wrote after a performance of Risurrezione that Fiora Contino (pictured) "may be the last conductor on earth with the music of Alfano and his generation in her bloodstream"? 18 Dec 2017
... that Reinhard Peters conducted several new operas and Wilhelm Killmayer's Tre Canti di Leopardi, and a number of his recordings were chosen for the CD compilation Musik in Deutschland 1950–2000? 12 Sep 2017
... that Marcus Bosch conducted a performance of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Staatstheater Nürnberg that was shown live in 50 cinemas in Germany and Austria? 26 Aug 2017
... that Michael Boder conducted new operas, including Penderecki's Ubu Rex for the Munich Opera Festival, Henze's Phaedra in Berlin, and Reimann's Medea in Vienna? 3 Aug 2017
... that Marc Soustrot conducted a staging of both Debussy's cantata La Damoiselle élue and Honegger's oratorio Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher at the Frankfurt Opera in 2017? 21 July 2017
... that Max Thurn, the founder of the NDR Chor in 1946, conducted a series of Bach cantatas and prepared the choir for a live recording of Isang Yun's Om mani padme hum in 1964? 17 May 2017
... that Albert Horne conducted Gershwin's Porgy and Bess for the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, with the chorus of the Cape Town Opera and the Wiesbaden orchestra? (15 Mar 2017)
... that Dirk Kaftan conducted Schönberg's Gurre-Lieder, recorded Jenůfa with the Graz Opera, and led Bruckner's Fourth Symphony in seven concerts of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie? (20 Feb 2017)

... that Hans Wallat conducted Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen ninety times? (16 December 2014)

... that Siegfried Köhler conducted Wagner's Rienzi and premiered operas by Volker David Kirchner at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden (pictured)?

... that conductor Roland Bader recorded late choral works by Max Reger, including his Hebbel Requiem, and the First Symphony by Richard Wetz? (23 February 2013)

... that German conductor Konrad Junghänel and his vocal ensemble Cantus Cölln won the Gramophone Award for the first complete recording of Monteverdi's collection Selva morale e spirituale? (31 May 2012)
... that Sebastian Weigle, named "Conductor of the Year" by Opernwelt three times between 2003 and 2006, performed Wagner's Ring Cycle at the Frankfurt Opera? (21 March 2012)
... that conductor Herbert Grossman collaborated with his wife on a popular English language translation of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi? (9 May 2011)
... that Howard Arman conducted Handel's opera Tolomeo in 1996 for the Handel Festival in Halle, where the composer was born on 23 February 1685? (23 February 2011)

... that John Douglas conducted more than 50 opera productions at Temple University? (14 October 2010)
... that Erna Berger sang the title role of Bedřich Smetana's The Bartered Bride in a 1955 recording with Wilhelm Schüchter and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie? (10 August 2010)
... that the opera Didone abbandonata (Dido Abandoned) of Domenico Sarro, successful in 1724, was revived by harpsichordist, conductor and musicologist Ludger Rémy?(4 June 2010)
... that Pina Bausch and conductor Thomas Hengelbrock staged Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice in Paris and the ancient theater in Epidaurus? (24 March 2010)

...that French conductor Louis Antoine Jullien received thirty-six given names at his baptism? (8 November 2007)

... that Antonio Bagioli, musical director for one of the first Italian opera companies to tour the United States, stayed behind for love, rather than continuing on to Cuba?

Other

... that the home of Academy of Vocal Arts is allegedly haunted by a ghost? 20 Aug 2026
... that Tony Award–nominated costume designer Helene Pons patented the first commercial underwire bra? 9 Apr 2026
... that Kaija Saariaho's Quatre instants have been described as "a quasi-operatic monologue" in "erotic, extreme territory"? 19 Mar 2026
... that John Comfort Fillmore perceived a "cosmic connection" between the music of Native Americans and music composed by Richard Wagner? 12 Feb 2026

... that, when Mariame Clément directed Mozart's Così fan tutte, she froze a wedding tableau during the overture and restarted it in the finale? 14 Dec 2025
... that the recordings of Leontyne Price (pictured) have been nominated for 25 Grammy Awards and won 13? 5 Sep 2025
... that when Matthew Wild directed Wagner's Tannhäuser, he made its main character gay? 4 Jul 2025
... that the tenure of Edmund C. Stanton (pictured) as director of the Metropolitan Opera featured the first United States performance of Wagner's Ring cycle? 14 Mar 2025
... that opera singer Susan Botti performed an Olympic jingle for Kodak to pay for graduate school? 12 Feb 2025
... that Metropolitan Opera director Maurice Grau (pictured) was "important in the growth of popular musical theatre in America"? 10 Feb 2025
... that six innocent people were executed for the Liceu bombing (pictured), despite Santiago Salvador confessing that he was the sole perpetrator? 20 Jan 2025
... that Sonya Friedman developed the idea of supertitles, which translate words being sung on stage in opera? 2 Jan 2025

... that Tilmann Köhler directed Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in 2023 with playful "serious games" in which the women win by "wit, cleverness and presence of mind"? 29 Mar 2024

... that as of 2018, the opera house in Harrington, Washington – which opened in 1904 – had never held an opera? 12 Sep 2023
... that actress Eula Morgan performed opera in her 1940s film roles, such as Madame Rinaldi in The Great American Broadcast? 30 May 2023

... that in the history of opera in Ukraine, Mykola Lysenko's historical Taras Bulba (title character pictured) was the first grand opera, but not performed during his lifetime because he refused a performance in Russian? 5 Sep 2022
... that R. B. Schlather directed the world premiere of Hertzberg's chamber opera The Rose Elf in Brooklyn, as well as Cimarosa's L'Italiana in Londra and Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Oper Frankfurt? 30 Jul 2022
... that Rogelio de Egusquiza's paintings of Tristan and Isolde (one pictured) arose from his decades-long fascination with the works of Richard Wagner? 14 Jan 2022

... that when La Folia Barockorchester made the first recordings of anonymous violin concertos found in the Dresden Hofkirche, they chose not to discover the identity of the composers? 29 Oct 2021
... that Johann Adam von Questenberg (pictured), who worked for the Austrian Imperial Court, was an amateur lutenist who made his palace a music centre? 15 Oct 2021
... that the Alfred Fischer Hall, built as the machinery hall for a 1912 coal mine, was the venue for a concert performance of Beethoven's Fidelio in 2021? 16 Sep 2021
... that Claus Guth, recognised internationally for directing the 1999 premiere of Berio's Cronaca del luogo at the Salzburg Festival, later received two Faust awards? 29 Aug 2021
... that concert pianist, composer, and opera librettist Leonard Liebling was the editor-in-chief of the Musical Courier from 1911 to 1945? 4 Jun 2021
... that Michael Hampe, who directed the Cologne Opera for 20 years, was the stage director for the world premiere of Henze's adaptation of Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria at the Salzburg Festival? 11 Apr 2021
... that Jakob Grün (pictured), concertmaster of the Vienna Court Opera Orchestra from 1868 to 1897, played violin solos standing, in Hungarian tradition? 24 Mar 2021
... that the clarinetist Nicola Jürgensen portrayed the character of Eve with her basset horn in Karlheinz Stockhausen's Michaels Reise um die Erde in Vienna and New York City? 23 Mar 2021
... that American financial executive Robert Glauber could watch an opera "infinite times"? 15 Mar 2021
... that Joachim Herz was the stage director of an unconventional production of the Ring cycle at the Leipzig Opera, completed in 1976, and of the opening performance of the restored Semperoper in 1985? 11 Mar 2021
... that Universalkünstler Arik Brauer created paintings in Fantastic Realism, songs in Austropop, stage sets for the Paris Opera, and house facades in Austria and Israel? 17 Feb 2021
... that after meeting Mira Mendelson, Sergei Prokofiev described his future wife as "just some girl who wants me to read her bad poetry"? 19 Jan 2021
... that Oscar Fritz Schuh created a new style to direct Mozart operas at the Vienna State Opera, focused on the psychology of the characters? 15 Jan 2021 Wikipedia 20

... that Rudolf Steglich, a musicologist who wrote his habilitation thesis on rhythm in 1930, was a co-editor of the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe, the critical edition of Handel's complete works, from 1955? 23 Dec 2020
... that Ita Maximowna, who trained as a painter in Paris and Berlin in the 1920s, began working in scenic and costume design after World War II and went on to work internationally? 3 Nov 2020
... that Katrin Lea Tag, named the 2020 Scenic Designer of the Year, created sets and costumes, for Die Schutzbefohlenen (production pictured) at the Burgtheater, and for Barrie Kosky's Salome at Oper Frankfurt? 29 Oct 2020
... that Hainer Hill, who took hundreds of photographs documenting Brecht's Berliner Ensemble, created the stage design for Hindemith's Mathis der Maler at the new Opernhaus Dortmund in 1966? 29 Sep 2020
... that the Rheinsberg Music Academy, based at Schloss Rheinsberg, offered master classes by opera singer Waltraud Meier and stage director Harry Kupfer in 2019? 28 Jul 2020
... that the musicologist Ulrike Liedtke, who founded and directed the Rheinsberg Music Academy, became president of the Brandenburg state parliament in 2019? 14 Jul 2020
... that Ludwig Strecker was both director of the Schott music publishing house, and under a pen name the librettist of two of the most successful German contemporary operas of the 1930s? 8 Jun 2020
... that Naomi Munakata, who began singing in a choir at the age of seven, served as the choral conductor of the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo from 1995 to 2013? 27 Apr 2020
... that Le Concert Spirituel played Handel's open-air music at the Proms with an ensemble that comprised 18 oboes, 9 trumpets, 9 trombones, and strings? 22 Apr 2020
... that Gösta Neuwirth studied composition and musicology in Vienna, but wrote his dissertation on harmony in Schreker's opera Der ferne Klang in Berlin? 30 Mar 2020
... that besides his portrait photography, Étienne Carjat edited journals and published caricatures (example shown) in the popular press? 26 Mar 2020
... that Wolfgang Rehm worked on the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe from the beginning of the project in 1955 to its completion in 2007? 16 Feb 2020
... that Elke Heidenreich, two-time winner of the Grimme television award, wrote the book Nero Corleone featuring a tomcat as the bullying protagonist? 15 Feb 2020
... that musicologist Ulrich Konrad studied sketches that Wolfgang Amadé Mozart made for composition, and concluded that the composer planned his works more thoroughly than previously assumed? 13 Feb 2020
... that Jutta Hering-Winckler, a lawyer from Minden whose grandfather saw the premiere of Wagner's Ring cycle, "made the impossible possible" by organizing Der Ring in Minden? 21 Jan 2020
... that Kurt Honolka's mid–20th century German translation of Smetana's Dalibor was still being performed in 2019 in a new Oper Frankfurt production? 5 Jan 2020

... that Bernd Loebe, who began his career as a music journalist, received the 2018 International Opera Award in the category of Leadership in Opera? 15 Dec 2019
... that in Der Ring in Minden, the orchestra played at the back of the stage, and the singers all turned towards it to listen to the music at the end? 7 Dec 2019
... that Frank Philipp Schlößmann designed the stage for Wagner's Ring cycle in Bayreuth in 2006, and more recently created a large illuminated ring framing the stage for the same work in Minden? 17 Nov 2019
... that Christof Nel staged the world premiere of Thomas Brasch's play Rotter and the first production in German of Aulis Sallinen's opera Kullervo? 10 Nov 2019
... that Joseph Kupelwieser wrote the libretto for Schubert's Fierrabras, and was later held responsible by the composer for the opera's failure? 27 Oct 2019
... that as general manager of the municipal theatres in Frankfurt, Harry Buckwitz staged plays by Brecht including Mutter Courage, and recruited Georg Solti for the opera? 9 Sep 2019
... that Nicolas Joel, general manager of the Paris Opera from 2009 to 2014, directed Wagner's Ring in 1979 after having assisted Patrice Chéreau for the cycle's centenary? 16 Aug 2019
... that the scenic design for Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen by Günther Schneider-Siemssen was shown at the Metropolitan Opera from 1986 to 2009? 15 Jul 2019
... that Damiano Michieletto, known for directing Rossini's operas, recently staged Schreker's Der ferne Klang at the Oper Frankfurt, where the world premiere had been performed in 1912? 15 Jul 2019
... that Bohumil Herlischka staged Schoenberg's Moses und Aron at the Hamburg State Opera, including a tour to Israel? 11 Jul 2019
... that French-born Joe Bertony, who twice escaped from Nazi concentration camps, played a key part in the construction of the Sydney Opera House? 11 Jul 11 Jul 2019
... that Elizabeth Bartlet's PhD thesis on Étienne Méhul was described as earning "the iconic status reserved for the few doctoral theses that are destined to change their chosen field"? 17 Jun 2019
... that when directing Der Ring in Minden, Wagner's Ring Cycle at a municipal theatre, Gerd Heinz focused on the psychology in the interactions of the characters? 28 May 2019
... that Alfred Kirchner directed the world premiere of Martin Walser's play Ein Kinderspiel in 1971, and the U.S. premiere of Henze's We Come to the River at the Santa Fe Opera in 1984? 22 May 2019
... that when Hansgünther Heyme staged classic plays, Antigone was set in Calcutta, William Tell in Nazi Germany, and Hamlet ended with the prince on a metal trolley? 15 Apr 2019
... that Raphaëlle Boitel worked as a contortionist street performer at age eight to earn tuition for circus school?8 Apr 2019
... that in 2018 Lydia Steier, born in Hartford, Connecticut, became the first woman to stage Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Salzburg Festival? 27 Mar 2019
... that the Dutch musicologist Leo Riemens and the German physician Karl-Josef Kutsch wrote Großes Sängerlexikon, a biographical dictionary of opera singers, with 18,760 entries in 2012? 18 Mar 2019
... that the Austrian actor and librettist Karl Lindau co-wrote The Nazi, a comedy, in 1895? 28 Feb 2019
... that Vincent Boussard staged Manon for Vilnius, San Francisco, and Seoul, and I puritani for Liège and Frankfurt? 24 Feb 2019
... that musician Taina Asili studied opera and fronted a hardcore punk band before starting the Afro-Caribbean group La Banda Rebelde? 20 Feb 2019
... that the Ospedale degli Incurabili in Venice, where Johann Adolph Hasse was maestro di cappella, was founded as a hospice for sufferers from syphilis and other incurable diseases of the time? 3 Jan 2019

... that general manager Claus Leininger's tenure at the Musiktheater im Revier (pictured) in Gelsenkirchen was described as the period of the company's highest artistic accomplishment? 22 Dec 2018
... that David Bennett was hired as general director of the San Diego Opera after his predecessor tried unsuccessfully to shut the opera company down? 3 Dec 2018
... that Ignaz Kirchner (pictured) and Gert Voss often played opposite each other at the Vienna Burgtheater, in roles such as Shakespeare's Antonio and Shylock, and Tabori's Goldberg and Mr. Jay? 25 Nov 2018
... that Beerbohm, a cat owned by the Gielgud Theatre, became famous for entering actors' dressing rooms, attacking props, and wandering across the stage during performances? 11 Oct 2018
... that Harry Kupfer, the stage director at the Komische Oper Berlin for decades, presented Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer at the 1978 Bayreuth Festival as a psychological drama? 3 Oct 2018
... that Rudolf Sellner engaged Richard Wagner's grandson to stage a Verdi opera as part of the opening of the Deutsche Oper Berlin? 27 Sep 2018
... that Sarah Louvion, playing principal flute with the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester, recorded 20th-century French music with solo flute by André Jolivet, Jacques Ibert, and others? 19 Jul 2018
...that Bernardo De Pace, an Italian immigrant, started his own opera company and eventually performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York? 15 May 2018
... that German stage director Tobias Kratzer nominated two versions of Verdi's Rigoletto for an international competition, pretending to be an American woman in the first instance, and a Bulgarian in the second? 10 May 2018
... that Zofia Posmysz (pictured), Auschwitz inmate No. 7566, wrote an audio play on her memories, which became the basis for her 1962 novel Passenger, a 1963 film, and a 1968 opera? 16 Mar 2018
... that the musicologist Beatrix Borchard researched female musicians such as Clara Schumann, Amalie Joachim, and Pauline Viardot, and worked for the Goethe-Institut in Portugal, Romania, and China? 27 Oct 2017
... that Christof Loy received the Der Faust award for staging Mozart's Così fan tutte at the Frankfurt Opera? 12 Oct 2017
... that the Styriarte music festival publicly screened Mozart's Coronation Mass, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, from the church of Stainz (organ loft pictured)? 21 Sep 2017
... that from 1981, Swiss set designer Marco Arturo Marelli also directed operas, and in 2010 staged the premiere of Reimann's Medea at the Vienna State Opera? 16 Sep 2017
... that Vera Nemirova staged Lulu at the Salzburg Festival and The Ring for the Frankfurt Opera? 23 Aug 2017
... that Céleste Mogador may have been the inspiration for the title character in Georges Bizet's opera Carmen? 8 Aug 2017
... that at age 18, Daniel Schiebeler wrote the libretto for an opera by Telemann based on an episode from Cervantes' Don Quixote, which he could read in Spanish? 3 Aug 2017
... that Uwe Eric Laufenberg, General Manager of the Staatstheater Wiesbaden, presented his staging of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Internationale Maifestspiele in 2017? 19 July 2017
... that Matthias von Stegmann made German voice-overs for The Simpsons, staged Wagner's Ring Cycle for children, and directed the first production of Wagner's Rienzi at the Bayreuth Festival? 13 July 2017
... that David Hermann staged a Mozart opera at the Salzburg Festival at age 29, and combined three Krenek operas in Frankfurt? 4 July 2017
... that the Kollegienkirche (pictured in 1712), the church of the University of Salzburg built by Fischer von Erlach, was the venue for a Hofmannsthal premiere and a Sciarrone opera? 8 June 2017
... that the Hochschule für Musik Mainz collaborated with the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden to stage a production of Scarlatti's La Giuditta earlier this year? 3 June 2017
... that EuropaChorAkademie, a choir formed by students from two universities, participated in an award-winning recording of Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Requiem für einen jungen Dichter? 21 May 2017
... that the NDR Chor performed in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for the opening of the Elbphilharmonie? 28 Apr 2017
... that when the Beethoven Orchester Bonn was founded as a professional orchestra in Beethoven's hometown in 1907, Richard Strauss conducted his own works? (25 Mar 2017)
... that August Buchner, a professor of poetry and rhetoric at the University of Wittenberg, wrote the libretto for a lost ballet-opera by Heinrich Schütz? (14 Feb 2017)
... that Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca wrote the libretto for Solimano, first set by Hasse and produced in Dresden with live elephants and camels? (26 Jan 2017)
... that the science fiction novella Paradises Lost was adapted as an opera? (25 Jan 2017)

... that Michael Finnissy has reimagined parts of every opera of Giuseppe Verdi? (29 Mar 2016)
... that Operaphone Records did not release recordings of operas? (29 Jan 2016)
... that Bach composed the cantata for the Sunday after Epiphany, Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen, BWV 32, as a dialogue of the Soul and Jesus, using elements of contemporary opera? (10 Jan 2016)

... that voice teacher Beverley Peck Johnson told actor Kevin Kline that he had to choose between her and cigarettes if he wanted to be her pupil? (3 Dec 2015)
... that Philip Baxter was chairman of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission and the Sydney Opera House Trust? (23 Sep 2015)
... that soprano Josepha Duschek, who premiered Ah! perfido, advertised it as "an Italian scena written by Beethoven for Mad. Duschek"? (7 June 2015)
... that Dennis Marks survived life with an idiot to film the diary of one who disappeared? (21 April 2015)
... that Sebastiano Biancardi, suspected of embezzlement, left his family and became a successful librettist known as Domenico Lalli? (7 April 2015)
... that texts by the lawyer and successful opera librettist Christian Heinrich Postel are part of Bach's St John Passion? (13 April 2014)
... that Yulia Makhalina and Ulyana Lopatkina are part of "the basketball team", a group of tall and slender Kirov/Mariinsky ballerinas? (3 April 2014)
... that Alice Renavand, a star (étoile) at the Paris Opera Ballet, has been described as "having the beauty of the devil"? (2 April 2014)
... that Dominique Khalfouni, once a star (étoile) of the Paris Opera Ballet, regretted her decision to leave the company she still loves deeply? (26 March 2014)
... that Swan Lake was shown live in 100 French cinemas, with Steffi Scherzer, a dancer of the Berlin State Opera for 28 years, in the double role of Odette/Odile? (13 March 2014)
... that Rosina Galli (pictured) was the prima ballerina at La Scala Theatre Ballet before she became the première danseuse at the Metropolitan Opera House? (4 March 2014)
... that André Diot designed the lighting for the Jahrhundertring in Bayreuth in 1976, for the opening ceremony of the 1992 Winter Olympics, and for Così fan tutte at the Paris Opera in 2013? (14 November 2013)
... that Jacques Schmidt designed costumes for the Bayreuth Jahrhundertring and for Prokofiev's War and Peace, where 650 "historically appropriate costumes" were needed? (13 November 2013)
... that Patrice Chéreau, the stage director of the centenary Ring Cycle in Bayreuth, directed the film Intimacy, which "sparked a debate about unsimulated sex on screen"? (8 November 2013)
... that a French team created the Jahrhundertring (scene pictured) of Wagner's Ring Cycle at the centenary Bayreuth Festival in 1976, causing "a near-riot"? (7 November 2013)
... that Giuseppe Verdi (pictured) combined in Quattro pezzi sacri four sacred vocal compositions, including an Ave Maria on an enigmatic scale for solo voices and a Te Deum? (10 October 2013)
... that the Lautten Compagney played Monteverdi's Vespers for the Rheingau Musik Festival's annual Marienvesper, which was sung by ensemble amarcord and guests? (26 August 2013)
... that the musicians of the chamber orchestra Kammerorchester Basel accompanied Andreas Scholl in Bach cantatas and also sang the closing chorale? (21 August 2013)
... that Friedrich Meyer-Oertel staged the Ring Cycle at the Opernhaus Wuppertal and the premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Die Hamletmaschine at the Nationaltheater Mannheim? (24 July 2013)
... that Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballe was declared persona non grata in Azerbaijan? (16 June 2013)
... that Giuseppe Verdi's biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz once characterized the modern opera business as "monstropera"? (15 February 2013)
... that the original producers of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann relocated its second act to Venice to include "Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour" (the Barcarolle), the opera's most famous piece? (5 March 2013)

... that World War II memoirist Kirsten Brunvoll, who survived Ravensbrück and Auschwitz, saw her husband and oldest son survive Sachsenhausen, while her youngest son was trained as a pilot in Canada? (14 October 2012)
... that 2012 Australian Paralympic wheelchair tennis player Ben Weekes has played piano at the Sydney Opera House? (20 August 2012)
... that according to The New York Times, opera producer Robert Lepage and opera house general manager Peter Gelb "cut heroic figures in an epic adventure" in the 2012 documentary Wagner's Dream? (29 May 2012)
... that Mei Baojiu is the leader of the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe? (19 May 2012)
... that French choral music composer Ernest Boulanger, son of Opéra-Comique mezzo-soprano Marie Halligner (pictured), received the Grand Prix de Rome in 1835, as did his daughter, Lili, in 1913? (16 May 2012)

... that American McCaull Comic Opera Company actress May Yohé (pictured), once the owner of the Hope Diamond, died poor? (1 October 2011)
... that during a feud with the singer and composer Francesca Caccini, Andrea Salvadori wrote a poem entitled "Women musicians speak from Hell"? (29 September 2011)
... that in the center of Bach's cantata Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist, BWV 45, the voice of Christ appears in a "highly virtuosic aria, half Vivaldian concerto, half operatic scena"? (17 August 2011)
... that Mozart built the final scene of his opera The Magic Flute "upon a solemn fugato around the chorale Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein" by Martin Luther? (10 August 2011)
... that 4,476 tickets were auctioned for the first concert by the "Swedish Nightingale", soprano Jenny Lind (pictured) in her 1850–52 tour of the United States? (25 June 2011)
... that Manchester Hydraulic Power supplied the energy to wind the Town Hall clock, pump the Cathedral organ and raise the safety curtain at the Manchester Opera House? (22 June 2011)
... that German texts by the blind Alsatian writer Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel were the basis of two songs by Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, and of an opera by Joseph Haydn? (18 June 2011)
... that there were two Carlisle Houses in 18th-century London's Soho Square; one housing Domenico Angelo's fencing and riding school and another Madame Cornelys' masquerades and illegal operas? (8 June 2011)
... that the productions of American stage director Nathaniel Merrill at the Metropolitan Opera, "such as Dulcamara's arrival via hot-air balloon in Elisir, kept Met audiences diverted and amused for a generation"? (2 June 2011)
... that Lewis Milestone's 1953 musical biographical drama Melba, about the life of soprano Nellie Melba, was the feature film debut of Metropolitan Opera star Patrice Munsel? (14 May 2011)
... that in 2011 the annual festival Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, founded in 1896 after the model of the Bayreuth Festival, opened at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (pictured) with the first performance in German of Rodion Shchedrin's opera Lolita? (6 May 2011)
... that the Munich Biennale is an opera festival created in 1988 by Hans Werner Henze, focused on opera premieres of young composers? (1 April 2011)
... that Jens-Daniel Herzog staged the opera Intermezzo of Richard Strauss, with Christiane Kohl as Christine, "the composer's formidable and frequently hysterical wife"? (20 March 2011)
... that former chief music critic of The New York Times Donal Henahan was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism in 1986? (17 March 2011)
... that Paul Pyant designed lighting for the production of George Frideric Handel’s Xerxes at the Houston Grand Opera in 2010? (13 January 2011)

... that Gardiner considers Bach the "best writer of dramatic declamation ... since Monteverdi" for the dialogue in his cantata for the Second Day of Christmas, Selig ist der Mann, BWV 57? (26 December 2010)
... that New York City Opera percussionist Howard Van Hyning bought a set of 13 gongs made specially for use in performances of Puccini's opera Turandot? (19 November 2010)
... that the first American performance of Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci was conducted by Gustav Hinrichs with Giuseppe Campanari singing the role of Tonio? (28 September 2010)
... that American musicologist and critic Joseph Kerman described Puccini's opera Tosca as "a shabby little shocker"? (19 September 2010)
... that a song by the 16th-century Bengali Vaishnava padavali poet Govindadasa was included in an opera written under a disguised name by Rabindranath Tagore? (16 September 2010)
... that the Dortmunder Philharmoniker, the orchestra of the city of Dortmund, Germany, for opera and concert, founded in 1887, recorded its first CD in 2010? (29 August 2010)
... that Dieter Dorn staged the world premiere of the opera L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe of Hans Werner Henze at the Salzburg Festival in 2003? (30 March 2010)
... that Chicago-born record producer Lou Reizner conceived and produced the orchestral version of The Who's rock opera Tommy? (25 February 2010)
... that the libretto for Rameau's first opera, Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), was provided by the seasoned playwright and librettist abbé Pellegrin? (4 February 2010)

... that after performing with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for three decades, Anna Bethell became its Stage Director in 1947? (4 December 2009)
... that after Eleanor Evans was appointed as Stage Director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1949, a large number of performers, including Martyn Green, Ella Halman and Radley Flynn, left in the following years? (4 December 2009)
... that the 1975 musical The Black Mikado was based on Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 opera The Mikado? (27 November 2009)
... that Jeanne Clemson is credited with both preserving the Fulton Opera House in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from demolition, and for restoring live theater to the building? (1 November 2009)
... that Puerto Rican tenor Antonio Paoli's birthplace, the Casa Paoli (pictured), was a wedding gift to his parents, who already had five children together at the time of their marriage? (25 October 2009)
... that Alan Wagner, the first president of the Disney Channel, was also an opera critic and radio personality? (28 June 2009)
... that the lead character in the Mozart opera Don Giovanni calls out for a glass of Marzemino in the final banquet scene before he is carried down to hell? (16 May 2009)
... that Tangton Gyelpo, a 15th-century Nyingma yogi, physician, treasure finder, and founder of Tibetan opera, is known for building numerous iron chain suspension bridges in Tibet? (16 January 2009)
... that the Norfolk, Connecticut-based performing arts venue Infinity Hall was built in 1883 as a combination opera house, barber shop and saloon? (12 January 2009)

... that Aleksandr Pushkin's 1827 poem The Gypsies inspired some eighteen operas and six ballets, including Rachmaninoff's Aleko? (29 December 2008)
... that an intense rivalry between composers Francisco Asenjo Barbieri and Emilio Arrieta helped rekindle the popularity of Spanish opera during the mid-19th century? (29 October 2008)
... that the opera Les vêpres siciliennes (1885) by Giuseppe Verdi was based in part on the medieval Sicilian tract Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia (1290)? (6 October 2008)
... that 17th-century Italian composer Filippo Acciaiuoli was also an inventor of machines used for theatrical effects in operas and plays? (28 August 2008)
... that The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five, a science fiction novel by Doris Lessing, was adapted for the opera in 1997 by Philip Glass? (18 August 2008)
... that the birth of public radio broadcasting was a live concert from the Metropolitan Opera House with Enrico Caruso as one of the opera singers? (28 June 2008)
... that in 1656, German violinist Thomas Baltzar helped premiere The Siege of Rhodes, thought to have been the first all-sung English opera? (6 June 2008)
... that Thomas Jefferson Ramsdell built the opera house where James Earl Jones started his career? (25 May 2008)
... that Verna Arvey got her first break as an opera librettist after poet Langston Hughes left his libretto for the production Troubled Island unfinished? (17 May 2008)
...that Myer Lyon, hazzan of the Great Synagogue of London, doubled as opera star Michael Leoni (pictured) whose contract excused him on the Sabbath? (10 April 2008)

...that the former Grand Opera House (pictured) in Seattle, USA is now a car park? (26 December 2007)
...that Philip Pullman's novel Clockwork was adapted into an opera for children? (15 December 2007)
...that Lawrence Turner, who presented a Parliamentary petition calling for W. S. Gilbert's copyright on the libretti of Gilbert and Sullivan operas to be extended indefinitely, was the grandson of comic actor George Grossmith who starred in them? (14 December 2007)
...that the Théâtrophone service (1890-1932) allowed the subscribers to listen to opera and theatre performances over the telephone lines? (25 November 2007)
...that one of the first known instances of a composer specifically calling for the use of a bass violin, the predecessor of the modern cello, was in the opera Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi? (21 November 2007)
...that in 1882 impresario Alfred Schulz-Curtius organized the first performance ever in the UK of Wagner's's epic operatic Ring Cycle? (12 November 2007)
...that English actor, singer and playwright Arthur Williams (pictured), best remembered for his comic operas, Edwardian musical comedies and musical burlesques, played over 1,000 roles in his career? (24 October 2007)
...that the 1955 novel Teneke by Turkish author Yaşar Kemal was adapted into an Italian opera of the same title by Fabio Vacchi in 2007? (8 October 2007)
...that Carnegie Medal-winning children’s author Berlie Doherty has written the libretti for three operas? (19 September 2007)
...that the Finnish company YIT was responsible for the construction of the Finnish National Opera house, the Helsinki Fair Centre and Cirrus, the tallest high-rise building in Finland? (12 August 2007)
...that The Majestic (pictured) in Singapore was an opera house built by tin and rubber magnate Eu Tong Sen in 1928 for his wife who was a Cantonese opera fan? (9 August 2007)
...that the performance of La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina in Warsaw in 1628 was the earliest performance of an Italian opera outside of Italy? (12 June 2007)
...that Richard Strauss helped the German composer Heinz Tiessen obtain a job at the Berlin State Opera in 1917? (12 March 2007)

...that the painting The Face on the Barroom Floor, in Central City, Colorado, was inspired by a poem, and that it in turn inspired a chamber opera? (11 October 2006)
...that the librettoes for Tchaikovsky's operas Vakula the Smith and Cherevichki were adapted from Gogol's stories by the poet Yakov Polonsky? (12 September 2006)
...that the first performance of Mikhail Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar (1836) was conducted by Catterino Cavos (pictured), who composed an opera on the same subject 20 years before Glinka? (7 July 2006)
...that an unknown manuscript of opera libretto by writer Mikhail Bulgakov was found in Isaak Dunayevsky's archive after his death in 1955? (5 June 2006)
... that Russian opera in the 18th century was dominated by Italian composers and singers? (2 June 2006)

...that George Gershwin selected tap dance innovator John W. Bubbles to play a major role in his opera Porgy and Bess, even though he did not read music? (4 July 2005)

...that the iconic Sydney Opera House sits on Bennelong Point? (21 October 2004)

... that the Théâtrophone service (1890-1932) allowed the subscribers to listen to opera and theatre performances over the telephone lines?

... that the musical play Are You There? was widely promoted because of its score by Ruggero Leoncavallo (best known for his opera Pagliacci), but the first-night audience were incensed when it turned out to have very little music?

... that both Herbert Witherspoon and Göran Gentele died before the opening nights of their first seasons as general directors of the Metropolitan Opera?

... that an intense rivalry between composers Francisco Asenjo Barbieri and Emilio Arrieta helped rekindle the popularity of Spanish opera during the mid-19th century?