Close

While working on “Otello” and “Falstaff,” his final two operas, the composer Giuseppe Verdi tucked dozens of pages of musical drafts and sketches into folders, scribbling on their covers: “Burn these papers.” Fortunately, his heirs never carried out those orders. But for years, scholars have complained that for all the access they had to them, thos...

649

Opera star Renée Fleming drew concern last year after a New York Times profile suggested the acclaimed soprano would be retiring. Luckily for fans, it turned out to be a false alarm. But if Fleming does ever start to ponder retirement, she might consider a move to Milan — where she'd likely be welcomed with open arms at Casa Verdi, a retirement hom...

640

It was his first public performance in Salt Lake City, and Andrea Bocelli held nothing back. Donning a suit topped with a bright blue jacket and black bow tie, the 60-year-old Italian tenor took the stage and immediately illustrated one thing to his Utah fans: While his hair may be a dignified silver, the vocal prowess that popularized him more tha...

1262

The Lyric Opera House (20 N. Wacker Drive) continues its season with renowned Italian opera writer Giuseppe Verdi’s “Il trovatore.” The melodrama plot has elements suitable to every viewer’s preference. Debuted Nov. 17 for a sold-out performance, Verdi’s masterpiece combines curses, kidnapping, mistaken identities, revenge and love to create an ent...

742

Celebrated Italian tenor Enrico Caruso once famously said that all that was needed for Giuseppe Verdi’s “Il trovatore” to excel were the four greatest singers in the world. Lyric Opera of Chicago might not have fully delivered on that near-impossible formula in the second revival of the company’s 2006-07 co-production of the beloved Italian melodra...

914

For more than a decade, Tamara Wilson has sung leading soprano roles on the world's great opera stages. Yet Wilson, who grew up in Naperville, is only now making her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut this season in "Il trovatore" ("The Troubadour"). "A lot of my family and friends from the suburbs would go, 'Are you sure you're an opera singer? Because...

1032

When Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi in the late 1800s built a neo-Gothic mansion in Milan, he envisioned a bustling sanctuary for professional musicians who were not earning livable incomes. Since then, Casa Verdi has hosted 1,500 residents and become an exclusive retirement home for elderly players. Special Correspondent Christopher Livesay repor...

787

Verdi’s monumental and altogether ravishing “Requiem” is a signature work of Maestro Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Their recording of the great operatic mass was the winner of two Grammy Awards (Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance) in 2010. But in light of the recent horrific plague of senseless shootings...

1139

This is the best time of year for classical music. It’s that post-summer, pre-Christmas period when orchestras, chamber groups and vocal companies bring out their most serious work. They know people are paying attention and they try to deliver the high-level goods that keep audiences interested. This year’s mid-fall season comes in a multitude of s...

850

Opera Colorado opens its 2018-19 season in just a few weeks, with an opulent production of Verdi's La Traviata-one of the most beloved operatic works of all time. The production opens Saturday, November 3, at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House with additional performances on November 6, 9, and 11. This Romantic masterpiece overflows with Verdi's brilli...

850