Opera Warhorses

In 1950, the American debut of 35 year old operatic tenor Mario del Monaco  took place at the San Francisco Opera. His American debut role was Rhadames in Verdi’s “Aida”. Making her American debut with del Monaco was the soprano in the title role, 28 year old Renata Tebaldi. She had first sung the role [...]

[Read more →]

The “standard repertory” of opera is dominated by works created by citizens of four European countries – Italy, Germany, Austria and France. Many of the singers, conductors, set designers and stage directors associated with opera production are themselves from those four countries, although if you look at the world supply of operatic performers, there would [...]

[Read more →]

The San Francisco Opera season of 50 years ago was especially memorable. The long-awaited debut of Maria Callas was aborted when she did not show up for her dress rehearsals of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” and was fired by San Francisco Opera General Director Kurt Herbert Adler. Her scheduled performances in two roles were taken [...]

[Read more →]