The name Enrico Caruso is synonymous with the art of opera: telling an opera singer that he “sounds like Caruso” is probably the greatest compliment …
Victoria de los Ángeles: An angelic voice (2.)
Continued from part one In his biography of Victoria de los Ángeles, Peter Roberts explains the great contrast between the worlds from which the singer …
Victoria de los Ángeles: An angelic voice (1.)
Part one There are two great Spanish opera singers of the 20th century: Montserrat Caballé (1933 – 2018) and Victoria de los Ángeles (1923 – …
Giuseppe di Stefano: Serving the Opera
It was not a singing teacher, nor an opera director nor even a family member who discovered the extraordinary vocal talent of the Sicilian-born Giuseppe …
Maria Callas: She brought opera into the modern age
In 2023, the one and only Maria Callas would have turned one hundred: To this day, musicologists, opera critics and fans alike struggle to classify …
Birgit Nilsson: Opera singer with heart and soul (2.)
Continued from part one Birgit Nilsson’s time at the Metropolitan Opera in New York left such a strong mark on her that she devoted a …
Birgit Nilsson: The soprano who had too beautiful a voice (1.)
Part one “They were sent from heaven” wrote Birgit Nilsson in her memoirs, looking back on the fortunate circumstance that one day in the early …
Virginia Zeani: From Transylvania to the World
She was one of those opera singers of the last century who are very often neglected: Virginia Zeani (1925 – 2023). In her younger years, …
Peter Anders: The Brilliant Tenor
At a time when all the top-class tenors had left Germany, he was one of the few remaining singers in the thirties and forties who …
Max Lichtegg: The Universal Tenor (3.)
Continued from part two In 1949 Max Lichtegg celebrated a kind of “return to Vienna” – to the city where his musical career had begun. …