If you have ever attended an Italian religious feast, or even an Italian festival in the Delaware Valley over the last several years, there is a good chance that the music that accompanied the festa was performed by the Verdi Band of Norristown. Pa. Years ago, the Philadelphia area had many such bands, like the Banda Bianca, the Joseph Liuzzi South...
READ MOREOpera houses across Italy have come together to help the government meet the shortfall on a bid to save for the nation a country house lived in by composer Giuseppe Verdi for 50 years. Villa Verdi in Sant’Agata di Villanova – close to the town of Busseto in the Emilia-Romagna region where he was born – and his home for 50 years, was put up for sale...
READ MOREWednesday February 15th, 2023 at 6.30 pm. "NABUCCO" with the WASHINGTON CONCERT OPERA. Embassy of Italy - 3000 Whiteheaven Street NW - Washington, DC 20008. RSVP HERE. The evening is a preamble to the Washington Concert Opera’s Nabucco scheduled to be performed on March 4, 2023, in the Lisner Auditorium. For more information about this event visit...
READ MOREThe Detroit Opera - Detroit Opera House is having an incredible concert of Verdi’s Aida on the 30th of December and those of you that are in Michigan not miss the chance to hear the incredible Christine Goerke, Soprano directed by the fantastic Yuval Sharon. Not only is this a one night only event, but part of the proceeds using promo code VERDI200...
READ MOREWhen it comes to making music, conductor Jason C. Tramm throws himself into a little bit of everything. I don’t bother asking him why. It’d be like asking the sun why it shines. He’s just doing what he was born to do. His calendar has returned to pre-pandemic levels after nearly three years of COVID-19 cancellations. “There’s so much going on and I...
READ MORETenor Benjamin Bernheim, one of Europe’s most sought-after tenors, makes his highly anticipated company debut when Verdi’s Rigoletto returns to the Met for 14 performances beginning November 10. Maestro Speranza Scappucci also makes her Met debut on the podium, leading the critically acclaimed production directed by Bartlett Sher, which had its pre...
READ MOREA country house lived in by Giuseppe Verdi for 50 years has been the object of discord in a long-running squabble among the Italian composer’s heirs. Verdi, whose compositions include La Traviata, Aida and Otello, built Villa Verdi on land he owned in Sant’Agata di Villanova, a hamlet near his home town of Busseto in the Emilia-Romagna region, in 1...
READ MOREThursday, Nov 10 - 7PM | 41 Hampshire St, Cambridge, MA. RSVP Here. “Aida” is Verdi’s grandest operatic spectacle, and one of his greatest musical achievements. From its premiere onward, the opera has remained a key staple of the repertoire -for 150 years! The powerful tale of forbidden love and political intrigue set in the exotic locale of ancien...
READ MORERossini’s “Otello” premiered in 1816, and the musical adaptation of Shakespeare's famous play was a hit for seven decades. Then Verdi’s version debuted in 1887 and was acclaimed as a pinnacle of the art form, causing Rossini’s version to recede into a rarity.Opera Philadelphia excavated it Friday night at the Academy of Music for its O22 festival i...
READ MOREGiuseppe Verdi was born on Oct. 10, 1813, in Busseto (Parma) which was then a part of the French Empire. He came from a humble beginning. His mother was a seamstress and his father was employed as a clerk. The organist at his church befriended him at a young age and taught him how to play the piano. At the age of 15, in 1828, he wrote and performed...
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