December 11: Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian Soprano

I remember reading her memoir Galina. It captivated my mind. So strange to hear that she died today, December 11, 2012. So sad!!!! She was 86 year old. I never saw her onstage. She is on Youtube.

1. Galina Vishnevskaya - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galina_Vishnevskaya

   Jump to Biography‎: Biography. Vishnevskaya was born in Leningrad. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 singing operetta. After a year ...
2. Galina: A Russian Story: Galina Vishnevskaya: 9780156343206 ...

   www.amazon.com › ... › Artists, Architects & Photographers

   Galina: A Russian Story [Galina Vishnevskaya] on Amazon.com. *FREE* super saver shipping on qualifying offers. This autobiography is a luminous portrait of a ...

   
3. Galina Vishnevskaya - Biography

   www.imdb.com/name/nm0899631/bio

   Galina Vishnevskaya on IMDb: Movies, TV, Celebs, and more...
4. Galina - autobiography Galina Vishnevskaya - Review Len Mullenger

   www.musicweb-international.com/galina.htm

   This autobiography is a horrifyingly bitter experience which leaves one feeling humble, ashamed and excoriated. Through her implacable fury we can gain a ...
5. EMI Classics - Galina Vishnevskaya - Biography

   www.emiclassics.com/artistbiography.php?aid=120

   Biography. Galina Vishnevskaya studied with Vera Garina in Leningrad, and made her début in operetta in 1944. Later she was appointed a soloist with the ...

For reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com

December 10: e nulla

Nothing to say, really. This is just like 1986 when I had no opera on my list. But that was because I was in hospital a lot. Today I am just at home.

Yesterday I was cleaning up my mess in the closet. So today I have head-ache and pain in my body from all that bending down and up again. I have bough an appartment so it is time to let go of things I do not need any more. I just wish it did itself.

In stead of nothing (nulla) in the title I should have said too much stuff. But, I still no blog post.

Tomorrow may be a better day. Good night!


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December 9: Tenors, anyone?

Patrick Power

Ulf Björkegren

Tor Fagerland

Caj Ehrstedt

Maurice Stern

Kåre Bjørkøy

Esaias Tewolde

Kjell Magnus Sandve

Ulf Øien

José Antonio Sempere

Gardar Cortes

Ricardo Muñiz

Giuseppe Costanzo

Neill Archer

Osvaldo di Pianduni

Josep Carreras

Franco Bonanome

Richard Greaer

Louis Gentile

Mario Carrara

George Gray

Sergej Larin

Marcello Giordani

Pl\ácido Domingo

Luciano Pavarotti

Antonio Lotti

Keith Ikaia-Purdy

Kristjan Johannsson

José Cura

Vincenzo La Scola

Giuseppe Giacomini

Boiko Zvetanov

Francisco Araiza

Neil Shicoff

Siegfried Jerusalem

Ramon Vargas

Janez Lotric

Alberto Cupido

Roberto Sacca

Konstadin Andreev

Piotr Beczala

Luis Lima

Juan Diego Florez

Gösta Winbergh

Nils Harald Sødahl

Salvatore Fisichella

Torsten Kerl

Alberto Rinaldi

Robert Nagy

Miroslav Dvorsky

Richard Fracker

Francisco Casanova

Luigi Petroni

Dennis O'Neill

Antonis Koroneos

Sergej Khomov

Julian Gavin

Richard Leech

Fabio Armiliato

Josep Bros

Edgarad Montvidas

Giuseppe Sabbatini

Jørgen Talle

Piero Giulacci

Joseph Callaja

Marcelo Alvarez

Pär Lindskog

Salavtore Licitra

Peter Seiffert

Rubens Pelizzario

Giuseppe Gipali

Roberto Alagna

Nazzereno Antinori

Gardar Thor Cortes

Jorma Silvasti

Johan Botha

Fabio Sartori

John Dickie

Daniel Magdal

Marcus Haddock

Jorge Perdigon

Juan José Lópera

Johann Waldimarsson

Luca Canonici

Marian Talaba

Alksanders Antonenko

Mikhail Agafonov

Juanjo Cura

Marco Berti

Aquiles Machado

Lars Cleveman

Teodor Ilincai

Zvetan Michailov

Fernando Del Valle

Valter Borin

Daniel Johansson

Ray Cornelius Smith

Marcelo Puente

Antonio Gandia

Alejandro Roy

Thiego Arancam

Diego Torre

This is some of the tenors I have seen live? How does your list look like?

For more reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com If you want to see more photos from my OperaDuets Travels, go to www.operaduetsphotos.com

December 8: French vs. Italian Opera

Since some of my favorite operas is French maybe you would think I prefer French to Italian Opera. I love Carmen, Werther, Samson et Dalila and Herodiade. But my favorite opera composers are Italian like Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini.

Verdi also composed operas for the Paris Opèra and so it is common by Verdi elitists to say that Don Carlos in 5 act version in French is the only one good enough to be accepted. I do love the Italian 4 act version for true passion and a much tighter grip on the drama. In Italian I cannot be bored but even with Plácido Domingo, Katia Ricciarelli, Ruggero Raimondi I found it boring in French. Naturally I Vespri Siciliani is for the same elitists nothing compared to Les Vêpres Sicilienne. Nonsense, Verdi operas are best in Italian except Jérusalem, I think.

Passion is Italian, French is for polite talk. When I say I love Carmen I must say the French dialogue puts Carmen sudden from hot, passionate Spain to a French salon. And it is even worse when one does not even allow the singers to do the dialogue. I had to edit out all that dialogue from Karajan's Carmen with Carreras and Baltsa because they did not do the dialogue, some annoying French actors did it instead. Carmen sung in French with Spanish dialogue would be the dream. The words not just translated but made completely Spanish. PASSION, you know.

I love SAMSON ET DALILA, it is just magic.

For reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com

December 7: Travel to the opera

Well, I do not live in a city with an opera house so I have to travel. So the expenses is the opera ticket, travel ticket and usually hotel, too.

I started as one usually does, by traveling in my own country. NORWAY (1981-). Bergen, Drammen, Kongsvinger, Nordfjordeid, Oslo, Sogndal, Stavanger.

Then in the neighbor country, SWEDEN (1982-). Gothenburg, Stockholm and Dalhalla.

AUSTRIA (1985-). Bad Ischl, Innsbruck, Vienna

UK (1989-). Devon, Edinburg, London

SWITZERLAND (1994-). Zurich

DENMARK (1995-) Aalborg, Århus, Copenhagen

GERMANY (1996-) Berlin, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Friedrichshafen, Hamburg, Ingolstadt, Karlsruhe, Munich, Regensburg

SPAIN (2000-) Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid

FINLAND (2002-) Helsinki

ITALY (2003-) Firenze, Genova, Parma, Torino, Verona

HUNGARY (2006-) Budapest, Misckolc

France

2011 -

Paris

Theatre des Champs-Elysees

Opera de Paris (Bastille)

2011-11-19 Oberto (Verdi), Theatre des Champs-Elysees (Paris) My photos

2011-11-20 La Forza de Destino (Verdi), Opera de Paris (Bastille) My photos

For reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com

December 6: Spain

I love Spain! Why? I don't really know why. Was it CARMEN by Bizet that caught me? I really want to go to Seville and experience Andalucia so Bizet's Carmen certainly has something with it. And then there is all the wonderful opera singers that come from Spain: Josep Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Jaume (Jaime/Giacomo) Aragall, Alfredo Kraus, Montserrat Caballé, Teresa Berganza and Isabel Rey. And that is just the beginning of the great list.


No Olympic Games has ever been better than Barcelona Games 1992 with their Olympic of Opera.

Who can forget the Carmen movie with Plácido Domingo and Julia Migenes, on location.

Then there is the magic of Spanish music, especially the Zarzuela.

In 1989 I got to see my first Zarzuela live, La Chulapona. In Edinburgh, of all places.

Finally, this year (2012) I got to see it in Teatro de la Zarzuela. Loved it.

Thanks to: Carreras, Domingo and Teresa Berganza did I find the gem of Zarzuela.

Thanks to Spanish theatre we have also 2 of the greatest operas by Giuseppe Verdi:
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO (Duque de Rivas' Don Alvaro, y la fuerza del sino)
IL TROVATORE (EL Trovador by Antonio Garcia Gutierrez)

Of course the Spanish influence on opera and theater than that.

I wish I understood Spanish. I have visited Barcelona, Bilbao and Madrid.


For reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com

December 5: Happy Birthday, JC 66 & 50!!!

Happy Birthday, Josep Carreras (66 year)!!!!

Happy Birthday, José Cura (50 years)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com