Download or read book Opera Antics Anecdotes written by Stephen Tanner and published by Sound & Vision Publishing. This book was released on 1999 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Opera singers are just like other people, only more so. Often unseen by their public and fans, they erupt in glorious, dazzling displays of human cussedness, using biting banter, one-up-manship, and even sabotage to deal with their main frustration, which is, of course, each other. The irreverent atmosphere backstage is often hilariously in contrast with the reverent hush out front. In terms of chaos on stage, yells from the balcony and intermission twaddle in the foyer, you'll meet dimwitted audience members, meatball tenors, vain soprano fatsos, stilletto-tongued conductors and old-time impresarios and general managers who didn't know their brass from their oboe. The Viennese conductor Franz Schalk said, "Every theater is an asylum, but an opera theatre is the ward for incurables."
Download or read book Opera Anecdotes written by Ethan Mordden and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1988 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From backstage squabbles and box-office chicanery to the gallantry and glory of creation, this book of stories unveils a delightful panorama of opera lore. "An opera lover's handbook that should always be near at hand".--Schuyler G. Chapin, Columbia University.
Download or read book The New Book of Opera Anecdotes written by Ethan Mordden and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Building on the long-established success of Ethan Mordden's Opera Anecdotes, The New Book Of Opera Anecdotes continues where the original left off, bringing into view the new corps of major singers that arose after the first book's publication in 1985 -- artists such as Renee Fleming, Roberto Alagna, Deborah Voigt, Jonas Kaufmann, Kathleen Battle, and Jane Eaglen (who tested her family with Turandot's three riddles and got a very original answer). There are also fresh adventures with opera's fabled great -- Rossini, Wagner, Toscanini (whose temper tantrums are always good for a story), Franco Corelli, Luciano Pavarotti, Leontyne Price (who, when the Met's Rudolf Bing offered her the voice-killing role of Abigaille in Verdi's Nabucco, said, "Man, are you crazy?"). Almost all the stories in The New Book Of Opera Anecdotes are completely new, whether from the present or the past, taking in many historical developments, from the rise of the conductor to the appearance of the gymmed-up "bari-hunk" who refuses to play any role in which he can't appear shirtless. While most of Mordden's anecdotes are humorous, some are emotionally touching, such as one recounting a Met production of Mozart's The Marriage Of Figaro in which Renee Fleming sang alongside her own six-year-old daughter. Other tales are suspenseful, as when Tito Gobbi shows off his ability to make anyone turn around simply by staring at his or her back. He tries it on Nazi monster Joseph Goebbels, who does turn around, and then starts to move toward Gobbi, seething with rage, step by step... Mordden recounts these stories in his own unique voice, amplifying events for reading pleasure and adding in background material so the opera newcomer can play on the same field as the aficionado. Witty, dramatoic, and at times a little shocking, The New Book Of Opera Anecdotes will be a welcome addition to any opera fan's library.
Download or read book Opera Anecdotes written by and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Stories from the Operas written by Gladys Davidson and published by . This book was released on 1919 with total page 622 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book 250 Anecdotes About Opera written by David Bruce and published by . This book was released on 2022-08-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains 250 anecdotes about opera, including these anecdotes: 1) When Pierre Monteux started working at the Metropolitan Opera, he decided to buy a shiny Ford touring-car. He paid $300 for the car, which he was proud of at first, although it looked modest when parked beside the luxurious cars of the stars of the Met. However, the car did give Mr. Monteux trouble. One day, as he was driving it, the car developed engine trouble and stopped. Mr. Monteux got out of the car, tipped his hat to it, and walked away, never to return. 2) When Canadian figure skater Toller Cranston served as a judge at a Miss USA beauty pageant, the contestant from New York told him that she loved opera. However, in conversation, he found out that she had never been to the Met and that her favorite opera was "Phantom of the Opera," so he told her, "My dear, don't even think about going to 'La Traviata.' You would hate it." 3) Enrico Caruso was quite a practical joker off stage and on. Nellie Melba used to chew evergreen gum from Australia to keep her throat moist, chewing it before going on stage and then depositing it in a cup in the wings where she could use it to moisten her throat when she was once more off stage. Mr. Caruso once substituted chewing tobacco for the gum when Ms. Melba was on stage. On another occasion, in the last act of La Bohème, Ms. Melba, who was performing the role of the dying Mimi, was carefully lifted and placed on a bed. However, when the sheets of the bed were lifted so Mimi could be covered, the audience laughed -- under the bed Mr. Caruso had ordered a stagehand to place a large object: a chamberpot. 4) Opera tenor Luciana Pavarotti made an unsuccessful movie titled Yes, Giorgio. Perhaps it was unsuccessful because Mr. Pavarotti was known for his voice (and his weight), not for his acting. According to Hollywood lore, Kate Jackson of Charlie's Angels fame almost signed up to co-star with Mr. Pavarotti, but singer/actress Cher advised her, "Never, never, ever do a movie where you can't get your arms around your romantic lead."
Download or read book Stories of the opera by various authors written by Stories and published by . This book was released on 1887 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Top C Turvy written by Gerry Zwirn and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2019-06-05 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covent Garden 1947. After acknowledging the applause following her spectacular debut performance of Salome, Bulgarian soprano Ljuba Welitsch made her way back to her dressing-room. As she was changing her costume there came a knock on the door: a small group of male admirers had gathered outside to pay their compliments. Taken completely by surprise the startled diva, whose English at the time was, to say the least, somewhat limited, called out: “Don't come in yet poys: I'm still dressed!” It's anecdotes like these that add sparkle and fun to the topsy-turvy world of opera – hence the title. The author has spent about three years collecting more than three hundred anecdotes about operas, singers, composers, conductors and impresarios. Arranged from A to Z for easy reference, the reader will find an amusing account of the man who, after seeing a performance of Aida in Parma, wrote to Verdi demanding his money back; stories about Callas, Caruso and other celebrated singers as well as such composers as Rossini, Puccini and Straus (not a typo: it's spelt with one s); about the World's Greatest Tenor and the various claimants to that illustrious but contentious title; composers who sang; the hidden dangers of opera in translation; prima donnas and their tantrums; and the activities of that unseen body, the claque. If you'd like to test your knowledge of matters operatic check the opera quiz. There's also the story of a little fox terrier, who despite his humble pedigree, can claim to be the world's most famous dog, mainly thanks to opera.
Download or read book Great Operatic Disasters written by Hugh Vickers and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 1985-10-15 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To its devotees, opera is the most sublime of arts. It is also one of the most accident prone, and when things go wrong, they tend to do so on a grand scale. Great Operatic Disasters records some of the most memorable calamities from opera houses around the world. Most of them are true, some have been embroidered over the years, and a few, well, se non e vero, e ben trovato.
Download or read book Opera Stories written by Henry Lowell Mason and published by . This book was released on 1911 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Opera Stories written by Henry Lowell Mason and published by . This book was released on 1913 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Stories of Famous Operas written by Hélène Adeline Guerber and published by . This book was released on 1897 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The American Opera Singer written by Peter G. Davis and published by Anchor. This book was released on 1999-03-16 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In America today, opera has never been more popular, and one reason for this is, no doubt, that American opera singers are fixtures on every leading opera stage throughout the world. In this lively and engrossing account, Peter G. Davis, music critic for New York magazine and a leading opera authority, tells the story of how these plucky, resilient and supremely talented American singers have transformed this venerable European-born art form and made it their own. Starting with opera's arrival in America in the early nineteenth century, Davis shows how American singers grew in sophistication and stature along with the country. From the nineteenth-century pioneers who crashed the gates of Europe's elite opera circles, to the glamorous singers of the early twentieth century who were also Hollywood stars and publicity magnets, to the highly professional singers since World War II who not only have gained European acceptance but now dominate the industry, this lively and highly readable account chronicles the extraordinary lives and adventures of these larger-than-life personalities. Included are Maria Callas, Beverly Sills, Richard Tucker, Leontyne Price, Marilyn Horne, Lawrence Tibbett, and a galaxy of others whose stories are as dramatic and compelling as the roles they sang on stage. Full of prima-donna antics, hilarious backstage anecdotes, and performance lore, The American Opera Singer will delight anyone who has felt the magic of opera, and will provide a new canon of American singing sure to provoke spirited debate among aficionados. Trained as a musician and composer, Peter G. Davis has been writing about music for over thirty years in such publications as the New York Times, The Times of London, High Fidelity, and Opera News. He is currently music critic for New York magazine and lives in New York City. Experience the artistry of America's supremely talented singers on RCA Victor Red Seal's The American Opera Singer, a companion 2-CD set to this book, now available in record stores.
Download or read book Parsiphal Opera Anecdotes written by Peter Lutz and published by . This book was released on 2021-02-28 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Which composer drove his wife mad by wearing underwear that didn't need to be washed? From which opera do the shrill violin sounds of Hitchcock's Psycho come? How did Franco Corelli become the terror of all sopranos? Enjoy these and hundreds of other stories. The vanities, bizarre experiences and foibles of artists from two centuries are shamelessly and lovingly laid bare. A lovingly compiled book of anecdotes and curiosities about roosters, bitches, drunkards, heroes, divas and despots from three hundred years of opera.
Download or read book Standard Stories from the Operas written by Gladys Davidson and published by . This book was released on 1940 with total page 1048 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book OPERA STORIES IN FEW WORDS THE STORIES DIVIDED INTO ACTS OF OVER 100 OPERAS written by HENRY LOWELL. MASON and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Opera Stories written by Henry L. Mason and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-10-22 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Opera Stories: Most Persons Attending an Opera Wish to Know Only Its Story Without Reading Its Entire Libretto; Opera Stories Is Published for This Reason and Contains, in a Few Words, the Stories (Divided Into Acts) Of About 200 Operas and Ballets; Also Portraits of Le Napoleon is told that Neipperg is on his way to Vienna; he has words with his sisters whom he dismisses. The Duchess is announced. Napoleon upbraids her. She retaliates by producing an unpaid bill of his, of years ago. After repartee she is about to leave; she espies a man making for the Empress' boudoir; she tells the Emperor. The man is found to be Neipperg, who draws on Napoleon. He is over powered. Napoleon orders that Neipperg be executed by morning. Act III The Duchess wishes to save Neipperg, duly grateful for his having once rescued her. She secures aid of her husband; tells him her plan. Fouche enters: they enlist his offices, also. They succeed. Catherine furthermore persuades Napoleon that he is mistaken about Neipperg and that the Empress is true to her Lord and Master. All ends happily. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
