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134-464: In 1948, five Tulsans, Bess Gowans, Ralph and Ione Sassano, Mary Helen Markham and Beverly Bliss, formed the Tulsa Opera Club. On 4 December 1948, the organization performed Giuseppe Verdi 's La traviata at All Souls Unitarian Church on Boulder Ave. with Ralph and Ione Sassano portraying Alfredo and Violetta, and a young William Lewis singing the role of Gaston while a high school senior under

268-464: A Stabat Mater ." This information comes from the Autobiographical Sketch which Verdi dictated to the publisher Giulio Ricordi late in life, in 1879, and remains the leading source for his early life and career. Written, understandably, with the benefit of hindsight, it is not always reliable when dealing with issues more contentious than those of his childhood. The other director of

402-444: A spinet . Verdi's gift for music was already apparent by 1820–21 when he began his association with the local church, serving in the choir, acting as an altar boy for a while, and taking organ lessons. After Baistrocchi's death, Verdi, at the age of eight, became the official paid organist. The music historian Roger Parker points out that both of Verdi's parents belonged to families of small landowners and traders, certainly not

536-910: A conductor at the New York City Opera , was a favorite of Tulsa audiences during Purrington's tenure, making her debut with the company in 1976 with Douglas Moore 's The Ballad of Baby Doe starring Costanza Cuccaro in the title role, Jean Kraft as Augusta Tabor, and John Reardon as Horace Tabor. Her other work with the company included La traviata (1979, with Diana Soviero as Violetta, John Brecknock as Alfredo, and Michael Devlin as Germont); Die Fledermaus (1980, with Ashley Putnam as Rosalinda and Dale Duesing as Eisenstein); La bohème (1981, with Soviero as Mimi, Rita Shane as Mussetta, and Stephen Dickson as Marcello); Der Rosenkavalier (1983, with Gwendolyn Jones as Octavian, Mechthild Gessendorf as The Marschallin, and Diane Curry as Annina); and Aida (1985, with Leona Mitchell as

670-608: A drama by Vittorio Alfieri , was written by Verdi when he was 15 and performed in Bergamo . It was acclaimed by both Demaldè and Barezzi, who commented: "He shows a vivid imagination, a philosophical outlook, and sound judgment in the arrangement of instrumental parts." In late 1829, Verdi had completed his studies with Provesi, who declared that he had no more to teach Verdi. At the time, Verdi had been giving singing and piano lessons to Barezzi's daughter Margherita; by 1831, they were unofficially engaged. Verdi set his sights on Milan, then

804-741: A farmhouse and outbuildings, providing a home for his parents from May 1844. Later that year, he also bought the Palazzo Cavalli (now known as the Palazzo Orlandi) on the via Roma, Busseto's main street. In May 1848, Verdi signed a contract for land and houses at Sant'Agata in Busseto, which had once belonged to his family. It was here he built his own house, completed in 1880, now known as the Villa Verdi , where he lived from 1851 until his death. In March 1843, Verdi visited Vienna (where Gaetano Donizetti

938-603: A fiery forge: the sound of the anvils deafens the ear"). A room in Bartolo's house with a piano Count Almaviva again appears at the doctor's house, this time disguised as Don Alonso, a priest and singing tutor who is substituting for the supposedly ailing Basilio. To gain Bartolo's trust, Don Alonso tells him he has intercepted a note from Lindoro to Rosina, and says that Lindoro is a servant of Count Almaviva who has dishonorable intentions towards Rosina. While Almaviva pretends to give Rosina her singing lesson ("Contro un cor"; "Against

1072-539: A fraternal hand, and Italy will yet become the first nation of the world...I am drunk with joy! Imagine that there are no more Germans here!!" Verdi had been admonished by the poet Giuseppe Giusti for turning away from patriotic subjects, the poet pleading with him to "do what you can to nourish the [sorrow of the Italian people], to strengthen it, and direct it to its goal." Cammarano suggested adapting Joseph Méry 's 1828 play La Bataille de Toulouse , which he described as

1206-435: A heart"), Figaro arrives to shave Bartolo. Not wanting to leave Rosina alone with the singing teacher, Bartolo insists Figaro shave him right there in the music room. Basilio suddenly appears for his scheduled music lesson, but he is bribed by a full purse from Almaviva and persuaded to leave again, with much discussion of how ill he looks. (Quintet: "Don Basilio! – Cosa veggo!"; "Don Basilio! – What do I see?"). Bartolo overhears

1340-401: A letter that pledged his love. On the envelope, Strepponi wrote: "5 or 6 October 1846. They shall lay this letter on my heart when they bury me." Verdi had completed I masnadieri for London by May 1847 except for the orchestration. This he left until the opera was in rehearsal, since he wanted to hear "la [Jenny] Lind and modify her role to suit her more exactly". Verdi agreed to conduct

1474-502: A libretto by the journalist Antonio Piazza. In mid-1834, Verdi sought to acquire Provesi's former post in Busseto but without success. But with Barezzi's help, he did obtain the secular post of maestro di musica . He taught, gave lessons, and conducted the Philharmonic for several months before returning to Milan in early 1835. By the following July, he obtained his certification from Lavigna. Eventually in 1835 Verdi became director of

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1608-449: A master of opera. The failure of Stiffelio (attributable not least to the censors of the time taking offence at the taboo subject of the supposed adultery of a clergyman's wife and interfering with the text and roles) incited Verdi to take pains to rework it, although even in the completely recycled version of Aroldo (1857) it still failed to please. Rigoletto , with its intended murder of royalty, and its sordid attributes, also upset

1742-591: A new opera for the 1843 season. I Lombardi alla prima crociata was based on a libretto by Solera and premiered in February 1843. Inevitably, comparisons were made with Nabucco ; but one contemporary writer noted: "If [ Nabucco ] created this young man's reputation, I Lombardi served to confirm it." Verdi paid close attention to his financial contracts, making sure he was appropriately remunerated as his popularity increased. For I Lombardi and Ernani (1844) in Venice he

1876-467: A new opera from La Fenice, which Verdi eventually realised as La traviata . That was followed by an agreement with the Rome Opera Company to present Il trovatore for January 1853. Verdi now had sufficient earnings to retire, had he wished to. He had reached a stage where he could develop his operas as he wished, rather than be dependent on commissions from third parties. Il trovatore was in fact

2010-496: A new staging of Mozart's Don Giovanni with Lucia Lucas in the title role, becoming the first American opera company to feature a transgender woman in a principal role. Tobias Picker stepped down from the artistic director post in 2022, and Aaron Beck was subsequently appointed artistic director. In June 2023, Ken McConnell resigned as general director and Aaron Beck was appointed as interim general director in addition to his duties as artistic director. This announcement arrived at

2144-654: A production in Naples later in the year. Verdi was committed to the publisher Giovanni Ricordi for an opera—which became Stiffelio —for Trieste in the Spring of 1850; and, subsequently, following negotiations with La Fenice, developed a libretto with Piave and wrote the music for Rigoletto (based on Victor Hugo 's Le roi s'amuse ) for Venice in March 1851. This was the first of a sequence of three operas (followed by Il trovatore and La traviata ) which were to cement his fame as

2278-420: A public square outside Bartolo's house a band of musicians and a poor student named Lindoro are serenading, to no avail, the window of Rosina (" Ecco, ridente in cielo "; "There, laughing in the sky"). Lindoro, who is really the young Count Almaviva in disguise, hopes to make the beautiful Rosina love him for himself – not his money. Almaviva pays off the musicians who then depart, leaving him to brood alone. Rosina

2412-411: A pupil and amanuensis . He had known him since about 1828 as another of Barezzi's protégés. Muzio, who in fact was Verdi's only pupil, became indispensable to the composer. He reported to Barezzi that Verdi "has a breadth of spirit, of generosity, a wisdom". In November 1846, Muzio wrote of Verdi: "If you could see us, I seem more like a friend, rather than his pupil. We are always together at dinner, in

2546-478: A replacement to play in what became his first public event in his home town; he was an immediate success mostly playing his own music to the surprise of many and receiving strong local recognition. By 1829–30, Verdi had established himself as a leader of the Philharmonic: "none of us could rival him" reported the secretary of the organisation, Giuseppe Demaldè. An eight-movement cantata, I deliri di Saul , based on

2680-655: A scenario by the Egyptologist Auguste Mariette , was transformed into Italian verse by Antonio Ghislanzoni . Verdi was offered the enormous sum of 150,000 francs for the opera (even though he confessed that Ancient Egypt was "a civilization I have never been able to admire"), and it was first performed in Cairo in 1871. Verdi spent much of 1872 and 1873 supervising the Italian productions of Aida at Milan, Parma and Naples, effectively acting as producer and demanding high standards and adequate rehearsal time. During

2814-419: A story "that should stir every man with an Italian soul in his breast". The premiere was set for late January 1849. Verdi travelled to Rome before the end of 1848. He found that city on the verge of becoming a (short-lived) republic , which commenced within days of La battaglia di Legnano ' s enthusiastically received premiere. In the spirit of the time were the tenor hero's final words, "Whoever dies for

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2948-525: A strong incentive. Verdi came up with the idea of adapting the 1835 Spanish play Don Alvaro o la fuerza del sino by Angel Saavedra , which became La forza del destino , with Piave writing the libretto. The Verdis arrived in St. Petersburg in December 1861 for the premiere, but casting problems meant that it had to be postponed. Returning via Paris from Russia on 24 February 1862, Verdi met two young Italian writers,

3082-559: A village then part of Piedmont. On 29 August 1859, the couple were married there, with only the coachman who had driven them there and the church bell ringer as witnesses. At the end of 1859, Verdi wrote to his friend Cesare De Sanctis "[Since completing Ballo ] I have not made any more music, I have not seen any more music, I have not thought anymore about music. I don't even know what colour my last opera is, and I almost don't remember it." He began to remodel Sant'Agata, which took most of 1860 to complete and on which he continued to work for

3216-932: Is a staple of the operatic repertoire Because of a scarcity of true contraltos, the role of Rosina has most frequently been sung by a coloratura mezzo-soprano (with or without pitch alterations, depending on the singer), and has in the past, and occasionally in more recent times, been sung by coloratura sopranos such as Marcella Sembrich , Maria Callas , Roberta Peters , Gianna D'Angelo , Victoria de los Ángeles , Beverly Sills , Lily Pons , Diana Damrau , Edita Gruberová , Kathleen Battle and Luciana Serra . Famous recent mezzo-soprano Rosinas include Marilyn Horne , Teresa Berganza , Frederica von Stade , Lucia Valentini Terrani , Susanne Marsee , Cecilia Bartoli , Joyce DiDonato , Jennifer Larmore , Elīna Garanča , Isabel Leonard and Vesselina Kasarova . Famous contralto Rosinas include Ewa Podleś who made her stage debut in that role. The square in front of Bartolo's house In

3350-490: Is an opera buffa in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini . The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais 's French comedy The Barber of Seville (1775). The première of Rossini's opera (under the title Almaviva, o sia L'inutile precauzione ) took place on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina , Rome, with designs by Angelo Toselli . Rossini's Barber of Seville

3484-733: Is based on the second part of the Beaumarchais trilogy. (This play was originally conceived as an opéra comique , but was rejected as such by the Comédie-Italienne .) The play as it is now known was premiered in 1775 by the Comédie-Française at the Théâtre des Tuileries in Paris . Other operas based on the first play were composed by Giovanni Paisiello ( in 1782 ), by Nicolas Isouard in 1796, and then by Francesco Morlacchi in 1816. Though

3618-481: Is considered to be one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music, and has been described as the opera buffa of all "opere buffe". After two centuries, it remains a popular work. Rossini's opera recounts the events of the first of the three plays by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais that revolve around the clever and enterprising character named Figaro , the barber of the title. Mozart 's opera The Marriage of Figaro , composed 30 years earlier in 1786,

3752-684: Is in the piece of paper in Rosina's hands, but she fools him by handing over her laundry list. Bartolo and the Count argue loudly. Basilio enters; then Figaro, who warns that the noise of the argument is rousing the whole neighborhood. Finally, the noise attracts the attention of the Officer of the Watch and his troops, who crowd into the room. Bartolo demands that the Officer arrest the "drunken soldier". The Officer starts to do so, but Almaviva quietly reveals his true identity to

3886-460: Is proof that Lindoro is merely a flunky of Almaviva and is toying with her at Almaviva's behest. Rosina believes the story and agrees to marry Bartolo. During an instrumental interlude, the music creates a thunder storm to indicate the passage of time. Almaviva and Figaro climb up a ladder to the balcony and enter Rosina's room through a window. Rosina accuses Almaviva, whom she believes to be Lindoro, of betraying her. Almaviva reveals his identity and

4020-400: Is sometimes transposed a semitone up into F major for coloratura sopranos to perform, giving them the chance to sing extra, almost traditional, cadenzas , sometimes reaching high Ds or even Fs.) Knowing the Count only as Lindoro, Rosina writes to him because she is interested in getting to know him better. As she is leaving the room, Bartolo enters with the music teacher Basilio. Bartolo

4154-464: Is suspicious of the Count, and Basilio advises that he be put out of the way by creating false rumours about him (this aria, "La calunnia è un venticello" – "Calumny is a little breeze" – is almost always sung a tone lower than the original D major ). When the two have gone, Rosina and Figaro enter. Figaro asks Rosina to write a few encouraging words to Lindoro, which she has actually already written. (Duet: "Dunque io son...tu non m'inganni?"; "Then I'm

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4288-511: Is the young ward of the grumpy, elderly Bartolo and she is allowed very little freedom because Bartolo plans to marry her once she is of age and thus appropriate her considerable dowry. Figaro approaches singing (Aria: " Largo al factotum della città"; "Make way for the factotum of the city"). Since Figaro used to be a servant of the Count, the Count asks him for assistance in helping him meet Rosina, offering him money should he be successful in arranging this (duet: "All'idea di quel metallo"; "At

4422-467: The Italian Senate , but did not participate in its activities. In the months following the staging of Ballo , Verdi was approached by several opera companies seeking a new work or making offers to stage one of his existing ones but refused them all. But when, in December 1860, an approach was made from Saint Petersburg 's Imperial Theatre , the offer of 60,000 francs plus all expenses was doubtless

4556-587: The New York City Opera , the Boston Lyric Opera , and the Skylight Opera Theatre . Notable singers to perform with the company during her tenure included Pamela Armstrong, Harolyn Blackwell , Stephanie Blythe , Sarah Coburn , Andrea Gruber , Peter Lindskoog, John Matz, and Alfred Walker among others. In 2002, the bankruptcy of the Tulsa Philharmonic had a negative impact on the company, as

4690-696: The Paris Opéra . Verdi agreed to adapt I Lombardi to a new French libretto; the result was Jérusalem , which contained significant changes to the music and structure of the work (including an extensive ballet scene) to meet Parisian expectations. Verdi was awarded the Order of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour . To satisfy his contracts with the publisher Francesco Lucca  [ it ] , Verdi dashed off Il Corsaro . Budden comments "In no other opera of his does Verdi appear to have taken so little interest before it

4824-550: The Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy. He also participated briefly as an elected politician. The chorus " Va, pensiero " from his early opera Nabucco (1842), and similar choruses in later operas, were much in the spirit of the unification movement, and the composer himself became esteemed as a representative of these ideals. An intensely private person, Verdi did not seek to ingratiate himself with popular movements. As he became professionally successful, he

4958-580: The Teatro Argentina in Rome on 20 February 1816 was a disaster: the audience hissed and jeered throughout, and several on-stage accidents occurred. Furthermore, many of the audience were supporters of one of Rossini's rivals, the veteran Giovanni Paisiello , who played on mob mentality to provoke the rest of the audience to dislike the opera. Paisiello had already composed The Barber of Seville and took Rossini's new version to be an affront to his version. In particular, Paisiello and his followers were opposed to

5092-542: The Tulsa Ballet , and the Tulsa Philharmonic , the work was staged by Nicholas Muni, designed by John Boesche, conducted by Richard Bradshaw , and recorded for national broadcast on NPR . Other highlights of Muni's tenure included performances by sopranos Amy Burton (1992, Josephine), Jan Grissom (1991, Pamina), Elizabeth Knighton (1989, Susannah Polk), Marquita Lister (1989, Mimi), Carmen Pelton (1991, The Queen of

5226-575: The "audacity" of the young composer and the work is now forgotten. Rossini was well known for being remarkably productive, completing an average of two operas per year for 19 years, and in some years writing as many as four. Musicologists believe that, true to form, the music for Il barbiere di Siviglia was composed in just under three weeks, although the famous overture was actually recycled from two earlier Rossini operas, Aureliano in Palmira and Elizabeth, Queen of England and thus contains none of

5360-510: The "identification of Verdi's music with Italian nationalist politics" perhaps began in the 1840s. In 1848, the nationalist leader Giuseppe Mazzini (whom Verdi had met in London the previous year) requested Verdi (who complied) to write a patriotic hymn. The opera historian Charles Osborne describes the 1849 La battaglia di Legnano as "an opera with a purpose" and maintains that "while parts of Verdi's earlier operas had frequently been taken up by

5494-458: The "soldier" that he (Bartolo) has an official exemption which excuses him from the requirement to quarter soldiers in his home. Almaviva pretends to be too drunk and belligerent to understand, and dares Bartolo to brawl. While Bartolo searches his cluttered desk for the official document which would prove his exemption, Almaviva whispers to Rosina that he is Lindoro in disguise, and passes a love-letter to her. Bartolo suspiciously demands to know what

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5628-572: The Busseto school with a three-year contract. He married Margherita in May 1836, and by March 1837, she had given birth to their first child, Virginia Maria Luigia on 26 March 1837. Icilio Romano followed on 11 July 1838. Both the children died young, Virginia on 12 August 1838, Icilio on 22 October 1839. In 1837, the young composer asked for Massini's assistance to stage his opera in Milan. The La Scala impresario, Bartolomeo Merelli , agreed to put on Oberto (as

5762-782: The Milanese for their reception of Un giorno di regno ". During this period, Verdi began to work more consistently with his librettists. He relied on Piave again for I due Foscari , performed in Rome in November 1844, then on Solera once more for Giovanna d'Arco , at La Scala in February 1845, while in August that year he was able to work with Salvadore Cammarano on Alzira for the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Solera and Piave worked together on Attila for La Fenice (March 1846). In April 1844, Verdi took on Emanuele Muzio , eight years his junior, as

5896-547: The Milanese world of music that were to stand him in good stead. These included an introduction by Lavigna to an amateur choral group, the Società Filarmonica , led by Pietro Massini. Attending the Società frequently in 1834, Verdi soon found himself functioning as rehearsal director (for Rossini's La Cenerentola ) and continuo player. It was Massini who encouraged him to write his first opera, originally titled Rocester , to

6030-507: The Neapolitan censor stating: "I'm drowning in a sea of troubles. It's almost certain that the censors will forbid our libretto." With no hope of seeing his Gustavo III staged as written, he broke his contract. This resulted in litigation and counter-litigation; with the legal issues resolved, Verdi was free to present the libretto and musical outline of Gustave III to the Rome Opera . There,

6164-674: The New York City Opera and played for two seasons to great acclaim\. Another critical success for Tulsa Opera in 1990 was the first staging of Le trouvère (the French language version of Verdi's Il trovatore ) in the United States using a new critical edition by musicologist, conductor, and Verdi scholar David Lawton. Lawton conducted the premiere with Margaret Jane Wray as Leonore, Craig Sirianni as Manrique, Greer Grimsley as Le Comte de Luna, and Barbara Conrad as Alzucena. This version

6298-917: The Night), Linda Roark-Strummer (1991, Minnie), and Maryanne Telese (1991, Cio-Cio-San); mezzo-sopranos Jane Bunnell (1991, Suzuki) and Judith Forst (1990, title role in La Cenerentola ; directed by Rosalind Elias ); tenors Richard Brunner (1989, Sam Polk), Carroll Freeman (1990, Don Ramiro), Peter Riberi (1991, Pinkerton) and Kip Wilborn (1991, Tamino); baritones Donnie Ray Albert (1992, Jack Rance), Cris Groenendaal (Captain Corcoran, 1992), Robert Honeysucker (1990, Alidoro), and Motti Kaston (1991, Sharpless); bass-baritone Jeffrey Wells (1989, Olin Blitch); and basses Pierre Charbonneau (1990, Don Magnifico), Claude Corbeil (1990, Dandini), and Peter Volpe (1989, Colline). Also notable

6432-476: The Officer, and he (the Officer) backs off. Bartolo and Basilio are astonished and mystified; Figaro laughs quietly at them. (Finale: "Fredda ed immobile, come una statua"; "Cold and still, just like a statue"). The confusion intensifies and causes everyone to suffer headaches and auditory hallucinations ("Mi par d'esser con la testa in un'orrida fucina; dell'incudini sonore l'importuno strepitar"; "My head seems to be in

6566-566: The Park Theatre. The cast of eight had three other members of his family, including the 17-year-old Maria-Felicia, later known as Maria Malibran . The role of Rosina was originally written for a contralto . According to music critic Richard Osborne, writing in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera , "it is important to record the degree to which singers have sometimes distorted Rossini's intentions. The most serious distortion has been

6700-535: The Philharmonic Society was Antonio Barezzi  [ it ] , a wholesale grocer and distiller, who was described by a contemporary as a "manic dilettante" of music. The young Verdi did not immediately become involved with the Philharmonic. By June 1827, he had graduated with honours from the Ginnasio and was able to focus solely on music under Provesi. By chance, when he was 13, Verdi was asked to step in as

6834-540: The Summer of 1987 to take a post as director of the Washington National Opera . Bernard Uzan succeeded him as director, but left after just one season with the company citing friction with Tulsa Opera's board. His tenure notably consisted of the company's first staging of The Tales of Hoffmann with Robert Grayson in the title role, Cyndia Sieden as Olympia, Cynthia Clarey as Nicklausse, and Eric Halfvarson as

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6968-743: The Tulsa Performing Arts Center (TPAC) was built. Since that time, nearly all operas have been presented in the Center's Chapman Music Hall. The first opera the company staged at the TPAC was Verdi's Aida in November 1977 with Gilda Cruz-Romo in the title role, Ermanno Mauro as Radames, John Macurdy as Ramfis, and Mignon Dunn as Amneris. In 1978 Beverly Sills returned to Tulsa Opera to perform Elvira in Bellini's I puritani with Enrico Di Giuseppe as Arturo and Samuel Ramey as Giorgio. That same year

7102-638: The administration of his newly acquired property at Sant'Agata. A growing estrangement between Verdi and his parents was perhaps also attributable to Strepponi (the suggestion that this situation was sparked by the birth of a child to Verdi and Strepponi which was given away as a foundling lacks any firm evidence). In January 1851, Verdi broke off relations with his parents, and in April they were ordered to leave Sant'Agata; Verdi found new premises for them and helped them financially to settle into their new home. It may not be coincidental that all six Verdi operas written in

7236-410: The age of 26. Verdi adored his wife and children and was devastated by their early deaths. Un giorno , a comedy, was premiered only a few months later. It was a flop and only given one performance. Following its failure, it is claimed Verdi vowed never to compose again, but in his Sketch he recounts how Merelli persuaded him to write a new opera. Verdi was to claim that he gradually began to work on

7370-410: The baton of local conductor Gerald Whitney. Impressed with the performance, Tulsa World owner Maud Lorton Meyers approached the company with the offer of financial support in exchange for a seat on the company's board of directors which was established in 1949. That same year she purchased a house at 1610 South Boulder in downtown Tulsa. This home served as both the headquarters for Tulsa Opera, and as

7504-496: The boy to attend school in Busseto, enrolling him in a Ginnasio —an upper school for boys—run by Don Pietro Seletti, while they continued to run their inn at Le Roncole. Verdi returned to Busseto regularly to play the organ on Sundays, covering the distance of several kilometres on foot. At age 11, Verdi received schooling in Italian, Latin, the humanities, and rhetoric. By the time he was 12, he began lessons with Ferdinando Provesi , maestro di cappella at San Bartolomeo, director of

7638-453: The cafes, when we play cards...; all in all, he doesn't go anywhere without me at his side; in the house we have a big table and we both write there together, and so I always have his advice." Muzio was to remain associated with Verdi, assisting in the preparation of scores and transcriptions, and later conducting many of his works in their premiere performances in the US and elsewhere outside Italy. He

7772-564: The cast. For Verdi, the performances were a personal triumph in his native region, especially as his father, Carlo, attended the first performance. Verdi remained in Parma for some weeks beyond his intended departure date. This fuelled speculation that the delay was due to Verdi's interest in Strepponi (who stated that their relationship began in 1843). Strepponi was in fact known for her amorous relationships (and many illegitimate children) and her history

7906-569: The censors demanded further changes; at this point, the opera took the title Un ballo in maschera . Arriving in Sant'Agata in March 1859 Verdi and Strepponi found the nearby city of Piacenza occupied by about 6,000 Austrian troops who had made it their base, to combat the rise of Italian interest in unification in the Piedmont region. In the ensuing Second Italian War of Independence the Austrians abandoned

8040-408: The censors. Verdi would not compromise: What does the sack matter to the police? Are they worried about the effect it will produce?...Do they think they know better than I?...I see the hero has been made no longer ugly and hunchbacked!! Why? A singing hunchback...why not?...I think it splendid to show this character as outwardly deformed and ridiculous, and inwardly passionate and full of love. I chose

8174-461: The company began hiring professional opera conductors such as Giuseppe Bamboschek to lead performances. Bamboschek notably conducted a highly lauded production of Giuseppe Verdi 's Il trovatore in the Spring of 1959 which starred Jussi Björling as Manrico, Elinor Ross as Leonora, Leonard Warren as Count di Luna, and Jean Madeira as Alzucena. In 1959 conductor Carlo Moresco was hired as artistic director of Tulsa Opera and Jeannette Turner

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8308-605: The company in succeeding years, including tenors Eugene Conley (1955, Faust) Barry Morrell (Cavaradossi, 1957) and Brian Sullivan (1955, Rodolfo); sopranos Licia Albanese (Tosca, 1957), Nadine Conner (1955, Mimì,) Dorothy Kirsten (1958, Cio-Cio-San), Marguerite Piazza (Violetta, 1954); mezzo-soprano Nell Rankin (1957, Carmen); baritones Walter Cassel (Scarpia, 1957); and dancers Roman Jasinski and Moscelyne Larkin (featured in Lucia di Lammermoor , 1958). In 1957 George Whitney stepped down as Tulsa Opera's conductor, and

8442-469: The company moved to the " Old Lady on Brady " and began hiring one or two professional singers per production; beginning with David Atkinson as Robert in Sigmund Romberg 's The New Moon . The company continued to present light operas and operettas twice yearly through 1953, including a production of Gustav Luders's The Prince of Pilsen which featured a young Rue McClanahan as a dancer. In 1953,

8576-704: The company restructured itself as a fully professional organization under the name Tulsa Opera; continuing to stage operas at the Tulsa Theater on Brady Street. From this point on all the principal roles were paid professionals, beginning in November 1953 with Giacomo Puccini 's Madama Butterfly , directed by Anthony Stivanello of the New York Grand Opera Company, with Tomiko Kanazawa as Cio-Cio-San, Giulio Gari as Pinkerton, and John Brownlee as Sharpless. Stivanello directed many of Tulsa Opera's productions through 1973. Many prominent artists performed with

8710-701: The company staged Mozart's Don Giovanni with Sherrill Milnes in the title role and Paul Plishka as Leperello. In 1979–1980 season, Purrington expanded Tulsa Opera's season from two annual production to three annual productions; a practice that has remained in place. That season included a double bill of Massanet's La Navarraise (with Nancy Shade as Anita and Jacque Trussel as Araquil) and Ruggero Leoncavallo 's Pagliacci , Richard Wagner 's Die Walküre (with Simon Estes giving his first performances of Wotan); and Johann Strauss II 's Die Fledermaus (1980, with Ashley Putnam as Rosalinda, Dale Duesing as Eisenstein, and Judith Somogi conducting). Somogi,

8844-412: The composer in attendance. That same year, Tulsa Opera produced a new version of Verdi's La traviata with designs by John Conklin that staged the opera in scenes within a disco bar, swimming pool, and modern hospital room. Starring Frances Ginsberg as Violetta and John de Haan as Alfredo, the production drew national attention. Muni & Conklin's production of the opera was purchased and presented by

8978-531: The composer or his librettists. In 1859, Verdi was elected as a member of the new provincial council, and was appointed to head a group of five who would meet with King Vittorio Emanuele II in Turin. They were enthusiastically greeted along the way and in Turin Verdi himself received much of the publicity. On 17 October Verdi met with Cavour , the architect of the initial stages of Italian unification. Later that year

9112-816: The composer's wrath. Nevertheless, he was to become Verdi's close collaborator in his final operas. The St. Petersburg premiere of La forza finally took place in September 1862, and Verdi received the Order of St. Stanislaus . A revival of Macbeth in Paris in 1865 was not a success, but he obtained a commission for a new work, Don Carlos , based on the play Don Carlos by Friedrich Schiller . He and Giuseppina spent late 1866 and much of 1867 in Paris, where they heard, and did not warm to, Giacomo Meyerbeer's last opera, L'Africaine , and Richard Wagner 's overture to Tannhäuser . The opera's premiere in 1867 drew mixed comments. While

9246-506: The condition that after a few months I would resign." Verdi was elected on 3 February 1861 for the town of Borgo San Donnino ( Fidenza ) to the Parliament of Piedmont-Sardinia in Turin (which from March 1861 became the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy ), but following the death of Cavour in 1861, which deeply distressed him, he scarcely attended. Later, in 1874, Verdi was appointed a member of

9380-414: The country has become a mania, madness, rage, and fury—anything you like that is exaggerated. He gets up almost with the dawn, to go and examine the wheat, the maize, the vines, etc....Fortunately our tastes for this sort of life coincide, except in the matter of sunrise, which he likes to see up and dressed, and I from my bed." Nonetheless, on 15 May, Verdi signed a contract with La Fenice for an opera for

9514-523: The couple attended a performance of Alexander Dumas fils ' s play The Lady of the Camellias ; Verdi immediately began to compose music for what would later become La traviata . After his visit to Rome for Il trovatore in January 1853, Verdi worked on completing La traviata , but with little hope of its success, due to his lack of confidence in any of the singers engaged for the season. Furthermore,

9648-679: The creation of twenty operas (excluding revisions and translations)—followed over the next sixteen years, culminating in Un ballo in maschera . This period was not without its frustrations and setbacks for the young composer, and he was frequently demoralised. In April 1845, in connection with I due Foscari , he wrote: "I am happy, no matter what reception it gets, and I am utterly indifferent to everything. I cannot wait for these next three years to pass. I have to write six operas, then addio to everything." In 1858 Verdi complained: "Since Nabucco , you may say, I have never had one hour of peace. Sixteen years in

9782-702: The critic Théophile Gautier praised the work, the composer Georges Bizet was disappointed at Verdi's changing style: "Verdi is no longer Italian. He is following Wagner." During the 1860s and 1870s, Verdi paid great attention to his estate around Busseto, purchasing additional land, dealing with unsatisfactory (in one case, embezzling) stewards, installing irrigation , and coping with variable harvests and economic slumps. In 1867, both Verdi's father Carlo, with whom he had restored good relations, and his early patron and father-in-law Antonio Barezzi, died. Verdi and Giuseppina decided to adopt Carlo's great-niece Filomena Maria Verdi, then seven years old, as their own child. She

9916-564: The cultural capital of northern Italy, where he applied unsuccessfully to study at the Conservatory . Barezzi made arrangements for him to become a private pupil of Vincenzo Lavigna  [ it ] , who had been maestro concertatore at La Scala , and who described Verdi's compositions as "very promising". Lavigna encouraged Verdi to take out a subscription to La Scala, where he heard Maria Malibran in operas by Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini . Verdi began making connections in

10050-482: The day he himself believed he was born. Verdi had a younger sister, Giuseppa, who died aged 17 in 1833. She is said to have been his closest friend during childhood. From age four Verdi was given private lessons in Latin and Italian by the village schoolmaster, Baistrocchi, and at six he attended the local school. After learning to play the organ, he showed so much interest in music that his parents finally provided him with

10184-504: The death of his mother in June 1851. The fact that this is "the one opera of Verdi's which focuses on a mother rather than a father" is perhaps related to her death. In the winter of 1851–52, Verdi decided to go to Paris with Strepponi, where he concluded an agreement with the Opéra to write what became Les vêpres siciliennes , his first original work in the style of grand opera . In February 1852,

10318-475: The departure of Turner at the end of 1974, opera director Edward Purrington of the Santa Fe Opera became general manager and artistic director, beginning on New Years day 1975. He remained in that position until the conclusion of Tulsa Opera's 1986–1987 season. The first production he oversaw was Giuseppe Verdi 's Rigoletto with Louis Quilico in the title role in the spring of 1975. That year also marked

10452-454: The fatherland cannot be evil-minded". Verdi had intended to return to Italy in early 1848, but was prevented by work and illness, as well as, most probably, by his increasing attachment to Strepponi. Verdi and Strepponi left Paris in July 1849, the immediate cause being an outbreak of cholera , and Verdi went directly to Busseto to continue work on completing his latest opera, Luisa Miller , for

10586-619: The fighters of the Risorgimento...this time the composer had given the movement its own opera" It was not until 1859 in Naples, and only then spreading throughout Italy, that the slogan "Viva Verdi" was used as an acronym for Viva V ittorio E manuele R e D ' I talia ( Viva Victor Emmanuel King of Italy) , (who was then king of Piedmont ). After Italy was unified in 1861, many of Verdi's early operas were increasingly re-interpreted as Risorgimento works with hidden Revolutionary messages that perhaps had not been originally intended by either

10720-413: The first opera he wrote without a specific commission (apart from Oberto ). At around the same time he began to consider creating an opera from Shakespeare's King Lear . After first (1850) seeking a libretto from Cammarano (which never appeared), Verdi later (1857) commissioned one from Antonio Somma , but this proved intractable, and no music was ever written. Verdi began work on Il trovatore after

10854-405: The following spring. This was to be Simon Boccanegra . The couple stayed in Paris until January 1857 to deal with these proposals, and also the offer to stage the translated version of Il trovatore as a grand opera. Verdi and Strepponi travelled to Venice in March for the premiere of Simon Boccanegra , which turned out to be "a fiasco" (as Verdi reported, although on the second and third nights,

10988-469: The four villains. Also heard that season was Camille Saint-Saëns 's Samson and Delilah with Florence Quivar as Dalila, William Johns as Samson, and Richard Sutliff as the High Priest. In 1988 Nicholas Muni was appointed artistic director of Tulsa Opera and Myrna Smart Ruffner was named general manager. In 1990 Tulsa Opera's Young Artists gave performances of Philip Glass 's The Juniper Tree with

11122-462: The galleys." After the initial success of Nabucco , Verdi settled in Milan, making a number of influential acquaintances. He attended the Salotto Maffei , Countess Clara Maffei 's salons in Milan, becoming her lifelong friend and correspondent. A revival of Nabucco followed in 1842 at La Scala where it received a run of fifty-seven performances, and this led to a commission from Merelli for

11256-576: The government of Emilia was subsumed under the United Provinces of Central Italy , and Verdi's political life temporarily came to an end. Whilst still maintaining nationalist feelings, he declined in 1860 the office of provincial council member to which he had been elected in absentia . Cavour however was anxious to convince a man of Verdi's stature that running for political office was essential to strengthening and securing Italy's future. The composer confided to Piave some years later that "I accepted on

11390-422: The idea of that metal"). Figaro advises the Count to disguise himself as a drunken soldier, ordered to be billeted with Bartolo, so as to gain entrance to the house. For this suggestion, Figaro is richly rewarded. A room in Bartolo's house with four doors The scene begins with Rosina's cavatina , "Una voce poco fa" ("A voice a little while ago"). (This aria was originally written in the key of E major , but it

11524-414: The illiterate peasants from which Verdi later liked to present himself as having emerged... Carlo Verdi was energetic in furthering his son's education...something which Verdi tended to hide in later life... [T]he picture emerges of youthful precocity eagerly nurtured by an ambitious father and of a sustained, sophisticated and elaborate formal education. In 1823, when he was 10, Verdi's parents arranged for

11658-524: The living quarters of the Sassano family. The current Tulsa Opera headquarters is still at this address, but with a different building that was built in 1975. In 1971 the company purchased adjacent properties to the original building which allowed for a parking lot and a much larger facility to be built. Following La traviata , the company initially presented light operas and operettas twice yearly at Will Rogers High School with mainly amateur performers. In 1950

11792-408: The lovers conspiring, and angrily drives everybody away. Berta vents about the crazy household ("Il vecchiotto cerca moglie"). A room in Bartolo's house with a grille looking out onto the square . Bartolo orders Basilio to have the notary ready to marry him to Rosina that evening. Basilio leaves and Rosina arrives. Bartolo shows Rosina the letter she wrote to "Lindoro" and persuades her that this

11926-403: The management insisted that the opera be given a historical, not a contemporary setting. The premiere in March 1853 was indeed a failure: Verdi wrote: "Was the fault mine or the singers'? Time will tell." Subsequent productions (following some rewriting) throughout Europe over the following two years fully vindicated the composer; Roger Parker has written " Il trovatore consistently remains one of

12060-534: The municipal music school and co-director of the local Società Filarmonica (Philharmonic Society). Verdi later stated: "From the ages of 13 to 18 I wrote a motley assortment of pieces: marches for band by the hundred, perhaps as many little sinfonie that were used in church, in the theatre and at concerts, five or six concertos and sets of variations for pianoforte, which I played myself at concerts, many serenades , cantatas ( arias , duets, very many trios) and various pieces of church music, of which I remember only

12194-447: The music for Nabucco , the libretto of which had originally been rejected by the composer Otto Nicolai : "This verse today, tomorrow that, here a note, there a whole phrase, and little by little the opera was written", he later recalled. By the autumn of 1841 it was complete, originally under the title Nabucodonosor . Well received at its first performance on 9 March 1842, Nabucco underpinned Verdi's success until his retirement from

12328-454: The next twenty years. This included major work on a square room that became his workroom, his bedroom, and his office. Having achieved some fame and prosperity, Verdi began in 1859 to take an active interest in Italian politics. His early commitment to the Risorgimento movement is difficult to estimate accurately; in the words of the music historian Philip Gossett "myths intensifying and exaggerating [such] sentiment began circulating" during

12462-469: The nineteenth century. An example is the claim that when the " Va, pensiero " chorus in Nabucco was first sung in Milan, the audience, responding with nationalistic fervour, demanded an encore. As encores were expressly forbidden by the government at the time, such a gesture would have been extremely significant. But in fact the piece encored was not "Va, pensiero" but the hymn "Immenso Jehova". The growth of

12596-406: The one...you're not fooling me?"). Although surprised by Bartolo, Rosina manages to fool him, but he remains suspicious. (Aria: "A un dottor della mia sorte"; "To a doctor of my class"). Count Almaviva, disguised as a soldier and pretending to be drunk, enters the house and demands to be quartered there. In fear of the drunken man, Berta the housekeeper rushes to Bartolo for protection. Bartolo tells

12730-413: The opera, and rehearsed the tenor separately. For several months Verdi was preoccupied with family matters. These stemmed from the way in which the citizens of Busseto were treating Giuseppina Strepponi, with whom he was living openly in an unmarried relationship. She was shunned in the town and at church, and while Verdi appeared indifferent, she was certainly not. Furthermore, Verdi was concerned about

12864-455: The orchestra had served as the longtime pit musicians of the opera company. Many musicians left Tulsa, and the cost and expense of bringing in instrumentalists into the city greatly reduced rehearsal times while simultaneously raising costs of productions. The establishment of the Tulsa Symphony in 2005 helped remediate some of that problem. From 2008 to 2016, the company’s artistic director

12998-508: The period 1849–1853 ( La battaglia, Luisa Miller, Stiffelio, Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata ), have, uniquely in his oeuvre, heroines who are, in the opera critic Joseph Kerman's words, "women who come to grief because of sexual transgression, actual or perceived". Kerman, like the psychologist Gerald Mendelssohn, sees this choice of subjects as being influenced by Verdi's uneasy passion for Strepponi. Verdi and Strepponi moved into Sant'Agata on 1 May 1851. May also brought an offer for

13132-441: The practice of inserting Alexander Alyabyev 's "Nightingale". In a recording of a La Scala performance in 1956, Maria Callas sang a shortened version of "Contro un cor", transposed up a tone, in E. Once after Patti had sung a particularly florid rendition of the opera's legitimate aria, "Una voce poco fa", Rossini is reported to have asked her: "Very nice, my dear, and who wrote the piece you have just performed?" The piece

13266-430: The premiere on 22 July 1847 at Her Majesty's Theatre , as well as the second performance. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert attended the first performance, and for the most part, the press was generous in its praise. For the next two years, except for two visits to Italy during periods of political unrest, Verdi was based in Paris. Within a week of returning to Paris in July 1847, he received his first commission from

13400-399: The reception improved considerably). With Strepponi, Verdi went to Naples early in January 1858 to work with Somma on the libretto of the opera Gustave III , which over a year later would become Un ballo in maschera . By this time, Verdi had begun to write about Strepponi as "my wife" and she was signing her letters as "Giuseppina Verdi". Verdi raged against the stringent requirements of

13534-482: The region and began to leave Lombardy, although they remained in control of the Venice region under the terms of the armistice signed at Villafranca . Verdi was disgusted at this outcome: "[W]here then is the independence of Italy, so long hoped for and promised?...Venice is not Italian? After so many victories, what an outcome... It is enough to drive one mad" he wrote to Clara Maffei. Verdi and Strepponi now decided on marriage; they travelled to Collonges-sous-Salève ,

13668-421: The rehearsals for the Naples production he wrote his string quartet , the only chamber music by him to survive, and the only major work in the form by an Italian of the 19th century. The Barber of Seville The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution ( Italian : Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione [il barˈbjɛːre di siˈviʎʎa osˈsiːa liˈnuːtile prekautˈtsjoːne] )

13802-521: The return of native Tulsan William Lewis, by this time a well established artist at the Metropolitan Opera, as Cavaradossi in Tosca . Carlo Moresco remained involved in a diminished capacity as a conductor during Purrington's early years with the company, making his final conducting appearance leading Verdi's Macbeth in 1977 with Marisa Galvany as Lady Macbeth and Quilico in the title role. In 1977,

13936-425: The reworked opera was now called, with a libretto rewritten by Temistocle Solera ) in November 1839. It achieved a respectable 13 additional performances, following which Merelli offered Verdi a contract for three more works. In 1838-1839 Verdi published his first music with the Milan publisher Giovanni Canti . While Verdi was working on his second opera Un giorno di regno , Margherita died of encephalitis at

14070-412: The same time as the cancellation of Tulsa Opera's two mainstage productions for the 2023–24 season, with budgetary issues being cited as the reason for the cancellation. Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( / ˈ v ɛər d i / ; Italian: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈverdi] ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas . He

14204-414: The same vein to Countess Maffei he stated: "I'm not doing anything. I don't read. I don't write. I walk in the fields from morning to evening, trying to recover, so far without success, from the stomach trouble caused me by I vespri siciliani . Cursed operas!" An 1858 letter by Strepponi to the publisher Léon Escudier describes the kind of lifestyle that increasingly appealed to the composer: "His love for

14338-505: The subject for these very qualities...if they are removed I can no longer set it to music. Verdi substituted a Duke for the King, and the public response and subsequent success of the opera all over Italy and Europe fully vindicated the composer. Aware that the melody of the Duke's song " La donna è mobile " ("Woman is fickle") would become a popular hit, Verdi excluded it from orchestral rehearsals for

14472-731: The theatre, twenty-nine operas (including some revised and updated versions) later. At its revival in La Scala for the 1842 autumn season it was given an unprecedented (and later unequalled) total of 57 performances; within three years it had reached (among other venues) Vienna, Lisbon, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris and Hamburg; in 1848 it was heard in New York, in 1850 in Buenos Aires. Porter comments that "similar accounts...could be provided to show how widely and rapidly all [Verdi's] other successful operas were disseminated." A period of hard work for Verdi—with

14606-509: The thematic material in Il barbiere di Siviglia itself. Luigi Zamboni , for whom Rossini wrote the role of Figaro, had urged Rossini and Francesco Sforza-Cesarini, the cash-strapped impresario of the Teatro Argentina, to engage his sister-in-law, Elisabetta Gafforini , as Rosina. However, her fee was too high and in the end they settled on Geltrude Righetti . The premiere of Rossini's opera at

14740-558: The three or four most popular operas in the Verdian repertoire: but it has never pleased the critics". In the eleven years up to and including Traviata , Verdi had written sixteen operas. Over the next eighteen years (up to Aida ), he wrote only six new works for the stage. Verdi was happy to return to Sant'Agata and, in February 1856, was reporting a "total abandonment of music; a little reading; some light occupation with agriculture and horses; that's all". A couple of months later, writing in

14874-442: The title heroine). Tulsa Opera has presented recitals by several prominent artists at the TPAC, including Luciano Pavarotti in 1981, Leontyne Price in 1986, and Joan Sutherland in 1987. Other singers to have performed with the company during Purrington's leadership were sopranos Josephine Barstow (1986, Manon Lescaut), Judith Blegen (1976, as Massanet's Manon ), Marisa Galvany (1985, Odabella), Valerie Masterson (1985,

15008-789: The title role in The Merry Widow ), Erie Mills (1981, Marie), Rosalind Plowright (1987, Elizabeth in Don Carlo ), and Sylvia Sass (1985, Tosca); mezzo-sopranos Fiorenza Cossotto (1984, Carmen); tenors William Johns (1982, Manrico), Jerry Hadley (1984, Arturo), Veriano Luchetti (1984, Don Jose), and Neil Shicoff (1986, Faust); baritone James Billings (1980, Frosch); bass-baritones James Morris (1980, Boris Godunov and Richard Stilwell (1982, Rossini's Figaro); basses Jerome Hines (1987, The Grand Inquisitor) and Giorgio Tozzi (1981, Sulpice); and actress Anna Russell (1981, The Duchess of Crakentorp). Purrington left Tulsa Opera in

15142-478: The twenty-year-old Arrigo Boito and Franco Faccio . Verdi had been invited to write a piece of music for the 1862 International Exhibition in London, and charged Boito with writing a text, which became the Inno delle nazioni . Boito, as a supporter of the grand opera of Giacomo Meyerbeer and an opera composer in his own right, was later in the 1860s critical of Verdi's "reliance on formula rather than form", incurring

15276-405: The two reconcile. While Almaviva and Rosina are enraptured by one another, Figaro keeps urging them to leave. Two people are heard approaching the front door. They are Basilio and the notary. The Count, Rosina, and Figaro attempt to leave by way of the ladder, but discover it has been removed. Using bribes and threats, Almaviva coerces the notary into marrying him to Rosina, with Basilio and Figaro as

15410-466: The upward transposition of the role of Rosina, turning her from a lustrous alto into a pert soprano." However, it has also been noted that Rossini, who frequently altered his music for specific singers, wrote a new aria for the second act for Joséphine Fodor-Mainvielle , a soprano who had sung Rosina in the 1818 London premiere, and sang the new aria c. 1820 at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris, where it

15544-648: The use of basso buffo , which is common in comic opera . The second performance, however, was successful. The original French play, Le Barbier de Séville , had a similar story: poorly received at first, only to become a favorite within a week. The opera was first performed in England on 10 March 1818 at the King's Theatre in London in Italian, soon followed on 13 October at the Covent Garden Theatre by an English version translated by John Fawcett and Daniel Terry . It

15678-429: The work of Paisiello triumphed for a time, only Rossini's version has stood the test of time and continues to be a mainstay of operatic repertoire. On 11 November 1868, two days before Rossini's death, the composer Constantino Dall'Argine  [ es ] (1842–1877) premiered an opera based on the same libretto as Rossini's work, bearing a dedication to Rossini. The premiere was not a failure, but critics condemned

15812-406: Was Kostis Protopapas , who had previously served as associate conductor and chorus master under Carol I. Crawford. Ken McConnell was appointed as interim general director and CEO in July 2018, and subsequently appointed to the full general director and CEO position. Tobias Picker was named to the post of artistic director in 2016, a position he held until 2022. In May 2019, Tulsa Opera presented

15946-494: Was able to reduce his operatic workload and sought to establish himself as a landowner in his native region. He surprised the musical world by returning, after his success with the opera Aida (1871), with three late masterpieces: his Requiem (1874), and the operas Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893). His operas remain extremely popular, especially the three peaks of his 'middle period': Rigoletto , Il trovatore and La traviata . The bicentenary of his birth in 2013

16080-404: Was an awkward factor in their relationship until they eventually agreed on marriage. After successful stagings of Nabucco in Venice (with twenty-five performances in the 1842/43 season), Verdi began negotiations with the impresario of La Fenice to stage I Lombardi , and to write a new opera. Eventually, Victor Hugo's Hernani was chosen, with Francesco Maria Piave as librettist. Ernani

16214-455: Was born near Busseto , a small town in the province of Parma , to a family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron, Antonio Barezzi. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini , Vincenzo Bellini , and Gaetano Donizetti , whose works significantly influenced him. In his early operas, Verdi demonstrated sympathy with

16348-621: Was chosen by Verdi as one of the executors of his will but predeceased the composer in 1890. After a period of illness, Verdi began work on Macbeth in September 1846. He dedicated the opera to Barezzi: "I have long intended to dedicate an opera to you, as you have been a father, a benefactor and a friend for me. It was a duty I should have fulfilled sooner if imperious circumstances had not prevented me. Now, I send you Macbeth , which I prize above all my other operas, and therefore deem worthier to present to you." In 1997 Martin Chusid wrote that Macbeth

16482-737: Was first performed in America on 3 May 1819 in English (probably the Covent Garden version) at the Park Theatre in New York . It was given in French at the Théâtre d'Orléans in New Orleans on 4 March 1823, and became the first opera ever to be performed in Italian in New York, when Manuel Garcia (who played Almaviva) and his Italian troupe opened their first season there with Il barbiere on 29 November 1825 at

16616-2111: Was hired as executive director. Moresco conducted all of the company's performances for the next sixteen years, and Turner served as the company's business manager through 1974. In 1962, in the midst of a strike at the Metropolitan Opera , Tulsa Opera was able to procure a star-studded cast of Met talent for a production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville with Roberta Peters as Rosina, Cesare Valletti as Almaviva, Frank Guarrera as Figaro, Salvatore Baccaloni as Bartolo, and stage director Dino Yannopolous. Other notable singers to perform under Moresco's baton included sopranos Gianna D'Angelo (Lucia, 1964), Jean Fenn (1971, Desdemona), Anna Moffo (Violetta, 1960), Maralin Niska (1973, Manon Lescaut), Beverly Sills (Violetta, 1967), Renata Scotto (1967, Cio-Cio-San), Gabriella Tucci (1969, Aida), Dorothy Warenskjold (1960, Mimi), and Teresa Żylis-Gara (1973, Leonora); mezzo-sopranos Frances Bible (1969, Orlofsky), Viorica Cortez (1972, Carmen), Muriel Costa-Greenspon (1965, The Mother in Hansel and Gretel ) and Mildred Miller (Cherubino, 1963); tenors John Alexander (1964, Edgardo), Norman Kelley (1965, The Witch in Hansel and Gretel ); Alfredo Kraus (1968, The Duke in Rigoletto ); Flaviano Labò (1960, Rodolfo), James McCracken (1971, Otello), Robert Nagy (1972, Don Jose), and Richard Tucker (Don Jose, 1962); baritones Cesare Bardelli (Scarpia, 1963), Napoléon Bisson (1960, Schaunard), Igor Gorin (1964, Ashton), Peter Glossop (1970, Scarpia), Chester Ludgin (1965, The Father in Hansel and Gretel ), and Cornell MacNeil (1973, Count Di Luna); bass-baritone Norman Treigle (1966, Mephistopheles); and basses Ezio Flagello (1970, Don Basilio), Bonaldo Giaiotti (1969, Ramfis), Nicola Moscona (1960, Colline) and Italo Tajo (1965, Dulcamara). After

16750-505: Was musical director) to oversee a production of Nabucco . The older composer, recognising Verdi's talent, noted in a letter of January 1844: "I am very, very happy to give way to people of talent like Verdi... Nothing will prevent the good Verdi from soon reaching one of the most honourable positions in the cohort of composers." Verdi travelled on to Parma, where the Teatro Regio di Parma was producing Nabucco with Giuseppina Strepponi in

16884-457: Was paid 12,000 lire (including supervision of the productions); Attila and Macbeth (1847), each brought him 18,000 lire. His contracts with the publishers Ricordi in 1847 were very specific about the amounts he was to receive for new works, first productions, musical arrangements, and so on. He began to use his growing prosperity to invest in land near his birthplace. In 1844 he purchased "Il Pulgaro", 62 acres (23 hectares) of farmland with

17018-475: Was published by Ricordi and the University of Chicago Press in 2001. This was followed by the United States premiere of Gioachino Rossini 's Armida on 29 February 1992 in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Rossini's birth with a cast the included Christine Weidinger in the title role, Thomas Young as Rinaldo, and Ronald Naldi as Ubaldo. A joint production by Tulsa Opera and Minnesota Opera, it involved

17152-515: Was published. The singing lesson in act 2 has often been turned into "a show-stopping cabaret". Adelina Patti was known to include Luigi Arditi 's "Il bacio", the Bolero from Verdi's I vespri siciliani , the Shadow Song from Meyerbeer's Dinorah , and Henry Bishop 's " Home! Sweet Home! ". Nellie Melba followed suit, accompanying herself on the piano in the final song. Pauline Viardot began

17286-452: Was staged." On hearing the news of the "Cinque Giornate", the "Five Days" of street fighting that took place between 18 and 22 March 1848 and temporarily drove the Austrians out of Milan, Verdi travelled there, arriving on 5 April. He discovered that Piave was now "Citizen Piave" of the newly proclaimed Republic of San Marco . Writing a patriotic letter to him in Venice, Verdi concluded "Banish every petty municipal idea! We must all extend

17420-516: Was successfully premiered in 1844 and within six months had been performed at twenty other theatres in Italy, and also in Vienna. The writer Andrew Porter notes that for the next ten years, Verdi's life "reads like a travel diary—a timetable of visits...to bring new operas to the stage or to supervise local premieres". La Scala premiered none of these new works, except for Giovanna d'Arco . Verdi "never forgave

17554-567: Was the US debut of British director Keith Warner, who directed Die Zauberfloete. Carol I. Crawford was appointed general director in 1993, and remained in that post until 2008. The original production of Rachel Portman 's The Little Prince (presented in Tulsa in 2005) was jointly produced and co-financed by the Tulsa Opera and several other opera companies, including the Houston Grand Opera ,

17688-542: Was the only one of Verdi's operas of his "early period" to remain regularly in the international repertoire, although in the 21st century Nabucco has also entered the lists. Strepponi's voice declined and her engagements dried up in the 1845 to 1846 period, and she returned to live in Milan whilst retaining contact with Verdi as his "supporter, promoter, unofficial adviser, and occasional secretary" until she decided to move to Paris in October 1846. Before she left Verdi gave her

17822-589: Was to marry in 1878 the son of Verdi's friend and lawyer Angelo Carrara and her family became eventually the heirs of Verdi's estate. Aida was commissioned by the Egyptian government for the opera house built by the Khedive Isma'il Pasha to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The opera house actually opened with a production of Rigoletto . The prose libretto in French by Camille du Locle , based on

17956-823: Was widely celebrated around the world in broadcasts and performances. Verdi, the first child of Carlo Giuseppe Verdi and Luigia Uttini, was born at their home in Le Roncole , a village near Busseto , then in the Département Taro and within the borders of the First French Empire . The baptismal register, prepared on 11 October 1813, lists his parents Carlo and Luigia as "innkeeper" and "spinner" respectively. Additionally, it lists Verdi as being "born yesterday", but since days were often considered to begin at sunset, this could have meant either 9 or 10 October. Following his mother, Verdi always celebrated his birthday on 9 October,

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