Ravel's opera L'enfant et les sortilèges (written from 1917 to 1925), to a libretto by Colette, is premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
After being offered the opportunity to write a musical work, Colette wrote the text in eight days. Several composers had proposed to Colette that she write to music, but she was only excited by the prospect of Ravel.
Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly premiered at La Scala in Milan to poor reviews, forcing him to revise the opera.
This was due in part to a late completion by Puccini, which gave inadequate time for rehearsals. Puccini revised the opera, splitting the second act in two, with the Humming Chorus as a bridge to what became Act III, and making other changes.
Verdi's last opera, Falstaff premieres at La Scala, Milan.
The Italian-language libretto was adapted by Arrigo Boito from the play The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, by William Shakespeare.
Claudio Monteverdi's last opera L'incoronazione di Poppea was performed theatrically for the first time in more than 250 years.
Two versions of the musical score of L'incoronazione exist, both from the 1650s. The first was rediscovered in Venice in 1888, the second in Naples in 1930. The Naples score is linked to the revival of the opera in that city in 1651.
Honestly I never really got the whole opera thing, but now I am suspecting they were teaching it wrong in Music class. This book was a wild ride, more adventurous than any novel a writer could have come up with. Da Ponte is a holy fool, a hopeless romantic, a charming idiot, an annoying genius, an easy mark, a talented poet, a self-absorbed weirdo, and an all-around fascinating character.
La bohème premieres in Turin at the Teatro Regio (Turin), conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini.
It is based on Scènes de la vie de bohème (1851) by Henri Murger, a collection of vignettes portraying young bohemians living in the Latin Quarter of Paris in the 1840s.
“Ramsay ‘transformed the genre of the pastoral drama by bending it in a more “realistic” direction’. This is where Ramsay enters a rather heated and complicated British context.”
—Craig Lamont unpacks Allan Ramsay’s THE GENTLE SHEPHERD
The Gentle Shepherd 29 March, Edinburgh Tickets from £16.96
Allan Ramsay’s pastoral comedy was first published 300 years ago, in 1725. Through the inclusion of traditional songs & music, Ramsay adapted his work into a ballad opera, earning it the title of “the first Scottish opera”.
This concert retelling is performed by Stephanie Stanway (soprano), Christian Schneeberger (tenor) & Derek Clark (harpsichord).
Giacomo Puccini's Tosca opens in Rome. The young Enrico Caruso had hoped to create the role of Cavaradossi, but was passed over in favour of the more experienced Emilio De Marchi. The performance was to be directed by Nino Vignuzzi, with stage designs by Adolfo Hohenstein.
Here are the results of my "What is your favorite browser?" survey, here on Mastodon. These are some very interesting results.
It is clear that the incumbents are not getting a lot of love. Edge gets 2% and Chrome gets 5%. These browsers are widely used, but not very popular, based on this survey.
Safari does a lot better at 16%, the same as Vivaldi. The enthusiasm level from those that use Vivaldi is high and plenty of people also mention Vivaldi as a secondary option.
Opera gets just 1%.
Firefox gets 60%, so clearly a strong showing here in the Fediverse, although many say they use Firefox only because they do not want to use a Chromium based browser.
The cool part is then that 13% say they prefer another browser. Plenty of smaller browsers getting a mention, which is nice.
If you notice that the total is higher …
Here are the results of my "What is your favorite browser?" survey, here on Mastodon. These are some very interesting results.
It is clear that the incumbents are not getting a lot of love. Edge gets 2% and Chrome gets 5%. These browsers are widely used, but not very popular, based on this survey.
Safari does a lot better at 16%, the same as Vivaldi. The enthusiasm level from those that use Vivaldi is high and plenty of people also mention Vivaldi as a secondary option.
Opera gets just 1%.
Firefox gets 60%, so clearly a strong showing here in the Fediverse, although many say they use Firefox only because they do not want to use a Chromium based browser.
The cool part is then that 13% say they prefer another browser. Plenty of smaller browsers getting a mention, which is nice.
If you notice that the total is higher than 100%, then that is because I allowed people to select more than one browser, although most did not.
If you are still using Chrome or Edge, maybe it is time to try something new? You have a choice!
Italian mezzo-soprano Faustina Bordoni died #OTD in 1781.
She became the principal performer of her husband Johann Adolph Hasse. In 1731 she was the leading lady in Hasse's Cleophis with Domenico Annibali in the premiere in Dresden.
Don Giovanni: Ilya Lapich Commendatore: Sung Ha Donna Anna: Megan Marie Hart Don Ottavio: Raphael Wittmer Donna Elvira: Shachar Lavi Leporello: Marcel Brunner Masetto: Eric Ander Zerlina: Nataliia Shumska
Conductor: Anton Legkii Operachoir & Orchestra of the Nationaltheater Mannheim
Premiere in Milan of the opera Ascanio in Alba, composed by Mozart at age 15.
This is a pastoral opera in two parts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Parini. It was commissioned by the Empress Maria Theresa for the wedding of her son, Archduke Ferdinand Karl, to Maria Beatrice d'Este on 15 October 1771.
Euridice, the earliest surviving opera, receives its première performance, beginning the Baroque period.
It is is an opera by Jacopo Peri, with additional music by Giulio Caccini. The opera was first performed in Florence at the Palazzo Pitti with Peri himself singing the role of Orfeo.
