opera: Media
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How Did Opera's Greatest Soprano Lose Her Voice?
Maria Callas is regarded as the world's greatest coloratura sopranoâif not the greatest...
Video: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Images
Jacopo Peri: L'Euridice
Title page of Jacopo Peri's opera L'Euridice, 1600. Set to a libretto by...
The Newberry Library, Pio Resse Collection, 1889 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Idomeneo
Performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Idomeneo, 2006.
Hans Klaus TechtâEPA/REX/Shutterstock.com
Kiri Te Kanawa
Kiri Te Kanawa as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro.
Reg Wilson/Shutterstock.com
Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Rossini, photograph by Ătienne Carjat, c. 1868.
George Eastman House Collection
The Barber of Seville
Performance of Gioachino Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville, 2011.
© Igor Bulgarin/Shutterstock.com
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini, portrait by an unknown artist; in La Scala Theatre Museum, Milan.
Courtesy of the Museo Teatrale alla Scala, Milan
Giuseppe Verdi
Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi was known for operas such as Rigoletto (1851).
© Juulijs/Fotolia
Franz von Lenbach: portrait of Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner, painting by Franz von Lenbach, 1882.
De Agostini Editore/age fotostock
scene from Carmen
Death scene from Georges Bizet's Carmen; from an 1880 production featuring...
Lafosse/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Poster for Giacomo Puccini's Tosca
Poster by Adolfo Hohenstein for Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca, 1906.
© Fine Art ImagesâHeritage Images/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Audio
Claudio Monteverdi: La favola d'Orfeo
An example of early operatic recitative, âTu sei morta, mia vita, ed io respire,â...
Claudio Monteverdi: Lamento d'Arianna
âDove, dov'Ăš la fede,â from Claudio Monteverdi's Lamento d'Arianna (1608;...
Claudio Monteverdi: The Coronation of Poppea
âAdagiati, Poppea,â from Act II of Claudio Monteverdi's opera L'incoronazione...
Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
Excerpt of âThanks to These Lonesome Valesâ from Dido and Aeneas by Henry...
George Frideric Handel: Giulio Cesare
Excerpt of âV'adoro, pupille, saette d'amoreâ (âI Adore You, Eyes, Lightning Bolts...
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Alceste, âDivinitĂ©s du Styxâ
Alceste's aria âDivinitĂ©s du Styxâ in Act I of Christoph Willibald Gluck's Alceste;...
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice, âChiamo il mio ben cosĂŹâ
Orfeo's aria âChiamo il mio ben cosĂŹâ in Act I of Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orfeo...
Christoph Willibald Gluck: IphigĂ©nie en Aulide, Agamemnon's aria, âO Diana, dea spietataâ
Agamemnon's aria (sung in Italian), âO Diana, dea spietata,â in Act I of Christoph...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die EntfĂŒhrung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio)
Excerpt of âMartern aller Artenâ (âTorments of all Kindsâ) from Die EntfĂŒhrung...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni
The aria âMadamina, il catalogo e questoâ (âMy dear lady, this is a listâ); from...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: CosĂŹ fan tutte
The recitativo âSorella, cosa dici?â (âSister, what do you say?â), from Act II, scene...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: CosĂŹ fan tutte
The aria âDonne mie la fate a tanti a tantiâ (âDear ladies, you treat so many thusâ),...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
Excerpt of the Queen of the Night's aria âDer Hölle Racheâ (âThe Wrath of Hellâ)...
Gioachino Rossini: Il Turco in Italia
Donna Fiorilla and Selim duet, âPerchĂ© una fiamma insolita,â in Act I of Gioachino...
Gioachino Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)
Rosina's cavatina âUna voce poco faâ in Act I of Gioachino Rossini's Il barbiere...
Gioachino Rossini: William Tell
Overture from Gioachino Rossini's William Tell; from a 1952 recording by...
Vincenzo Bellini: Norma, âCasta divaâ
Norma's cavatina, âCasta diva,â in Act I of Vincenzo Bellini's Norma; from...
Jacques Offenbach: Barbe-Bleue
Excerpt of âJe suis Barbe-Bleueâ (âI Am Bluebeardâ) from Jacques Offenbach's Barbe-Bleue...
Carl Maria von Weber: Der FreischĂŒtz, Hunters' chorus, âWas gleicht wohl auf Erden dem JĂ€gervergnĂŒgen?â
Hunters' chorus, âWas gleicht wohl auf Erden dem JĂ€gervergnĂŒgen?â in Act III of Carl...
Giuseppe Verdi: Rigoletto, âLa donna Ăš mobileâ
Duc de Mantoue's aria âLa donna Ăš mobileâ in Act III, scene 2, of Giuseppe Verdi's...
Giuseppe Verdi: La traviata
Historical recording (1919) of Amelita Galli-Curci singing âSempre liberaâ (âAlways...
Giuseppe Verdi: Aida, âRitorna vincitor!â
Aida's aria âRitorna vincitor!â in Act I, scene 1, of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida;...
Giuseppe Verdi: Otello, âFuoco di gioiaâ
Chorus of the Cypriots, âFuoco di gioia,â in Act I, scene 1, of Giuseppe Verdi's...
Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff, âSul fil d'un soffio etesioâ
Nannetta's aria (as the Fairy Queen) âSul fil d'un soffio etesio,â in Act III, scene...
Richard Wagner: Der Fliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman), Senta's ballad, âJohohoe! Johohohoe! Hohohoe! Johoe! Traft ihr das Schiff im Meere anâ
Senta's ballad, âJohohoe! Johohohoe! Hohohoe! Johoe! Traft ihr das Schiff im Meere...
Richard Wagner: TannhÀuser, overture
Overture from Richard Wagner's TannhÀuser; from a 1953 recording by the...
Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
The Prelude to Act I of Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (1857â59; first...
Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, âEinsam wachend in der Nachtâ
BrangĂ€ne's âEinsam wachend in der Nacht,â in Act II of Richard Wagner's Tristan...
Richard Wagner: Das Rheingold (âThe Rhine Goldâ), âWeia! Waga! Woge du Welleâ
Rhine maidens motive, âWeia! Waga! Woge du Welle,â in scene 1 of Richard Wagner's...
Richard Wagner: Parsifal, âNun achte wohl; und lass mich seh'nâ
Gurnemanz: âNun achte wohl; und lass mich seh'nâ in Act I of Richard Wagner's Parsifal;...
audio of singer Geraldine Farrar
Geraldine Farrar singing âChanson bohĂšmeâ from Georges Bizet's Carmen, recorded...
Gustave Charpentier: Louise
Historical recording (1926) of Mary Garden singing âDepuis le jourâ (âSince the Dayâ)...
Claude Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
âAh! Je respire enfin!â in Act III, scene 3, of Claude Debussy's PellĂ©as et MĂ©lisande,...
Giacomo Puccini: Tosca
Historical recording (1908) of Emma Eames singing âVissi d'arteâ from Giacomo Puccini's...
Modest Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
Prologue (âLong Live Tsar Boris Feodorovichâ) from Modest Mussorgsky's Boris...
recording of an excerpt from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin
Excerpt of âLjubvi vse vozrasti pokornyâ ("Everyone Knows Love on Earth") from Pyotr...
Arnold Schoenberg: Die glĂŒckliche Hand
âJa, o ja! Das Bluhen, o Sehnsucht,â from Scene 2 of Arnold Schoenberg's Die...
Arnold Schoenberg: Die glĂŒckliche Hand
âMusstest du's wieder erleben,â from Scene 4 of Arnold Schoenberg's Die glĂŒckliche...
Alban Berg: Wozzeck
âForest Path by a Poolâ, from Act III Scene 2 in Alban Berg's opera Wozzeck...
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