The Count Almaviva

[the-elegant-library]

Adelina Patti (1863)

by Franz Xaver Winterhalter.

[historicalsingers]

“When the little (gramophone) trumpet gave forth the beautiful tones, she went into ecstasies! She threw kisses into the trumpet and kept on saying, ‘Ah! Mon Dieu! Maintenant je comprends pourquoi je suis Patti! Oh oui! Quelle voix! Quelle artiste! Je comprends tout!’ Her enthusiasm was so naïve and genuine that the fact that she was praising her own voice seemed to us all to be right and proper.”

—From the autobiography of Patti’s accompanist Landon Ronald

[thecountalmaviva]

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. (ca. 1957)

[thecountalmaviva]

"The terminal Barber Shop at the Hotel Statler took on the aspect of real old times today, as four Met stars donned barber uniforms and teamed up in a "barbershop quartet" to serenade their barber, Famous 78 year old Joseph LaMacchia, to honor his 35th year with the chain. Met stars baritone Ettore Bastianini, shoe shine; Buffo Salvatore Baccaloni, manicures; Baritone Robert Merrill, shaves and basso Luben Vichey, trims the hair of their favorite barber. LaMacchia manifests more interest in their vocal talents than their tonsorial skills." (ca. 1955)

[thecountalmaviva]

Portrait of Isabella Colbran, whose voice was behind the leading roles of Rossini's Neapolitan operas. Colbran later became Rossini's wife.

[thecountalmaviva]

Soprano Giuditta Pasta and tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini, the original leads in Bellini's La Sonnambula. (ca. 1831)

[thecountalmaviva]

Caricature of Gaetano Majorano a.k.a Caffarelli by Pier Leone Ghezzi. (ca. 1740)

[thecountalmaviva]

A young Giuditta Pasta as Rossini's Desdemona (Otello) when she sang this role in Paris in the early 1820s. By David Pradier.

[thecountalmaviva]

Joyce DiDonato as Maria Stuarda, April 21st, 2012.

[thecountalmaviva]

A minute of Joyce DiDonato as Maria Stuarda, April 21st, 2012. Oh God, I NEED to see this! I don't know how, where and when! I just... NEED! Joyce sounds PERFECT... as usual!

[gestopft-deactivated20200103]

[thecountalmaviva]

"Maria Malibran as Leonora cross-dressed as Fidelio in the prison scene of Beethoven's Fidelio. London, October 10th, 1836".

[thecountalmaviva]

"This is a caricature on the public taste of the 1720s when Londoners flocked to popular entertainment and the fashionable opera rather than legitimate drama. At the right, crowds queue for the pantomime while masqueraders pour into the theatre on the left, overlooked by J.J.Heidegger, who devised this lucrative craze. The sign above is based on a caricature of the singers Senesino, Cuzzoni and Berenstadt. In the foreground, a woman wheels a barrow marked ‘waste paper’ - the works of Shakespeare, Congreve, Dryden and Otway. The caricature was the first independent work of William Hogarth, one of the greatest of English painters and satirists, and a shrewd commentator on the fashions and foibles of his age."

[thecountalmaviva]

Handel, Rossini, Chopin, Vivaldi and now, him. Happy birthday to the incomparable Heitor Villa-Lobos! One of my idols and one of the greatest composers of the 20th Century! No... one of the greatest composers of all time! Here, in this video, we got the wonderful soprano Sylvia Klein singing Villa's Canção de Amor from "A Floresta do Amazonas".

[thecountalmaviva]

Visit Original Link

Absolutely, one of my all time favorite arias. Incomparable beauty! Tristes apprêts from Rameau's Castor et Polux. (Veronique Gens under the direction of Christophe Rousset)

[thecountalmaviva]

"City more beautiful than the smile, bigger than the paradise, better than the temptation. Notable city, inimitable, more beautiful than any other one." ~ Noel Rosa My beautiful and incomparable home! PARABÉNS AMADO RIO! Happy birthday!

[theshoreofthewideworld-deactiva]

The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but it is the most difficult to play.

Richard Strauss (via theshoreofthewideworld)

[thecountalmaviva]

A young Giuseppe di Stefano in the beginning of his career.