Portal:Opera/DYK/Did you know?

The following is a list of Opera-related WP:DYKs that have previously appeared at Template:DYK. Did you know....

DYKs which have already been added to the Opera Portal rotation are marked . When adding a new DYK here, add to the top of the relevant section. For DYKs which have not been added to the portal yet, it is helpful to include a link to the relevant Wikipedia:Recent additions archive in which it appears. This will be required for sourcing when the DYKs are added to the rotation.

Companies

... that in the past three years, Odyssey Opera has performed the Boston premieres of Korngold's Die tote Stadt and Massenet's El Cid? (2 Dec 2015)
... that the opera house for the Dresden court, Opernhaus am Taschenberg (pictured), opened in 1667 and was dedicated as a church in 1708? (17 December 2014)
... that over 210,000 tickets were sold in the 1867 lottery in which Chicago's Crosby's Opera House (pictured) was one of the prizes? (7 August 2014)
... that according to one reviewer, the productions of the Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company "can match a West End show"? (1 July 2014)
... that during its centenary season, the Theater Kiel premiered an opera, Cristóbal Halffter's Lázaro, in the 1907 Opernhaus (pictured)? (27 February 2014)

... that the Staatstheater Darmstadt opened a new theatre building in 1972? (1 August 2013)
... that the Staatstheater Mainz and the University of Mainz collaborated on the program "Mathematics and Physics in the World of Sound"? (31 July 2013)
... that in the Opernhaus Wuppertal production of The Rite of Spring (revival pictured), choreographed by Pina Bausch, the dancers performed on a stage covered with soil? (30 July 2013)
... that Royal Tunbridge Wells has a church dedicated to King Charles I that had no vicar for 33 years, an opera house that became a pub, and a rugby club whose alumni include an RFU regional administrator and aftershave-drinking Colin Smart? (8 March 2013)

... that the Vienna "pocket opera" Wiener Taschenoper took children to John Cage's A House Full of Music and adults on Stockhausen's Michael's Journey Around the Earth? (3 August 2012)
... that Berlin's Theater des Westens (pictured) was the stage for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes with Anna Pavlova, the premiere of Henze's opera König Hirsch, and the premiere in German of My Fair Lady? (18 February 2012)
... that Voltaire's tragedy Olimpie premiered in 1762 and Henze's opera Elegie für junge Liebende in 1961 at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen (pictured)? (12 December 2011)
... that the Lope de Vega Theater (pictured) in Seville has twice been flooded by the Guadalquivir river? (6 December 2011)
... that in 2011 the annual festival Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, founded in 1896 after the model of the Bayreuth Festival, opened at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (pictured) with the first performance in German of Rodion Shchedrin's opera Lolita? (6 May 2011)
... that Piper's Opera House (pictured) was used by boxing champion Gentleman Jim Corbett as a training facility in preparation for his title bout with Bob Fitzsimmons? (21 April 2011)
... that the original walk-in safe from a bank that once occupied the first floor of the Wheeler Opera House (pictured) in Aspen, Colorado, is still on display in the lobby? (17 April 2011)
... that the Musiktheater im Revier (pictured) in Gelsenkirchen staged a new musical for the 100th anniversary of the soccer club FC Schalke 04 in 2004? (6 February 2011)

... that the Opernhaus Dortmund was opened in 1966 with Der Rosenkavalier, performed in Dortmund first in 1911? (28 August 2010)
... that the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company started in 1924, but went bankrupt after the Wall Street Crash of 1929? (12 March 2010)

... that the Opera Krakowska, one of the leading Polish opera companies, founded in 1954, moved into its first permanent house only in 2008?

(15 July 2009)

... that the Royal Opera House in Mumbai is India's only surviving opera house? (14 July 2009)
... that an early Washington National Opera, unrelated to its modern namesake, presented Bidu Sayão in her 1936 U.S. operatic debut with organ, not orchestra, accompaniment owing to a financial dispute? (7 May 2009)
... that the Cobb and Frost-designed Chicago Opera House, built 1884–85, was one of the first buildings constructed using general contracting? (2 January 2009)

... that the Woodland Opera House was the first opera house to serve the Sacramento Valley? (29 November 2008)
... that Süreyya Opera House in Istanbul, built in 1927 as a musical theater but used all the time as a cinema, gained its intended status only in 2007 after redevelopment? (30 October 2008)
... that the Manila Grand Opera House also served as a theater, residence, cinema and nightclub before its original building was demolished and re-constructed as a hotel? (17 August 2008)
... that Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù (pictured), founded in 1720, was the first modern opera theatre in Greece? (27 June 2008)
... that the Neoclassical Hollywood Masonic Temple (pictured) has been used as a Masonic Lodge, opera house, and nightclub, and is now the home of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! television show? (29 May 2008)

..that the Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater, in Lviv, Ukraine combines details of the Renaissance and Baroque architecture? (13 August 2006)

... that in exchange for shutting down the Manhattan Opera Company and refraining from producing opera in the United States for ten years, Oscar Hammerstein I received over a million dollars from the Metropolitan Opera?
...that the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie is the oldest continuously operating theater in New York State? (3 March 2007)
...that Catherine the Great wrote several comedies and an opera libretto for the productions of the Hermitage Theatre (pictured) in Saint Petersburg? (7 March 2006)

...that the Cork Opera House in Ireland was built in 1855, burned down in 1955, and rebuilt in 1963? (8 September 2004)
...that Beijing opera did not originate in Beijing but in the Chinese provinces of Anhui and Hubei? (26 April 2004)
...that the Auditorium Building in Chicago, Illinois was intended to rival New York City's Metropolitan Opera House? (30 March 2004)

Composers

... that Louisa Melvin Delos Mars was one of the first black women to achieve recognition as a composer? (25 Mar 2016)
... that the composer Joseph Maria Wolfram became mayor of Teplice? (20 October 2014)
... that Irénée Berge composed the opera Corsica and silent film music? (22 March 2014)

... that Reinhard Febel composed an opera on Caspar Hauser, Sekunden und Jahre des Caspar Hauser, which premiered in 1992 at the Opernhaus Dortmund? (30 November 2011)
... that Il sogno di Scipione, an opera by Luca Antonio Predieri, was first performed in 1735 to celebrate the birthday of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor? (13 October 2011)
... that Miguel Ángel Coria's first opera, Belisa, based on Lorca's play Amor de Don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín, premiered in 1992 at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid? (11 September 2011)
... that Iván Erőd composed a Sinfonietta called Minnesota Sinfonietta, an opera titled Silk Worms, and a song cycle for soprano and chamber orchestra, named Baby Tooth Songs? (17 August 2011)
... that the opera Die Stadt hinter dem Strom, composed by Hans Vogt and based on Hermann Kasack's novel of the same name, was first staged at the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden in 1955? (11 June 2011)
... that millionaire banker Baron Frédéric Alfred d'Erlanger was also a noted composer who wrote an opera based on Thomas Hardy's novel, Tess of the d'Urbervilles? (10 June 2011)
... that "Musica proibita" by Italian composer Stanislao Gastaldon (pictured) was the first of six songs for which he also wrote the lyrics under the pseudonym "Flick-Flock"? (18 May 2011)
... that Christoph Schlingensief died before the Berlin premiere of the opera which he had staged, Metanoia. Über das Denken hinaus by Jens Joneleit, conducted by Daniel Barenboim? (18 April 2011)
... that playwright Franz Xaver Kroetz turned his controversial play Stallerhof into an opera libretto for Gerd Kühr, which premiered at the Munich Biennale? (18 April 2011)
... that the story of Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, the topic of Sandeep Bhagwati's opera for the 1998 Munich Biennale, was considered fit for a film? (13 April 2011)
... that Detlev Glanert's opera Caligula, after the play by Albert Camus on the cruel Roman emperor, was first staged at the Oper Frankfurt in 2006? (12 April 2011)
... that the 1859 symphonic work Hiawatha composed by Robert Stoepel (pictured) is based on Longfellow's epic poem The Song of Hiawatha? (10 March 2011)

... that Prenkë Jakova wrote Mrika, the first Albanian opera, which premiered in 1958? (11 October 2010)
... that Philip Michael Faraday authored a standard book on property taxes before writing comic operas, including the curtain raiser to H.M.S. Pinafore? (6 September 2010)
... that although Aniceto Ortega had a distinguished career as a physician and surgeon in Mexico, he is also remembered today for his 1871 opera Guatimotzin? (9 April 2010)
... that Sir Henry Bate Dudley not only chronicled the life of Gainsborough but also wrote the comic opera The Flitch of Bacon (1 March 2010)

... that Jean Nouguès is believed to have written the first opera specifically composed for gramophone recording? (10 December 2009)
... that Violeta Dinescu composed the children's opera Der 35. Mai based on The 35th of May, or Conrad's Ride to the South Seas by Erich Kästner? (11 November 2009)
... that a witch-hunt in 1590 inspired Hans Wiers-Jenssen's 1908 play Anne Pedersdotter, which was the basis for an opera by Respighi from 1934, a film from 1943, and a second opera by Edvard Fliflet Bræin from 1971? (3 November 2009)
... that an electronic opera Raab by the Czech composer Jaroslav Krček was banned by the communist regime in 1972? (26 January 2009)

... that the latest opera by composer Andy Vores is a 2008 chamber opera adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit? (12 August 2008)
... that Tunisian writer, actor, and director of theatre Mohamed Driss paid tribute to the historian Ibn Khaldoun by writing an opera in his honor? (2 June 2008)

...that American composer Stephen Paulus gained fame with a 1982 opera based on The Postman Always Rings Twice, one of his nine operas? (20 December 2006)
...that Antonio Bagioli, musical director for one of the first Italian opera companies to tour the United States, stayed behind for love, rather than continuing on to Cuba? (17 August 2007)
...that composer Veniamin Fleishman was killed early in WWII before he could complete his opera Rothschild's Violin, but that his teacher Dmitri Shostakovich rescued his sketches from besieged Leningrad, and completed the opera? (9 July 2006)
...that Russian composer Ella Adayevskaya took her pseudonym from the notes played by the kettledrum in Mikhail Glinka's opera Ruslan and Ludmila? (25 June 2006)

...that William Bergsma wrote an opera about a dog who turned into a man in 1920s Moscow as the result of a crazy experiment? (25 May 2005)

... that composer Egidio Duni was particularly influential in creating a new genre of opera which blended Italian opera elements with traditional French ones? (25 January 2009)
... that following the London premiere of Fabio Campana's opera Esmeralda in 1870 (Adelina Patti pictured in the title role), The Saturday Review pronounced it "irredeemably bad"?"
... that 17th-century Italian composer Filippo Acciaiuoli was also an inventor of machines used for theatrical effects in operas and plays?
... that the majority of the more than 90 stage works composed by Thomas Arne (pictured) are now lost, probably destroyed in the disastrous fire at Covent Garden in 1808?
... that composer Michael Arne's obsession for alchemy and the search for the philosopher's stone led him into serious financial problems resulting in his arrest and confinement in a Dublin sponging-house?
... that composer Jonathan Battishill once performed several airs from Samuel Arnold's oratorio The Prodigal Son without the sheet music, and after not hearing the work for more than 20 years?

Operas

... that an Earnest performance necessitates the rhythmic smashing of forty dinner plates? (15 Apr 2016)
... that upon its 1641 premiere in Venice, the opera La finta pazza was performed twelve times in seventeen days? (5 Apr 2016)
... that the premiere of Arthur Honegger's first opera, Antigone, was staged in sets by Picasso and costumes by Coco Chanel? (17 Mar 2016)
... that the 1835 opera La casa disabitata, composed by Princess Amalie of Saxony, received its first modern performance in 2012 after its previously lost score was discovered in a library in Moscow? (2 Mar 2016)
... that the 1753 opera Ciro in Armenia was created by Maria Teresa Agnesi Pinottini, one of the earliest female Italian opera composers? (21 Feb 2016)
... that no more than twelve people at a time can ascertain what is found and lost at a London hotel? (14 Feb 2016)

... that Sophie's choice took an hour less in Washington than in London? (7 May 2015)
... that Figaro's divorce will take place in Cardiff more than two centuries after his marriage? (29 March 2015)
... that the premiere of Erik Bergman's only full-length opera, Det sjungande trädet (The Singing Tree), was delayed for over a year because of its complex staging requirements? (27 March 2015)
... that the opera La Loca (The Madwoman) was written as a vehicle for Beverly Sills in honor of her 50th birthday? (6 March 2015)
... that Ralph Benatzky wrote the libretto and music for Meine Schwester und ich, a "more intellectual, more cabaret-style" operetta which premiered in Berlin in 1930? (25 February 2015)
... that although Aulis Sallinen (pictured) composed Kullervo for the opening of Helsinki's new national opera house, it was first performed in Los Angeles? (24 February 2015)
.. that in Roger Scruton's musical vision of the eccentric love-life of Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, a leading lady is sung by a baritone? (4 February 2015)
... that The sacred duck was seen widely across Germany until the Third Reich silenced it? (2 February 2015)

... that music from Joaquin Turina's opera Margot (libretto cover pictured) about a Parisian courtesan has become a popular piece during the processions of Holy Week in Seville? (28 December 2014)
... that Giacomo Orefice's 1901 opera Chopin, based very loosely on Chopin's life, has been called "a kitsch contribution to the last vestiges of late 19th-century romanticized bohemianism"? (10 August 2014)
... that the climax of the opera L'ultimo giorno di Pompei by Giovanni Pacini is the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79? (20 February 2014)
... that Les cadeaux de Noël, an opera in one act by Xavier Leroux, premiered on Christmas Day at the Opéra-Comique during World War I? (26 December 2013)

... that Mozart wrote a cat duet for The Philosophers' Stone? (9 August 2013)
... that Franz von Suppé's operetta Fatinitza stars a Russian army lieutenant who, while dressed as a woman, wins the love of a hot-tempered elderly general? (30 July 2013)
... that the opera Die Hamletmaschine by Wolfgang Rihm has been described as "a total theatre of sound and nonnarrative, ritualistic drama"? (29 July 2013)
... that Krzysztof Meyer's opera Cyberiada is based on a series of humorous science fiction stories by Stanislaw Lem? (26 July 2013)
... that the "fantasy opera" Gormenghast by Irmin Schmidt was performed at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Völklingen Ironworks? (22 July 2013)
... that the title role of Boris Blacher's last opera, Yvonne, Prinzessin von Burgund, is performed by a mute dancer? (17 July 2013)
... that Bluthochzeit (Blood Wedding), Wolfgang Fortner's opera based on García Lorca's play Bodas de sangre, premiered in 1957 at the Cologne Opera (pictured)? (9 July 2013)
... that the first production of Ghost Patrol, a chamber opera composed by Stuart MacRae, won the 2013 South Bank Sky Arts Award for Opera? (29 March 2013)
... that in the first version of the chamber opera In the Penal Colony, based on the short story by Franz Kafka, composer Philip Glass (pictured) included the character of Kafka as narrator? (11 March 2013)
... that the appearances of Maria Malibran (pictured) in Nicola Vaccai's opera Giovanna Gray marked the last time she performed at La Scala? (6 March 2013)

... that Hans Pfitzner (pictured) composed Das Christ-Elflein (The Little Elf of Christ, sometimes given as The Little Christmas Elf) first as incidental music, then in 1917 as an opera? (25 December 2012
... that Pauline Duvernay (pictured) rose apparently naked from a cauldron surrounded by demons in Fromental Halévy's opera-ballet La tentation? (22 March 2012)
... that Jonathan Harvey visited Chamonix to sample a thunderclap for use in his opera Wagner Dream? (13 February 2012)
... that Mikhail Sokolovsky's 1779 opera The miller who was a wizard, a cheat and a matchmaker was for many years mistakenly attributed to Yevstigney Fomin? (17 January 2012)

... that Gavin Bryars's Doctor Ox's Experiment is the third opera to be based on Jules Verne's science fiction novella "Dr. Ox's Experiment"? (19 December 2011)
... that Marco da Gagliano's opera La Flora (libretto pictured) was first performed on 14 October 1628 to celebrate the marriage of Margherita de' Medici and Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma? (21 September 2011)
... that the career of soprano Cornélie Falcon (pictured), star of the Paris Opéra, collapsed after she lost her voice in 1837 performing in the opera Stradella by Louis Niedermeyer? (23 June 2011)
... that the libretto for Phyllis Tate's opera The Lodger was written by singer and broadcaster David Franklin? (7 June 2011)
... that Rodion Shchedrin's opera Lolita, which uses a Russian-language libretto based on Nabokov's novel, was performed in German in the presence of the composer and his wife (pictured)? (14 May 2011)
... that Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s new opera about student activism, Kommilitonen!, was intended to be performed by students? (16 April 2011)
... that, in 1869, Johannes Brahms conducted the chamber opera Le dernier sorcier (The Last Sorcerer), composed by Pauline Viardot to a French libretto by Ivan Turgenev? (11 March 2011)
... that Patience and Sarah has been called the first lesbian opera?

(8 January 2011)

... that Louis Gruenberg's The Emperor Jones was available to premiere at New York City's Metropolitan Opera because an opera by a Jew about a black was not wanted in Berlin in 1933? (26 December 2010)
... that after Rosa Ponselle created the role of Carmelita in Joseph Breil's "Lyric Tragedy in One Act" The Legend (libretto pictured) at the Met, she burned her copy of the score? (24 December 2010)
... that The Pretty Druidess (1869) was the last of W. S. Gilbert's early operatic burlesques, written before the Gilbert and Sullivan operas? (22 November 2010)
... that the first Klingon language opera, ’u’, premiered at The Hague on 9 September 2010? (16 September 2010)
... that Tsar Alexander II of Russia had a monument (pictured) erected in an English churchyard to commemorate Finnish prisoners of war whose story inspired a 2007 opera? (15 September 2010)
... that Austrian composer Franz Schreker's most successful opera Der Schatzgräber was performed 354 times in over fifty cities between 1920 and 1925? (14 August 2010)
... that it took until 2010 for Franz Schreker's opera Die Gezeichneten, premiered in 1918 in Frankfurt, to appear in the Western Hemisphere as The Stigmatized? (14 August 2010)
... that Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold (of Hollywood film score fame) composed his first opera, Der Ring des Polykrates, when he was only seventeen years old? (8 August 2010)
... that according to official North Korean sources, the opera The Flower Girl was written exclusively by North Korean leader Kim Il-sung? (3 July 2010)
... that a gala performance of The Rose of Castille was given on 21 January 1858 as part of the nuptials of Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Victoria, and Prince Frederick William of Prussia? (2 July 2010)
... that the composer Anton Rubinstein conducted his own opera The Merchant Kalashnikov so badly that the performance had to be stopped? (12 April 2010)
... that L'ange de Nisida, an opera semiseria by Gaetano Donizetti, was completed but never performed due to the bankruptcy of the theater company Donizetti contracted? (29 January 2010)

... that Franz Liszt's abandoned opera Sardanapale was in part inspired by Eugène Delacroix's painting, The Death of Sardanapalus (pictured)? (5 December 2009)
... that one part of Mendelssohn’s operetta Son and Stranger comprises only a few bars, all on the note F, because the composer’s brother-in-law, Wilhelm Hensel, had no ability as a singer? (1 December 2009)
... that John Metcalf's opera Tornrak features Inuit throat singing? (9 November 2009)
... that, with The Duchess of Dantzic, composer Ivan Caryll took a break from writing hit Edwardian musical comedies to produce a comic opera? (4 November 2009)
... that Jerusalem Delivered, the epic poem by Torquato Tasso (pictured), has inspired at least 100 operas set in the Crusades? (29 September 2009)
... that composer Gian Carlo Menotti considered his opera The Island God "a big bore"? (18 August 2009)
... that William Michael Rooke's opera Amilie, or the Love Test enabled New Yorkers of 1838 to appreciate "a broad new repertoire"? (5 July 2009)
... that the Pyne and Harrison Opera Company paid composer William Vincent Wallace only 10 shillings for the rights to his opera Lurline and later made £50,000 from its performances? (9 June 2009)
... that The Amber Witch, an opera by William Vincent Wallace (pictured), was based on a popular Gothic novel of the same name, first published in Britain in 1844? (5 June 2009)
... that Ritter Pázmán was the only opera composed by Johann Strauss II? (25 April 2009)
... that hours before the curtain raised on his debut opera Guntram, composer Richard Strauss (pictured) was reportedly engaged in a heated discussion of John Henry Mackay's Die Anarchisten? (20 April 2009)
... that baritone William Dooley performed the title role in the world premiere of Marcel Mihalovici's one character opera Krapp, ou, La dernière bande in 1961? (28 March 2009)
... that although La princesse jaune is the third opera that Saint-Saëns’ composed, it was his first opera to actually be mounted on the stage? (10 March 2009)
... that the 1911 opera Déjanire by Camille Saint-Saëns (pictured) was originally a 1898 play accompanied by symphonic music, choruses and a ballet? (6 March 2009)
... that Camille Saint-Saëns's opera Hélène was recorded in 2008 after not being heard since 1919? (5 March 2009)
... that Isidore de Lara's Messaline was the first opera by an English composer to be produced at La Scala? (4 February 2009)
... that Maurice Maeterlinck threatened legal action and physical violence against Claude Debussy after he did not cast Maeterlinck's lover, Georgette Leblanc, in the title role of their opera Pelléas et Mélisande? (1 February 2009)
... that Isaac Albéniz's opera Pepita Jiménez has been adapted several times by numerous people into different constructs and languages? (30 January 2009)
... that The Visitors is the only opera Mexican composer Carlos Chávez ever scored? (23 January 2009)

... that Udo Zimmermann's opera, Die weisse Rose tells the story of Hans and Sophie Scholl, a brother and sister who were guillotined by the Nazis for leading a non-violent resistance group? (25 September 2008)
... that Partenope was the first opera written by an American-born composer? (25 September 2008)
... that the French one-act opera Le trompeur trompé had its première given as 14 Thermidor an VIII, since the French Republican Calendar was still in use? (18 September 2008)
... that La púrpura de la rosa is the first known opera to be written in and performed in the Americas? (9 September 2008)
... that Felix Mendelssohn walked out in disgust in the middle of the 1827 premiere of his opera Die Hochzeit des Camacho, and cancelled the remaining performances? (3 August 2008)
... that D'Oyly Carte Opera Company star Donald Adams could only perform in his own Gilbert and Sullivan for All theatre group on his nights off? (1 July 2008)
... that Carlisle Floyd decided to adapt Olive Ann Burns' novel Cold Sassy Tree into an opera after his sister gave him a copy? (11 June 2008)
... that Lorin Maazel (pictured) was 75 years old when his first opera, 1984, had its world premiere in 2005? (9 June 2008)
... that Troubled Island is an opera about the Haitian revolution leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who crowned himself emperor after independence was declared? (24 May 2008)
... that A Bayou Legend by William Grant Still was the first opera composed by an African American to be broadcast on television? (17 May 2008)
... that Robert the Devil, an operatic parody by W. S. Gilbert of Meyerbeer's opera Robert le diable, ends with the devil being punished by becoming part of the exhibit at Madame Tussaud's? (7 May 2008)

...that Are You There? was widely promoted because of its score by Ruggero Leoncavallo (best known for his opera Pagliacci), but the first-night audience were incensed when it turned out to have very little music? (7 December 2007)
...that Antonio Salieri's opera Europa riconosciuta was recently (2007) revived for the re-opening of La Scala in Milan, after not being seen for 226 years after it premiered? (24 July 2007)
...that the Don Cesar beach resort in Florida is named after the title character in William Vincent Wallace's 1845 opera Maritana? (14 October 2007)
...that The Haunted Manor is the most famous and popular of Polish operas? (15 May 2007)

...that the Met's new opera The First Emperor by Tan Dun has been in development for ten years? (10 December 2006)
...that the libretto for Howard Hanson's opera Merry Mount was written without a composer in mind? (4 November 2006)
...that Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov referred to his opera Kashchey the Immortal as a "short autumnal fairy tale", as opposed to Snegurochka, a "spring fairy tale"? (16 September 2006)
...that Francesca Caccini's La liberazione di Ruggiero, which premiered in 1625, was the first opera written by a woman? (17 June 2006)

...that both Charles Dibdin and Ira Aldridge were famed for their portrayals of the black servant Mungo in the comic opera The Padlock? (14 November 2005)
...that the opera King Arthur by Henry Purcell (pictured) is unusual because the principal characters do not sing, rather they recite dialogue accompanied by music? (1 August 2005)

...that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera seria Idomeneo is set on the island of Crete following the Trojan War? (24 April 2004)

... that Francesca Caccini's La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina (first performed in Warsaw in 1628) was the first opera by a woman composer?
... that Gaetano Donizetti's opera Le duc d'Albe didn't receive its first performance until more than 40 years after his death?
... that when it was shown at the Metropolitan Opera, Diana von Solange by Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was so poorly received that three hundred people signed a petition demanding that it be removed from the repertory?
... that the opera Europa riconosciuta was first performed at the opening of La Scala in 1778 and was not performed again for more than two hundred years?
... that a riot erupted at the opening night of Adelia, an opera by Gaetano Donizetti, because an unscrupulous promoter sold too many tickets?
... that La púrpura de la rosa is the first known opera to be written in and performed in the Americas?
... that Partenope was the first opera written by an American-born composer?
... that Udo Zimmermann's opera, Die weisse Rose tells the story of Hans and Sophie Scholl, a brother and sister who were guillotined by the Nazis for leading a non-violent resistance group?
... that although Antonio Maria Bononcini's 1718 opera Griselda was successful, his older brother, Giovanni Bononcini, composed a more popular version in 1722?
... that Vivaldi's opera Griselda is based on the folklore character Griselda as told by Giovanni Boccaccio in the The Decameron?
... that Isaac Albéniz's opera Pepita Jiménez has been adapted several times by numerous people into different constructs and languages?
... that Maurice Maeterlinck threatened legal action and physical violence against Claude Debussy after he did not cast Maeterlinck's lover, Georgette Leblanc, in the title role of their opera Pelléas et Mélisande?

Singers

... that the solo parts of Joseph Haydn's oratorio Die Schöpfung were performed by Elisabeth Scholl, Daniel Sans and Andreas Pruys in the Basilika of Schloss Johannisberg? (26 November 2010)
... that Italian castrato Carlo Scalzi performed at the wedding of Anne, Princess Royal and William IV, Prince of Orange in London, 1734? (13 September 2010)
... that Andrew McKinley, David Aiken, and Leon Lishner created the parts of the Three Kings in the world premiere of Menotti's Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors which was broadcast live by NBC to an audience of millions on Christmas Eve 1951? (25 December 2010)
... that the vocal quartet of Monika Frimmer, Christa Bonhoff, Dantes Diwiak, and Peter Kooy recorded the Augsburger Tafel-Confect ("Augsburg Table Confectionary") of Valentin Rathgeber and Johann Caspar Seyfert? (2 November 2010)
... that opera singers Marguerite Bériza (pictured) and Orville Harrold appeared in 1917 at the Ravinia Festival in both Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and Massenet's Manon? (15 October 2010)
... that the Italian castrato Domenico Annibali (pictured) made a sensational debut at the Royal Opera House in London in the title role of Handel's opera Poro? (12 September 2010)
... that soprano Erminia Frezzolini (pictured) created the title role in Verdi's opera Giovanna d'Arco at La Scala in 1843 opposite her husband, Antonio Poggi, as Charles VII of France? (9 September 2010)
... that Bach's solo cantata for alto Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV 170 for the sixth Sunday after Trinity, was recorded by Maureen Forrester, Andreas Scholl and Julia Hamari? (11 July 2010)
... that singers Anne Sofie von Otter and Christian Gerhaher recorded music written in the concentration camp of Terezín by artists such as Ilse Weber, Hans Krása, Pavel Haas and Viktor Ullmann? (19 March 2010)

... that the original "Three Little Maids from School" in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 opera The Mikado were Sybil Grey, Jessie Bond and Leonora Braham? (28 November 2009)
... that English singer and actor Walter H. Fisher created the role of the Defendant in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1875 opera Trial by Jury? (23 November 2009)
... that American countertenor Bejun Mehta began his musical career as a boy soprano, praised by Leonard Bernstein? (29 October 2009)
... that opera singers Johann Nepomuk Beck, Marie Wilt, and Hans von Rokitansky all performed in the world premiere of Karl Goldmark's Die Königin von Saba on 10 March 1875? (10 February 2009)
... that soon after understudy Eric Lewis left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in frustration that George Grossmith rarely took a day off, Grossmith fell gravely ill? (20 January 2009)
... that Bantcho Bantchevsky, former singer and voice coach, committed suicide during a nationally-broadcast performance from the Metropolitan Opera?
... that the Balık sisters from Turkey are the only identical twins singing opera?
... that in the 1720s and 1730s, at the height of the craze for castrato, it has been estimated that up to 4000 boys were castrated annually?
... that Anthony, Charles, Cecilia, Isabella, Sr., Isabella, Jr., Esther, Elizabeth, and Polly Young were part of an English family of musicians that included several professional opera singers and organists in the 17th and 18th centuries?

Sopranos

... that soprano Tamara Wilson won the Richard Tucker Award, "one of the most prestigious prizes in opera"? (28 Apr 2016)
... that the soprano Rotraud Hansmann performed six parts in three Monteverdi operas conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, including Euridice in L'Orfeo? (28 Mar 2016)
... that the soprano Emily Van Evera appeared with the Taverner Consort at The Proms in Bach's St Matthew Passion? (25 Mar 2016)
... that the soprano Greta De Reyghere recorded Bach's motets, Mozart's vespers, and music by the Belgian composers Joseph Ryelandt and Joseph-Hector Fiocco? (19 Mar 2016)
... that Hana Blažíková is a soprano with the Bach Collegium Japan, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki, for the project to record the complete Bach cantatas? (8 Mar 2016)
... that Antonia Fahberg, a lyric soprano of the Bavarian State Opera for 25 years, recorded Bach with Karl Richter, including an aria described as "a beguiling and beautifully restrained performance"? (2 Mar 2016)
... that Astrid Schirmer appeared in roles by Richard Wagner, both Venus and Elisabeth in his Tannhäuser, and in the Bayreuth Jahrhundertring as both Ortlinde and Sieglinde? (22 Feb 2016)
... that Maria Carbone appeared in 1931 as Desdemona in a complete recording of Verdi's Otello, one of her only two recordings? (22 Feb 2016)
... that Anna Korondi appeared at the Bavarian State Opera as Zdenka in Arabella by Richard Strauss and in a leading role in the premiere of Aribert Reimann's Bernarda Albas Haus? (21 Feb 2016)
... that when Ilse Hollweg recorded the part of Blonde in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Sir Thomas Beecham, she was one of two soloists who also spoke the dialogue? (20 Feb 2016)
... that the soprano Friederike Sailer appeared in the premiere of Werner Egk's Der Revisor at the Schwetzingen Festival, conducted by the composer? (18 Feb 2016)
... that Yvonne Ciannella, who performed the title roles of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Puccini's Suor Angelica, recorded Telemann's cantata Ino with "dramatic colouring"? (6 Feb 2016)
... that Yolanda Marculescu, prima donna of the Romanian National Opera of Bucharest, defected to the U.S. in 1968 and founded the International Festival of the Art Song in Milwaukee, Wisconsin? (5 Feb 2016)

... that opera singer Camellia Johnson performed at Donald Trump's wedding ceremonies to Marla Maples and Melania Knauss? (22 Dec 2015)
... that in 2000 Midori Suzuki was a soprano in Sigiswald Kuijken's recording of Bach's Mass in B minor which uses one voice per part? (14 Dec 2015)
... that Chinese soprano Guanqun Yu won the Belvedere International Singing Competition and placed 2nd in Operalia, The World Opera Competition? (4 Dec 2015)
... that soprano Ying Fang has won the Golden Bell Award, the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, and the Lincoln Center Segal Award? (4 Dec 2015)
... that Zhou Xiaoyan was described by The New York Times as "China's First Lady of Opera"? (27 Nov 2015)
... that soprano Rosa Lamoreaux, who recorded Bach's Mass in B minor with The Bach Choir of Bethlehem and at the Carmel Bach Festival, won the 2009 Wammie as classical vocal soloist? (19 Aug 2015)
... that dramatic soprano Evelyn Herlitzius appeared as Elektra, staged by Patrice Chéreau at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2013, reviewed as "a creature of mesmerising intensity"? (9 Aug 2015)
... that soprano Susanne Rydén combined music by various Baroque composers in the musical show Christina's Journey, in which she sang, recited, and danced? (8 August 2015)
... that Hedy Graf performed soprano parts in premieres of oratorios by Swiss composers? (16 July 2015)
... that Constanze Backes performed the leading female part in Joseph Schuster's rediscovered opera Il Marito Indolente? (15 July 2015)
... that the soprano Romy Gundermann and her husband received a medal from Aschaffenburg for expanding music awareness and adding to the town's cultural heritage? (12 Jul 2015)
... that Orlanda Velez Isidro was Madame Mao in a Dutch production of John Adams' Nixon in China? (12 July 2015)
... that the first American grand opera was written for soprano Ann Childe Seguin? (20 May 2015)
... that there is no evidence that an English Flowermaiden was Richard Wagner's nemesis? (24 April 2015)
... that Jeannette Zarou performed the title role in the stage premiere of Healey Willan's opera Deirdre? (17 April 2015)
... that Italian soprano Teresina Brambilla was known for performing leading parts in operas by Amilcare Ponchielli, whom she married? (10 March 2015)
... that Giuseppina Brambilla, one of five opera-singer sisters, was a prima donna in Barcelona and Odessa? (16 February 2015)

... that Gabriela Eibenová (pictured) flew from Prague to Frankfurt to fill in for a soprano in Bach's Mass in B minor in St. Martin, Idstein, a year ago? (30 September 2014)
... that Romanian opera singer and film actress Maria Forescu died in the Buchenwald concentration camp? (19 August 2014)
... that Klesie Kelly, soprano and academic voice teacher in Cologne, recorded love songs for voices and instrumental soloists with tenor Ian Partridge?
... that soprano Ada Cherry Kearton was married to wildlife photographer Cherry Kearton and recounted their travels in her autobiography On Safari? (5 August 2014)
... that soprano Kristīne Opolais made two Met Opera debuts, as Puccini's Cio-Cio-San and Mimi, within a day? (19 April 2014)
... that soprano Carmen Reppel performed several parts in the Jahrhundertring, Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle staged by Chéreau, and sang in Siegfried Wagner's Schwarzschwanenreich? (11 April 2014)
... that soprano Hannelore Bode appeared in the Bayreuth centenary Jahrhundertring as both Sieglinde and Gutrune? (31 March 2014)
... that soprano Norma Sharp performed Mozart's Countess at her debut at La Scala and the voice of the forest bird in Bayreuth? (28 March 2014)
... that soprano Nadine Secunde was praised for "formidable acting skills" in the title role of Dmitri Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk? (26 March 2014)
... that aged 15 and never having seen a live opera, Alessandra Marianelli placed second in the Cascinalirica singing competition and made her professional opera debut the following year? (24 March 2014)
... that soprano Lucy Crowe, performing Janáček's Cunning Little Vixen at the Glyndebourne Festival, was described as "a powerhouse of foxy ingenuity"? (17 March 2014)
... that Simone Osborne, "one of Canada's most sought-after sopranos", busked on Toronto's streets to afford singing lessons? (13 March 2014)
... that Swan Lake was shown live in 100 French cinemas, with Steffi Scherzer, a dancer of the Berlin State Opera for 28 years, in the double role of Odette/Odile? (13 March 2014)
... that Swedish soprano Erika Sunnegårdh, who has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, said that her voice was "like a wild horse"? (28 January 2014)

... that at the time of her much-heralded 1926 debut, 19-year-old Marion Talley (pictured) was the youngest prima donna to perform at the Metropolitan Opera? (2 August 2013)
... that soprano Rachel Nicholls, a performer of Wagner's Brünnhilde, sang in Bach's dialogue cantata Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen (Dearest Jesus, my desire) "a clear Lutheran analogy to a love duet"? (13 January 2013)
... that Carolyn Sampson was the first soprano to record all of Bach's aria BWV 1127, which had been lost until 2005? (11 October 2012)
... that Helene Wildbrunn, a celebrated Wagnerian soprano at the Vienna State Opera and La Scala, began her career in 1907 as a contralto at the Stadttheater Dortmund? (2 August 2012)
... that soprano Ursula Schröder-Feinen appeared at the Bayreuth Festival as Senta, Brünnhilde, Ortrud and, with "intensity, ... freshness and spontaneity", as Kundry in Parsifal? (16 May 2012
... that Georges Bizet dedicated his song "Rêve de la bien-aimée" ("Dream of the beloved") to the Belgian coloratura soprano Léontine de Maësen? (25 December 2011)
... that a reviewer wrote that Katia Plaschka, "quite accurately described as a high soprano, sings music of stratospheric difficulty" when performing Luigi Nono's music? (23 September 2011)
... that the career of soprano Cornélie Falcon (pictured), star of the Paris Opéra, collapsed after she lost her voice in 1837 performing in the opera Stradella by Louis Niedermeyer? (23 June 2011)
... that opera singer Edyth Walker portrayed the title heroine in the UK premiere of Richard Strauss' Elektra at Covent Garden in 1910? (16 May 2011)
... that opera singer Maria di Gerlando created the role of Carmela in the 1954 world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's The Saint of Bleecker Street? (9 May 2011)
... that after soprano Gianna Galli's opera career ended at the age of 40 due to problems with her vocal cords, she had a second successful career as a talent manager of singers in Italy? (8 May 2011)
... that even in her thirties, Scottish coloratura soprano Anne Sharp was able to pass as a teenager, performing the role of Emmie Spatchett in Britten's Albert Herring at the first Aldeburgh Festival? (8 March 2011)
... that the two leading sopranos in the 1711 world premiere of Handel's Rinaldo, Isabella Girardeau and Elisabetta Pilotti-Schiavonetti, were bitter rivals? (19 February 2011)
... that Christine Weidinger returned to the Metropolitan Opera after 16 years to appear as Semiramis, the title role of Rossini's Semiramide? (11 February 2011)

... that soprano Janis Martin appeared at the Zurich Opera as Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde? (6 November 2010)
... that soprano Myrna Sharlow once upstaged acclaimed opera singer Mary Garden in a performance of a minor role at the Boston Opera House? (5 November 2010)
... that soprano Marie Sasse (pictured) created the role of Elisabeth de Valois in the world premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlos? (30 October 2010)
... that American soprano Lauren Flanigan premiered the title role of Hugo Weisgall's opera Esther at the New York City Opera in 1993? (22 October 2010)
... that soprano Dolores Wilson lamented that "the Italian I'd learned by studying operas enabled me to talk intelligently only about poisons and suicide and tragic love affairs"? (14 October 2010)
... that a deadly anti-Semitic riot involving approximately 10,000 people erupted in Warsaw in 1922 in response to a planned concert of Yiddish song by soprano Isa Kremer? (13 October 2010)
... that Adolphus Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg had two sons with his mistress, the Berlin Opera star Mafalda Salvatini? (14 September 2010)
... that operatic soprano Shirlee Emmons won an Obie Award for her portrayal of Susan B. Anthony in the 1956 Off-Broadway revival of Virgil Thomson's The Mother of Us All?
... that soprano Gerlinde Sämann performed with La Petite Bande Bach's cantata for the 14th Sunday after Trinity, Wer Dank opfert, der preiset mich, BWV 17? (5 September 2010)
... that Italian operatic soprano Angiolina Bosio (pictured) portrayed Gilda in the UK premiere of Verdi's Rigoletto and Lady Macbeth in the US premiere of Verdi's Macbeth? (2 September 2010)
... that soprano Ada Adini, a singer of Verdi's Gilda and Leonora, appeared as Brünnhilde in the Italian premiere of Wagner's Die Walküre at La Scala in 1893? (12 September 2010)
... that soprano June Card appeared as Freia and Gutrune in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, conducted by Michael Gielen and staged by Ruth Berghaus at the Frankfurt Opera? (27 August 2010)
... that Camilla Tilling was the soprano soloist in Mahler's Resurrection Symphony in the opening concert of the Rheingau Musik Festival 2010, conducted by Paavo Järvi? (14 July 2010)
... that soprano Siri Thornhill performed a Bach cantata for the fourth Sunday after Trinity, Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 177, at the Rheingau Musik Festival in the Eibingen Abbey?
... that soprano Edith Selig recorded the early Bach cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21, performed in Weimar in 1714 on the third Sunday after Trinity?
... that soprano Ursula Buckel recorded the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147, which Bach had written for the feast of the Visitation always celebrated on 2 July? (2 July 2010)
... that Ingeborg Reichelt performed the soprano part of the Bach cantata Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot, BWV 39, written for the first Sunday after Trinity of 1726? (6 June 2010)
... that soprano Dorothee Mields sang solo and tutti in five cantatas composed for Pentecost by the prolific Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, a contemporary of Bach?) (23 May 2010)
... that soprano Adele Stolte recorded the Bach cantata for Pentecost Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172 with the Thomanerchor conducted by Erhard Mauersberger? (23 May 2010)
... that American soprano, Anna Fitziu, was the singing instructor for Shirley Verrett? (24 March 2010)
... that soprano Annette Dasch appeared as Elettra in Mozart's Idomeneo at the reopening of the Cuvilliés Theatre, where that opera had been premiered in 1781? (23 March 2010)
... that when Scottish soprano Muriel Dickson toured with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to New York City in 1934–1935, she was invited to join the Metropolitan Opera? (22 March 2010)
... that after a falling out in 1877, Georgina Weldon refused to return Gounod's original score for his opera Polyeucte, forcing him to rewrite it? (18 January 2010)
... that coloratura soprano Alice Verlet gave a 1922 opera and song recital at Carnegie Hall accompanied on violin by a young Xavier Cugat, who later achieved fame as the "rhumba king"? (10 January 2010)

... that less than two years after Julia Goss thought she failed her audition, she became the principal soprano of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company? (27 November 2009)
... that soprano Ruth Holton sang at Bach's church on the 250th anniversary of his death? (6 November 2009)
... that Clara Dow (pictured) was one of the last principal sopranos personally trained by W. S. Gilbert at the Savoy Theatre? (28 October 2009)
... that American opera singer Margaret Harshaw portrayed more Wagnerian heroines on stage at the Metropolitan Opera than anyone else in the opera's history? (2 October 2009)
... that Giuseppe Verdi did not want Eugenia Tadolini (pictured) to sing Lady Macbeth in his opera Macbeth because her voice was too beautiful? (11 September 2009)
... that lyric soprano Lois Hunt was introduced to then Vice President Lyndon Johnson while he was wearing a pair of green silk pajamas embroidered with his initials? (6 August 2009)
... that Marie Wittich (pictured), the soprano who created the title role in Richard Strauss' opera Salome, refused to perform the Dance of the Seven Veils saying "I won't do it. I'm a decent woman."? (4 August 2009)
... that between 1909 and 1912, soprano Margarethe Siems (pictured) sang leading roles in the world premieres of three operas by Richard Strauss—Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier and Ariadne auf Naxos? (31 July 2009)
... that as a child, Swedish opera singer Hjördis Schymberg and her four sisters performed live music to accompany silent films? (22 June 2009)
... that Pauline Rita played three roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas for Richard D'Oyly Carte, but left his company in 1878 never to return? (21 June 2009)
... that Evelyn Scotney, an Australian coloratura soprano, sang opposite Enrico Caruso in his final appearance on the opera stage? (9 June 2009)
... that soprano Deborah Voigt lost over 100 pounds (45 kg) by means of gastric bypass surgery after she was fired in the "Covent Garden incident"? (9 June 2009)
... that Teresa Saporiti, the soprano who created the role of Donna Anna in Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, lived to be 106? (30 May 2009)
... that soprano Sylvia Cecil joined and left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company three times during her career? (7 April 2009)
... that soprano Margaret Lloyd portrayed the role of Lightfoot McClendon in the world premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree at the Houston Grand Opera in 2000? (6 April 2009)
... that operatic soprano Dawn Kotoski won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1990? (2 April 2009)
... that Donizetti wrote the title role of his opera Adelia for Giuseppina Strepponi (pictured), the second wife of Giuseppe Verdi? (5 March 2009)
... that as a blindfolded child, opera singer Pauline Joran (pictured) could identify absolute pitch and the notes of chords? (24 February 2009)
... that Georgette Leblanc (pictured) portrayed the role of Ariane in the original 1899 play Ariane et Barbe-bleue by Maurice Maeterlinck and in the 1907 opera adaptation by Paul Dukas? (9 February 2009)
... that Alice May starred as a soprano in comic opera in the 1870s but toured as a contralto in the 1880s? (12 January 2009)

... that operatic soprano Romilda Pantaleoni sang the role of Desdemona in the original 1887 production of Giuseppe Verdi's Otello? (17 December 2008)
... that in spite of her great reputation in Europe, operatic soprano Lucienne Bréval had limited success in America as critics thought her singing lacked polish? (1 December 2008)
... that operatic soprano Celestina Boninsegna sang her first leading role at the unusually young age of 15? (28 October 2008)
... that before becoming a famous opera singer, Ines Maria Ferraris had a career as a concert pianist beginning at the age of 12? (27 November 2008)
... that soprano Meagan Miller, accustomed to wearing US$10,000 gowns on stage in her opera performances, chose to wear her mother's simple gown for her summer 2008 wedding? (6 November 2008)
... that lyric coloratura soprano Harolyn Blackwell replaced opera diva Kathleen Battle when she famously got fired from the Metropolitan Opera? (4 July 2008)
...that in the late 1860s, the soprano Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa and her husband Carl Rosa founded the Parepa-Rosa English Opera Company, which introduced opera to places in the United States that had never staged it before? (3 February 2008)
...that American lyric soprano Helen Jepson was first soprano on the original recording of Porgy and Bess? (15 January 2008)

...that Icelandic operatic soprano Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir, better known as Diddú, began her singing career in the 1970s with a folk and pop group? (6 October 2007)
...that the Austrian government gave the American soprano Teresa Stich-Randall the title of Kammersängerin given to esteemed artists? (28 July 2007)
...that, in addition to having a passion for opera, dramatic soprano Othalie Graham enjoys music by Prince and Jamaican reggae musician Jimmy Cliff? (24 July 2007)
...that 18th-century operatic star Anna Maria Strada was known as "the Pig" on account of her ugliness? (24 March 2007)

... that lyric coloratura soprano Harolyn Blackwell replaced opera diva Kathleen Battle when she famously got fired from the Metropolitan Opera?
... that soprano Adele Addison stepped into the role of Bess in the 1969 film version of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess as a last-minute replacement of a singer who sounded too shrill?
... that the 19th-century Mexican soprano Ángela Peralta once sang Donizetti's opera Maria di Rohan in a theatre improvised from a disused sand pit in La Paz, Baja California?
... that operatic soprano Celestina Boninsegna sang her first leading role at the unusually young age of 15?
... that operatic soprano Gail Robinson won the Metropolitan Opera auditions at the young age of 19?
... that after retiring from the stage opera singer Emma Carelli managed the Rome Opera House for almost 15 years?
... that soprano Cesira Ferrani originated two of the most iconic roles in opera history, Mimì in the world premiere of Puccini's La bohème and the title role in the premiere of Puccini's Manon Lescaut?
... that before becoming a famous opera singer, Ines Maria Ferraris had a career as a concert pianist beginning at the age of 12?
... that operatic soprano Romilda Pantaleoni sang the role of Desdemona in the original 1887 production of Giuseppe Verdi's Otello?
... that operatic soprano Maria Zamboni was the first person to record the title role of Puccini's Manon Lescaut in its entirety?

Mezzo-sopranos

... that the mezzo-soprano Pamela Dellal, who recorded music by Hildegard von Bingen and Fanny Mendelssohn, translated all texted works by Bach? (21 Mar 2016)
... that Delores Ziegler, who teaches voice at the University of Maryland, appeared as Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte for her debut at La Scala, and in the film by Ponnelle and Harnoncourt? (10 Mar 2016)
... that only a year after joining the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company at age 21, Eileen Sharp (pictured) was promoted to be the company's principal mezzo-soprano? (7 Dec 2015)
... that actress Maria Möller is a classically trained mezzo-soprano and soloist? (29 Oct 2015)
... that Wilke te Brummelstroete performed the alto parts in Volume I of the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage which received the 2005 Gramophone Award Record of the Year? (22 Aug 2015)
... that mezzo-soprano Ruth Sandhoff performed a soprano part in the Magnificat by Johann Sebastian Bach and an alto part in his son's Magnificat? (21 July 2015)
... that the mezzo-soprano Marga Schiml (pictured), an academic voice teacher in Karlsruhe, appeared as a Rhinemaiden and a valkyrie in the Jahrhundertring? (20 May 2015)
... that mezzo-soprano Marie-Louise Gilles appeared in trousers roles in Wiesbaden and as a valkyrie in Bayreuth? (11 March 2015)
... that mezzo-soprano singer Jaklin Çarkçı can speak six languages? (13 February 2013)
... that mezzo-soprano Martina Koppelstetter has recorded Lieder by Rudi Spring for BR, Bavarian Radio? (20 December 2011)
... that mezzo-soprano opera singer Olivia Ward won season 11 of US television show The Biggest Loser? (26 May 2011)
... that in 1957, at the pinnacle of the Cold War, mezzo-soprano Blanche Thebom became the first American to perform at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow? (15 May 2011)
... that temperance activist Carrie Nation was the subject of a 1966 opera by Douglas Moore, starring mezzo-soprano Beverly Wolff? (13 March 2011)

... that mezzo-soprano opera singer Martha Lipton performed 401 times at the Metropolitan Opera? 7 November 2010)
... that mezzo-soprano Débria Brown (pictured) created the role of Tituba in the world premiere of Robert Ward's Pulitzer-winning opera, The Crucible, at the New York City Opera in 1961? (22 Octoember 2010)
... that mezzo-soprano Petra Noskaiová recorded alto parts with La Petite Bande in Bach cantatas such as Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12? (3 October 2010)
... that Gioachino Rossini's opera Tancredi premiered in 1813 at Teatro La Fenice in Venice with Adelaide Malanotte performing in the title role?? (20 September 2010)
... that, after a 15-year career as a principal with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Peggy Ann Jones moved to musicals, including in the original cast of The Phantom of the Opera? (14 September 2010)
... that the operatic mezzo-soprano Adelaide Borghi-Mamo sang the part of Azucena in the French premiere of Verdi's Il trovatore at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris in 1854? (10 September 2010)
... that American mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer created the role of the mother of Yueyang in Tan Dun's opera The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006? (30 May 2010)
... that mezzo-soprano Claudia Eder sang the parts of the Muse and Nicklausse in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann on a recording with Plácido Domingo as Hoffmann? (15 April 2010)
... that opera singer Zélie de Lussan sang 2,000 performances in the title role of Carmen? (10 December 2009)
... that Luise Jaide created two roles in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle? (10 October 2009)
... that Sandra Warfield met future husband James McCracken when they sang the leads in Samson and Delilah, the same opera in which the couple performed in her Metropolitan Opera farewell performance? (16 July 2009)
... that mezzo-soprano Stephanie Novacek created roles in the premieres of two important operas, the role of Maria Callas in Daugherty's Jackie O and the role of heroine Jo March in Adamo's Little Women? (25 March 2009)
... that opera singer Rosemary Kuhlmann was an assistant to the international vice-president of PepsiCo for 16 years from the age of 56, despite intending to stay for only four months?
... that opera singer Nell Rankin used her pet jaguar, King Tut, as a negotiating tool at the Metropolitan Opera?
... that although opera singer Rita Fornia began her career as a coloratura soprano, her voice lowered and darkened causing her to sing mostly mezzo-soprano roles?
... that Italian mezzo-soprano Flora Perini originated the role of the Princess in the world premiere of Puccini's Suor Angelica at the Metropolitan Opera in 1918?

Contraltos

... that the contralto Caroline Trevor, who has been a member of The Tallis Scholars for over three decades, broke a tradition of nine centuries when she became a singer at St Paul's Cathedral? (27 April 2016)
... that the contralto Elisabeth Schärtel, known for performing many Wagner parts at the Bayreuth Festival, sang Verdi's Meg Page alongside Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Falstaff? (6 Mar 2016)
... that Simone Ballard performed the title role in the premiere of Arthur Honegger's Antigone at La Monnaie? (19 Feb 2016)
... that Ilse Gramatzki appeared as a Rhinemaiden in the Jahrhundertring at the Bayreuth Festival, and in Zimmermann's Die Soldaten in Frankfurt and Brussels? (9 Feb 2016)
... that Gertrude Pitzinger, who toured Europe and the United States singing Lieder, recorded the alto part of Mozart's Requiem, conducted by Ferenc Fricsay? (30 Jan 2016)

... that contralto Hildegard Rütgers recorded Bach's Magnificat with Christmas interpolations with Helmuth Rilling? (17 July 2015)
... that the contralto Maria Radner, who died in the Germanwings plane crash, performed Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder at his villa, Wahnfried? (11 April 2015)
... that contralto Jenny Twitchell Kempton sang in the first performance of Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah in Boston? (8 April 2015)
... that Margaret Kennedy (pictured as Captain Macheath) was the first person to perform Thomas Arne's song "A-Hunting We Will Go"? (17 March 2015)
... that contralto Marga Höffgen, known as a Bach singer for Karajan and as Erda in Bayreuth, recorded Max Reger's Requiem compositions? (17 March 2015)
... that countertenor David Erler was one of five singers invited by amarcord for the performance of Monteverdi's Vespers as the annual Marienvesper of the Rheingau Musik Festival in Eberbach Abbey? (15 August 2014)
... that after originating the role of Lady Sangazure in The Sorcerer, Mrs Howard Paul walked out of the cast of H.M.S. Pinafore when her part was reduced? (16 May 2014)
... that Lyndsie Holland played the Gilbert and Sullivan contralto roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company? (25 April 2014)
... that soon after starting her career at the Met, Gwendolyn Killebrew appeared as a valkyrie in Wagner's Die Walküre in a live broadcast alongside Birgit Nilsson in the title role? (1 April 2014)
... that Hilde Rössel-Majdan, for decades a contralto with the Vienna State Opera, recorded with Hermann Scherchen music by Bach including his solo cantata Widerstehe doch der Sünde, BWV 54? (27 July 2012)

... that contralto Hildegard Laurich performed in Bach's cantata for Ratswahl (inauguration of the Leipzig town council) Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille, BWV 120? (2 October 2010)
... that contralto Sonia Prina performed the title role of Antonio Vivaldi's 1727 opera Orlando furioso at the Frankfurt Opera, staged as a rocker? (13 September 2010)

...that opera singer Jessie Bartlett Davis (pictured) volunteered to pay for the publishing of the parlor song "I Love You Truly", the first song written by a woman to sell one million copies? (23 January 2008)

...that although opera contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink had a son fighting on the other side, she toured the United States to raise money for the USA in World War I? (2 May 2004)

Tenors

... that Hans-Dieter Bader performed the title role of Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's opera Sly, recorded live at the Staatsoper Hannover, "as written", while Plácido Domingo had to cut and change the part? (3 May 2016)
... that Metropolitan Opera tenor Andrea Velis starred in the United States premieres of four different operas by Benjamin Britten? (27 Mar 2016)
... that tenor Robert White swallowed a bug while singing the best high note of his career? (6 Dec 2015)
... that the German tenor Markus Brutscher performed the part of Saul in Reinhard Keiser's oratorio Der siegende David at the Ruhrtriennale 2006?(15 Aug 2015)
... that the tenor Llewellyn Cadwaladr created the role of Frederic in the first performance of The Pirates of Penzance in 1879? (13 May 2015)
... that Corrado Miraglia, who created the role of Ismaele in Verdi's opera Nabucco, became a soloist at the Milan Cathedral when he retired from the stage? (25 March 2015)
... that in celebration of the tercentenary of the birth of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, tenor Markus Schäfer performed in his oratorio Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu at the Rheingau Musik Festival? (6 August 2014)
... that opera singer Paul Hansen was also a copper-engraver and silent film star? (28 March 2014)
... that Martin Krumbiegel sang the tenor part in Bach's cantata Erschallet, ihr Lieder (Resound, ye songs) and his "Pipe Aria"? (21 May 2013)
... that tenor Martin Lattke performed with the ensemble amarcord in the Frauenkirche Dresden Bach's lost St Mark Passion in a reconstruction by Diethard Hellmann? (29 March 2013)
... that Knut Schoch appeared as the tenor soloist on many volumes of Pieter Jan Leusink's complete recording of the Bach cantatas with the Holland Boys Choir, including cantatas BWV 1, 2, 3, ... 198? (27 January 2013)
... that the Austrian tenor Karl Beck became a master baker after his singing career, which included creating the title role in Wagner's opera Lohengrin, was cut short by a deterioration in his voice? (23 January 2013)
... that tenor Martin Petzold, a former member of the boys' choir Thomanerchor and a singer of Bach's Evangelist parts with the group, co-published 800 Years Thomana? (13 September 2012)
... that Johan van der Meer conducted the first historically informed performance in the Netherlands of Bach's St Matthew Passion in 1973, with Marius van Altena as the Evangelist and Max van Egmond as the Vox Christi?(20 January 2012)
... that John Stewart, a regular tenor with the New York City Opera and then the Frankfurt Opera, recorded the part of Oronte in Handel's Alcina opposite Cristina Deutekom in Carnegie Hall in 1974? (17 November 2011)
... that tenor William Brown, who performed for presidents Kennedy and Johnson, created the role of Lieutenant Jean l'Aiglon in Hugo Weisgall's Nine Rivers from Jordan? (10 November 2011)
... that during his 43 years with the New York City Opera, tenor buffo Jack Harrold appeared in more than 100 productions? (30 October 2011)
... that tenor Ulrich Cordes was the Evangelist in Bach's St Matthew Passion in St. Martin, Idstein, the Berliner Philharmonie and the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels? (30 September 2011)

... that Robert Wilson was a principal tenor with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1930s before beginning a 25-year concert, variety and radio career? (5 November 2010)
... that Italian operatic tenor Lodovico Graziani was described as lacking "dramatic gifts"? (20 October 2010)
... that Italian tenor Nicola Zerola began his professional operatic singing career in 1898 performing in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, but as a baritone? (15 September 2010)
... that Italian tenor Vincenzo Calvesi created the role of Ferrando in the world premiere of Mozart's Così fan tutte at the Burgtheater in Vienna in 1790? (15 September 2010)
... that the Italian operatic tenor Giuseppe Siboni founded the Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen? (15 September 2010)
... that soprano Nellie Melba and tenor Agustarello Affré made their debut together at the Paris Opéra in 1890 as Lucia and Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor? (11 September 2010)
... that German classical tenor Marcus Ullmann has taken part in the recording of all Lieder of Franz Schubert, more than 700, set to the poetry of over 115 writers? (22 July 2010)
... that Jan Kobow sang the tenor part of Bach's chorale cantata Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2, written for the second Sunday after Trinity of 1724, with Philippe Herreweghe? (13 June 2010)
... that the tenor Kurt Huber sang the Evangelist in Bach's Ascension Oratorio Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11, composed for the feast of the Ascension of 275 years ago? (13 May 2010)
... that Andreas Karasiak recorded Bach's St Matthew Passion, scored for double chorus, with two boys choirs, Knabenchor Hannover and Thomanerchor? (10 April 2010)
... that tenor Kurt Equiluz was the Evangelist in the first recording of Bach's St John Passion on period instruments with the Concentus Musicus Wien, Vienna? (10 April 2010)
... that Adalbert Kraus performed the tenor part in Bach's Easter Oratorio Kommt, eilet und laufet (Come, hasten and run)? (30 March 2010)
... that the debut in Carnegie Hall of tenor James Taylor was in the premiere of the Levine completion of Mozart's Great Mass in C minor? (28 March 2010)
... that Lionello Cecil sang the lead tenor part in the first complete microphone recording of Verdi's La traviata in 1928? (3 March 2010)
... that during a rehearsal of Pagliacci with the Florentine Opera in 1998, tenor David Rendall sent a baritone to hospital when his prop knife failed to collapse? (2 March 2010)
... that during the Metropolitan Opera premiere of The Makropulos Case, tenor Richard Versalle suffered a fatal heart attack after singing the line "You can only live so long"?(18 January 2010) (4 February 2010)
... that the tenor in the British TV advertisement 'Go Compare' is played by Welsh opera singer Wynne Evans? (1 November 2009)
... that Gary Lakes became an opera singer because a cracked vertebra sustained as a high school football defensive tackle derailed his plans for a sports career? (4 October 2009)
... that Japanese tenor Taro Ichihara made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of the Italian tenor in Der Rosenkavalier? (26 June 2009)
... that operatic tenor Chad Shelton has sung in numerous world premieres, including leading roles in Mark Adamo's Little Women and Philip Glass's Appomattox? (29 March 2009)
... that operatic tenor Franz Ferenczy portrayed the role of Samson in the world premiere of Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila on 2 December 1877? (6 March 2009)
... that operatic tenor Gustav Walter portrayed the role of Assad in the world premiere of Karl Goldmark's Die Königin von Saba? (4 February 2009)
... that operatic tenor Andreas Dippel portrayed the title role in Alberto Franchetti Asrael in its United States premiere at the Metropolitan Opera? (2 February 2009)
... that Nino Martini appeared in numerous Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s while simultaneously starring regularly in leading tenor roles at the Metropolitan Opera? (12 January 2009)

... that tenor Albert Reiss sang in 1,070 performances at the Metropolitan Opera? (24 December 2008)
... that opera superstar Giuseppe Cremonini's career was tragically cut short upon his sudden death at the age of 36? (22 November 2008)

...that famous tenor Antonio Giuglini used to jaywalk through traffic on London's Brompton Road while flying his kite? (13 November 2007)

...that American tenor Charles Anthony has sung with the Metropolitan Opera for 52 consecutive seasons, which is unparalleled in company history? (25 June 2006)
...that, in the 1940s, the female fans of the Soviet tenor Sergei Lemeshev (pictured), often quarrelled with the fans of his rival, Ivan Kozlovsky? (31 May 2006)

... that the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City was host to the world-famous opera singer Enrico Caruso who sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" from the window of his room on Armistice Day?
... that lyric tenor Evan Gorga, who created the role of Rodolfo in the original production of Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème, reprised the role in several productions, then retired at the age of 34?
... that opera superstar Giuseppe Cremonini's career was tragically cut short upon his sudden death at the age of 36?
... that tenor Albert Reiss sang in 1,070 performances at the Metropolitan Opera?
... that Nino Martini appeared in numerous Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s while simultaneously starring regularly in leading tenor roles at the Metropolitan Opera?
... that operatic tenor Andreas Dippel portrayed the title role in Alberto Franchetti's Asrael in its United States premiere at the Metropolitan Opera?

Baritone

... that baritone Liao Changyong won first prize in three different international singing competitions in 1997? (1 Dec 2015)
... that Michael Rayner worked in his family's motor car business before starring in Gilbert and Sullivan roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company? (8 August 2015)
... that Francisco D'Andrade (pictured) appears in his signature role Don Giovanni in three paintings by Max Slevogt? (5 February 2015)

... that baritone Eike Wilm Schulte, who performed more than 100 roles since 1966, stepped in at the Bayreuth Festival as Gunther in Götterdämmerung? (6 April 2014)
... that baritone Franz Grundheber performed the title role in Alban Berg's Wozzeck in Paris and Berlin, staged by Patrice Chéreau and filmed in 1994? (22 February 2014)
... that baritone Gerhard Faulstich takes an "unpretentious, conversational approach" to the part of Jesus in his recording of Bach's St Matthew Passion? (30 June 2013)
... that baritone Robert Leonhardt was released from the Metropolitan Opera when it was determined he was an enemy alien? (19 June 2013)
... that baritone Berthold Possemeyer performed songs by John Dowland, Gerald Finzi and Thomas Morley in a parody chamber musical after Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream? (21 April 2013)

... that in 1896, baritone Anton Sistermans premiered first Gustav Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen in Berlin, then Vier ernste Gesänge by Johannes Brahms in Vienna? (2 June 2012)

... that French baritone Jean-Vital Ismaël (caricature pictured), who sang in the premieres of Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles and Gounod's Mireille, had left home at age 16 to become a street singer? (28 December 2011)
... that baritone Konrad Jarnot recorded lieder by Richard Strauss, including Four Last Songs? (13 October 2011)

... that baritone Richard Torigi created the role of Silvio de Narni in the world premiere of Alberto Ginastera's Bomarzo in 1967? (8 May 2011)
...that baritone Georges Baklanoff created the title role in Sergei Rachmaninoff's The Miserly Knight at the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, in 1906? (16 October 2010)
... that artist and sculptor Samuel Rabin was also a professional wrestler and opera singer who appeared in The Scarlet Pimpernel and won a bronze medal in wrestling at the 1928 Summer Olympics? (30 September 2010)
... that baritone Günter Reich recorded the part of Moses in Schoenberg's opera Moses und Aron with both Michael Gielen and Pierre Boulez? (27 August 2010)
... that the baritone Andreas Schmidt created the part of Ryuji in Hans Werner Henze's opera Das verratene Meer in 1990 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin? (13 June 2010)
... that after a career with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, baritone Jeffrey Skitch became Principal of Elmhurst Ballet School? (18 April 2010)
... that baritone Wolfgang Schöne premiered the role of the tomcat "Tom, Minette's lover" in the opera Die englische Katze of Hans Werner Henze (pictured) at the Schwetzingen Festival? (17 April 2010)

... that baritone Earl Wrightson won an Emmy Award for hosting the 1950s CBS Sunday afternoon television show The American Musical Theater? (6 August 2009)
... that American baritone James Billings has portrayed more than 175 opera roles on stage during his long career? (10 March 2009)

...that in eighteen years, baritone William Walker performed over 360 times at New York's Metropolitan Opera? (16 October 2007)

Bass-baritone

... that Nikolaus Hillebrand, who as a boy was a member of the Regensburger Domspatzen, and recorded with them as a soloist on Bach's St John Passion in 1979 and Dittersdorf's Requiem in 2009? (19 May 2016)
... that the bass-baritone Jacques Villisech recorded Bach cantatas, including the Actus tragicus, the Hunting Cantata, and the secular solo cantata Amore traditore? (3 Apr 2016)
... that bass-baritone Louis D'Angelo sang in the world premieres of seven operas at the Metropolitan Opera, including Puccini's Gianni Schicchi? (29 Jan 2016)
... that Chinese opera singer Ao Li has won both the Operalia, The World Opera Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions? (12 Dec 2015)
... that Michael Schopper performed as a bass soloist in the first recording of Bach's St Matthew Passion with period instruments conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt? (24 Aug 2015)

... that Erich Wenk sang a "rage aria" in Bach's dramma per musica Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen? (14 August 2014)
... that just after Frederick Federici sang the final note as Mephistopheles in Gounod's Faust, descending through a trap door to hell, he died? (24 June 2014)

... that Vincenzo Negrini's earliest recorded performances were at the Teatro Comunitativo where he appeared in Mercadante's opera Didone abbandonata and Rossini's Semiramide? (25 December 2013)

... that Australian bass-baritone Horace Stevens was also a dentist, teacher, tennis player, sculler, and World War I Army officer? (30 December 2012)

... that Markus Flaig brought Handel's darkness and great light to St. Martin, Idstein? (22 September 2011)
... that after eight years singing in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Thomas Lawlor went on to perform more than 60 roles for other opera companies? (26 April 2011)

... that bass-baritone Franz Kelch sang the role of Seneca in the first recording of Monteverdi's opera L'incoronazione di Poppea with Walter Goehr and the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich? (27 May 2010)
... that Max van Egmond recorded the bass arias of Bach's St Matthew Passion with Claudio Abbado and the words of Jesus with Gustav Leonhardt? (2 April 2010)

... that opera singer Fisher Morgan, a former principal soloist with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, ended his career in pantomime? (30 November 2009)

... that the bass-baritone Gustav Hölzel was dismissed from the Vienna State Opera because he changed the words of a song that he was singing in the role of Friar Tuck? (17 September 2009)

... that Jones Hewson played leading roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company from 1896 to 1901 but died in 1902 at the age of 27? (29 December 2008)

... that French opera singer Gustave Huberdeau performed roles ranging from lead roles to character roles to mute roles?

Bass

... that opera singer Virgilio Lazzari was a leading bass with the Chicago Civic Opera from 1918–32 and the Metropolitan Opera from 1933–50? (11 Feb 2016)

... that Dominik Wörner, winner of the 2002 International Bach Competition, recorded Lieder from Vienna written in the fin de siècle period, including works by Berg, Schönberg, Schreker and Wolf? (4 Nov 2015)

... that bass Michael Pospíšil and his ensemble Ritornello recorded music from the hymnal Capella Regia Musicalis, "one of the jewels of Czech musical history"? (29 October 2014)
... that Gerd Nienstedt performed 14 different roles, including the dragon in Siegfried, during 15 consecutive summers at the Bayreuth Festival? (14 August 2014)

... that in the requiem mass for John F. Kennedy, Mac Morgan performed the bass solo of Mozart's Requiem? (30 November 2010)
... that in Bach's St John Passion in the Philharmonie Luxembourg, Christoph Prégardien was the Evangelist and Andreas Pruys sang the words of Christ? (13 November 2010)
... that bass singer Harry van der Kamp founded the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam to perform madrigals of Carlo Gesualdo and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck? (27 May 2010)
... that bass singer Jakob Stämpfli appears on the recording of the reconstructed secular Bach cantata Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a, also called Shepherd cantata? (6 May 2010)
... that within ten years bass singer Klaus Mertens recorded all vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir? (14 January 2010)

... that his fine bass voice turned Leonid Kharitonov from a poor villager in Siberia into a renowned singer performing all around the Soviet Union? (14 October 2009)
... that opera singer Richard Suart, known for his roles in Gilbert and Sullivan, has also specialised in avant-garde modern opera? (13 May 2009)
... that British actor Norman Lumsden, who played J. R. Hartley in the popular 1983 Yellow Pages Fly Fishing advert, was originally an opera singer who created roles for Benjamin Britten? (24 January 2009)

...that the role of Osmin in the German opera The Abduction from the Seraglio was tailor-made by Mozart for his friend Ludwig Fischer? (29 December 2007)
...that English opera singer and actress Florence Perry (pictured) was best known for her performances with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the late 19th century? (10 October 2007)

... that Julian Konstantinov, the brother of Bulgarian volleyball team captain Plamen Konstantinov, is an opera singer?

Conductors

... that Hans Wallat conducted Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen ninety times? (16 December 2014)
... that conductor Roland Bader recorded late choral works by Max Reger, including his Hebbel Requiem, and the First Symphony by Richard Wetz? (23 February 2013)

... that Siegfried Köhler conducted Wagner's Rienzi and premiered operas by Volker David Kirchner at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden (pictured)?
... that German conductor Konrad Junghänel and his vocal ensemble Cantus Cölln won the Gramophone Award for the first complete recording of Monteverdi's collection Selva morale e spirituale? (31 May 2012)
... that Sebastian Weigle, named "Conductor of the Year" by Opernwelt three times between 2003 and 2006, performed Wagner's Ring Cycle at the Frankfurt Opera? (21 March 2012)
... that conductor Herbert Grossman collaborated with his wife on a popular English language translation of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi? (9 May 2011)
... that Howard Arman conducted Handel's opera Tolomeo in 1996 for the Handel Festival in Halle, where the composer was born on 23 February 1685? (23 February 2011)

... that John Douglas conducted more than 50 opera productions at Temple University? (14 October 2010)
... that Erna Berger sang the title role of Bedřich Smetana's The Bartered Bride in a 1955 recording with Wilhelm Schüchter and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie? (10 August 2010)
... that the opera Didone abbandonata (Dido Abandoned) of Domenico Sarro, successful in 1724, was revived by harpsichordist, conductor and musicologist Ludger Rémy?(4 June 2010)
... that Pina Bausch and conductor Thomas Hengelbrock staged Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice in Paris and the ancient theater in Epidaurus? (24 March 2010)

...that French conductor Louis Antoine Jullien received thirty-six given names at his baptism? (8 November 2007)

... that Antonio Bagioli, musical director for one of the first Italian opera companies to tour the United States, stayed behind for love, rather than continuing on to Cuba?

Other

... that Michael Finnissy has reimagined parts of every opera of Giuseppe Verdi? (29 Mar 2016)
... that Operaphone Records did not release recordings of operas? (29 Jan 2016)
... that Bach composed the cantata for the Sunday after Epiphany, Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen, BWV 32, as a dialogue of the Soul and Jesus, using elements of contemporary opera? (10 Jan 2016)

... that voice teacher Beverley Peck Johnson told actor Kevin Kline that he had to choose between her and cigarettes if he wanted to be her pupil? (3 Dec 2015)
... that Philip Baxter was chairman of the Australian Atomic Energy Commission and the Sydney Opera House Trust? (23 Sep 2015)
... that soprano Josepha Duschek, who premiered Ah! perfido, advertised it as "an Italian scena written by Beethoven for Mad. Duschek"? (7 June 2015)
... that Dennis Marks survived life with an idiot to film the diary of one who disappeared? (21 April 2015)
... that Sebastiano Biancardi, suspected of embezzlement, left his family and became a successful librettist known as Domenico Lalli? (7 April 2015)
... that texts by the lawyer and successful opera librettist Christian Heinrich Postel are part of Bach's St John Passion? (13 April 2014)
... that Yulia Makhalina and Ulyana Lopatkina are part of "the basketball team", a group of tall and slender Kirov/Mariinsky ballerinas? (3 April 2014)
... that Alice Renavand, a star (étoile) at the Paris Opera Ballet, has been described as "having the beauty of the devil"? (2 April 2014)
... that Dominique Khalfouni, once a star (étoile) of the Paris Opera Ballet, regretted her decision to leave the company she still loves deeply? (26 March 2014)
... that Swan Lake was shown live in 100 French cinemas, with Steffi Scherzer, a dancer of the Berlin State Opera for 28 years, in the double role of Odette/Odile? (13 March 2014)
... that Rosina Galli (pictured) was the prima ballerina at La Scala Theatre Ballet before she became the première danseuse at the Metropolitan Opera House? (4 March 2014)
... that André Diot designed the lighting for the Jahrhundertring in Bayreuth in 1976, for the opening ceremony of the 1992 Winter Olympics, and for Così fan tutte at the Paris Opera in 2013? (14 November 2013)
... that Jacques Schmidt designed costumes for the Bayreuth Jahrhundertring and for Prokofiev's War and Peace, where 650 "historically appropriate costumes" were needed? (13 November 2013)
... that Patrice Chéreau, the stage director of the centenary Ring Cycle in Bayreuth, directed the film Intimacy, which "sparked a debate about unsimulated sex on screen"? (8 November 2013)
... that a French team created the Jahrhundertring (scene pictured) of Wagner's Ring Cycle at the centenary Bayreuth Festival in 1976, causing "a near-riot"? (7 November 2013)
... that Giuseppe Verdi (pictured) combined in Quattro pezzi sacri four sacred vocal compositions, including an Ave Maria on an enigmatic scale for solo voices and a Te Deum? (10 October 2013)
... that the Lautten Compagney played Monteverdi's Vespers for the Rheingau Musik Festival's annual Marienvesper, which was sung by ensemble amarcord and guests? (26 August 2013)
... that the musicians of the chamber orchestra Kammerorchester Basel accompanied Andreas Scholl in Bach cantatas and also sang the closing chorale? (21 August 2013)
... that Friedrich Meyer-Oertel staged the Ring Cycle at the Opernhaus Wuppertal and the premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Die Hamletmaschine at the Nationaltheater Mannheim? (24 July 2013)
... that Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballe was declared persona non grata in Azerbaijan? (16 June 2013)
... that Giuseppe Verdi's biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz once characterized the modern opera business as "monstropera"? (15 February 2013)
... that the original producers of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann relocated its second act to Venice to include "Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour" (the Barcarolle), the opera's most famous piece? (5 March 2013)

... that World War II memoirist Kirsten Brunvoll, who survived Ravensbrück and Auschwitz, saw her husband and oldest son survive Sachsenhausen, while her youngest son was trained as a pilot in Canada? (14 October 2012)
... that 2012 Australian Paralympic wheelchair tennis player Ben Weekes has played piano at the Sydney Opera House? (20 August 2012)
... that according to The New York Times, opera producer Robert Lepage and opera house general manager Peter Gelb "cut heroic figures in an epic adventure" in the 2012 documentary Wagner's Dream? (29 May 2012)
... that Mei Baojiu is the leader of the Mei Lanfang Peking Opera troupe? (19 May 2012)
... that French choral music composer Ernest Boulanger, son of Opéra-Comique mezzo-soprano Marie Halligner (pictured), received the Grand Prix de Rome in 1835, as did his daughter, Lili, in 1913? (16 May 2012)

... that American McCaull Comic Opera Company actress May Yohé (pictured), once the owner of the Hope Diamond, died poor? (1 October 2011)
... that during a feud with the singer and composer Francesca Caccini, Andrea Salvadori wrote a poem entitled "Women musicians speak from Hell"? (29 September 2011)
... that in the center of Bach's cantata Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist, BWV 45, the voice of Christ appears in a "highly virtuosic aria, half Vivaldian concerto, half operatic scena"? (17 August 2011)
... that Mozart built the final scene of his opera The Magic Flute "upon a solemn fugato around the chorale Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein" by Martin Luther? (10 August 2011)
... that 4,476 tickets were auctioned for the first concert by the "Swedish Nightingale", soprano Jenny Lind (pictured) in her 1850–52 tour of the United States? (25 June 2011)
... that Manchester Hydraulic Power supplied the energy to wind the Town Hall clock, pump the Cathedral organ and raise the safety curtain at the Manchester Opera House? (22 June 2011)
... that German texts by the blind Alsatian writer Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel were the basis of two songs by Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, and of an opera by Joseph Haydn? (18 June 2011)
... that there were two Carlisle Houses in 18th-century London's Soho Square; one housing Domenico Angelo's fencing and riding school and another Madame Cornelys' masquerades and illegal operas? (8 June 2011)
... that the productions of American stage director Nathaniel Merrill at the Metropolitan Opera, "such as Dulcamara's arrival via hot-air balloon in Elisir, kept Met audiences diverted and amused for a generation"? (2 June 2011)
... that Lewis Milestone's 1953 musical biographical drama Melba, about the life of soprano Nellie Melba, was the feature film debut of Metropolitan Opera star Patrice Munsel? (14 May 2011)
... that in 2011 the annual festival Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, founded in 1896 after the model of the Bayreuth Festival, opened at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (pictured) with the first performance in German of Rodion Shchedrin's opera Lolita? (6 May 2011)
... that the Munich Biennale is an opera festival created in 1988 by Hans Werner Henze, focused on opera premieres of young composers? (1 April 2011)
... that Jens-Daniel Herzog staged the opera Intermezzo of Richard Strauss, with Christiane Kohl as Christine, "the composer's formidable and frequently hysterical wife"? (20 March 2011)
... that former chief music critic of The New York Times Donal Henahan was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism in 1986? (17 March 2011)
... that Paul Pyant designed lighting for the production of George Frideric Handel’s Xerxes at the Houston Grand Opera in 2010? (13 January 2011)

... that Gardiner considers Bach the "best writer of dramatic declamation ... since Monteverdi" for the dialogue in his cantata for the Second Day of Christmas, Selig ist der Mann, BWV 57? (26 December 2010)
... that New York City Opera percussionist Howard Van Hyning bought a set of 13 gongs made specially for use in performances of Puccini's opera Turandot? (19 November 2010)
... that the first American performance of Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci was conducted by Gustav Hinrichs with Giuseppe Campanari singing the role of Tonio? (28 September 2010)
... that American musicologist and critic Joseph Kerman described Puccini's opera Tosca as "a shabby little shocker"? (19 September 2010)
... that a song by the 16th-century Bengali Vaishnava padavali poet Govindadasa was included in an opera written under a disguised name by Rabindranath Tagore? (16 September 2010)
... that the Dortmunder Philharmoniker, the orchestra of the city of Dortmund, Germany, for opera and concert, founded in 1887, recorded its first CD in 2010? (29 August 2010)
... that Dieter Dorn staged the world premiere of the opera L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe of Hans Werner Henze at the Salzburg Festival in 2003? (30 March 2010)
... that Chicago-born record producer Lou Reizner conceived and produced the orchestral version of The Who's rock opera Tommy? (25 February 2010)
... that the libretto for Rameau's first opera, Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), was provided by the seasoned playwright and librettist abbé Pellegrin? (4 February 2010)

... that after performing with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for three decades, Anna Bethell became its Stage Director in 1947? (4 December 2009)
... that after Eleanor Evans was appointed as Stage Director of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1949, a large number of performers, including Martyn Green, Ella Halman and Radley Flynn, left in the following years? (4 December 2009)
... that the 1975 musical The Black Mikado was based on Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 opera The Mikado? (27 November 2009)
... that Jeanne Clemson is credited with both preserving the Fulton Opera House in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from demolition, and for restoring live theater to the building? (1 November 2009)
... that Puerto Rican tenor Antonio Paoli's birthplace, the Casa Paoli (pictured), was a wedding gift to his parents, who already had five children together at the time of their marriage? (25 October 2009)
... that Alan Wagner, the first president of the Disney Channel, was also an opera critic and radio personality? (28 June 2009)
... that the lead character in the Mozart opera Don Giovanni calls out for a glass of Marzemino in the final banquet scene before he is carried down to hell? (16 May 2009)
... that Tangton Gyelpo, a 15th-century Nyingma yogi, physician, treasure finder, and founder of Tibetan opera, is known for building numerous iron chain suspension bridges in Tibet? (16 January 2009)
... that the Norfolk, Connecticut-based performing arts venue Infinity Hall was built in 1883 as a combination opera house, barber shop and saloon? (12 January 2009)

... that Aleksandr Pushkin's 1827 poem The Gypsies inspired some eighteen operas and six ballets, including Rachmaninoff's Aleko? (29 December 2008)
... that an intense rivalry between composers Francisco Asenjo Barbieri and Emilio Arrieta helped rekindle the popularity of Spanish opera during the mid-19th century? (29 October 2008)
... that the opera Les vêpres siciliennes (1885) by Giuseppe Verdi was based in part on the medieval Sicilian tract Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia (1290)? (6 October 2008)
... that 17th-century Italian composer Filippo Acciaiuoli was also an inventor of machines used for theatrical effects in operas and plays? (28 August 2008)
... that The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five, a science fiction novel by Doris Lessing, was adapted for the opera in 1997 by Philip Glass? (18 August 2008)
... that the birth of public radio broadcasting was a live concert from the Metropolitan Opera House with Enrico Caruso as one of the opera singers? (28 June 2008)
... that in 1656, German violinist Thomas Baltzar helped premiere The Siege of Rhodes, thought to have been the first all-sung English opera? (6 June 2008)
... that Thomas Jefferson Ramsdell built the opera house where James Earl Jones started his career? (25 May 2008)
... that Verna Arvey got her first break as an opera librettist after poet Langston Hughes left his libretto for the production Troubled Island unfinished? (17 May 2008)
...that Myer Lyon, hazzan of the Great Synagogue of London, doubled as opera star Michael Leoni (pictured) whose contract excused him on the Sabbath? (10 April 2008)

...that the former Grand Opera House (pictured) in Seattle, Washington, USA is now a car park? (26 December 2007)
...that Philip Pullman's novel Clockwork was adapted into an opera for children? (15 December 2007)
...that Lawrence Turner, who presented a Parliamentary petition calling for W. S. Gilbert's copyright on the libretti of Gilbert and Sullivan operas to be extended indefinitely, was the grandson of comic actor George Grossmith who starred in them? (14 December 2007)
...that the Théâtrophone service (1890-1932) allowed the subscribers to listen to opera and theatre performances over the telephone lines? (25 November 2007)
...that one of the first known instances of a composer specifically calling for the use of a bass violin, the predecessor of the modern cello, was in the opera Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi? (21 November 2007)
...that in 1882 impresario Alfred Schulz-Curtius organized the first performance ever in the UK of Wagner's's epic operatic Ring Cycle? (12 November 2007)
...that English actor, singer and playwright Arthur Williams (pictured), best remembered for his comic operas, Edwardian musical comedies and musical burlesques, played over 1,000 roles in his career? (24 October 2007)
...that the 1955 novel Teneke by Turkish author Yaşar Kemal was adapted into an Italian opera of the same title by Fabio Vacchi in 2007? (8 October 2007)
...that Carnegie Medal-winning children’s author Berlie Doherty has written the libretti for three operas? (19 September 2007)
...that the Finnish company YIT was responsible for the construction of the Finnish National Opera house, the Helsinki Fair Centre and Cirrus, the tallest high-rise building in Finland? (12 August 2007)
...that The Majestic (pictured) in Singapore was an opera house built by tin and rubber magnate Eu Tong Sen in 1928 for his wife who was a Cantonese opera fan? (9 August 2007)
...that the performance of La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina in Warsaw in 1628 was the earliest performance of an Italian opera outside of Italy? (12 June 2007)
...that Richard Strauss helped the German composer Heinz Tiessen obtain a job at the Berlin State Opera in 1917? (12 March 2007)

...that the painting The Face on the Barroom Floor, in Central City, Colorado, was inspired by a poem, and that it in turn inspired a chamber opera? (11 October 2006)
...that the librettoes for Tchaikovsky's operas Vakula the Smith and Cherevichki were adapted from Gogol's stories by the poet Yakov Polonsky? (12 September 2006)
...that the first performance of Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar (1836) was conducted by Catterino Cavos (pictured), who composed an opera on the same subject 20 years before Glinka? (7 July 2006)
...that an unknown manuscript of opera libretto by writer Mikhail Bulgakov was found in Isaak Dunayevsky's archive after his death in 1955? (5 June 2006)
... that Russian opera in the 18th century was dominated by Italian composers and singers? (2 June 2006)

...that George Gershwin selected tap dance innovator John W. Bubbles to play a major role in his opera Porgy and Bess, even though he did not read music? (4 July 2005)

...that the iconic Sydney Opera House sits on Bennelong Point? (21 October 2004)

... that the Théâtrophone service (1890-1932) allowed the subscribers to listen to opera and theatre performances over the telephone lines?

... that the musical play Are You There? was widely promoted because of its score by Ruggero Leoncavallo (best known for his opera Pagliacci), but the first-night audience were incensed when it turned out to have very little music?

... that both Herbert Witherspoon and Göran Gentele died before the opening nights of their first seasons as general directors of the Metropolitan Opera?

... that an intense rivalry between composers Francisco Asenjo Barbieri and Emilio Arrieta helped rekindle the popularity of Spanish opera during the mid-19th century?

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