Today is the anniversary of the death of one of the most important exponents of German culture, Johann Wolfgang Goethe (Frankfurt, 28 August 1749 - Weimar, 22 March 1832). In...

Opera

Why were Le Maschere’s seven premiers a spectacular fiasco?

by woopera_blog

March 22, 2018

Why did Le Maschere get such a bad reaction from the public? In the previous post we described the unlucky debut of Mascagni's opera Le Maschere. In this post we...

Opera

Those seven premieres of Mascagni’s Le Maschere

by woopera_blog

March 22, 2018

Mascagni's Le Maschere is an opera based on the commedia dell'arte, the "symbol of the Italic spirit" (Mascagni). The commedia dell'arte included a series of stock characters, words improvisation and...

Composers

Fanny Mendelssohn: the overshadowed life of a musician in the 19th century

by Maria Primiceri

March 13, 2018

The life of Fanny Mendelssohn, sister of the most famous Felix, author of about 500 works but stayed off the grid for too long. Fanny Mendelssohn , sister of Felix,...

Composers

Georges Bizet: besides Carmen

by woopera_blog

February 19, 2018

The French Romantic composer Georges Bizet was a prodigy child. Son of a singer, he was such a gifted young musician that the Paris Conservatoire waived its usual rules to...