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Albanese, Licia

(Encyclopedia)Albanese, Licia, 1909–2014, Italian-American soprano. A lirico-spinto soprano, whose silvery voice was suited to lyric and somewhat heavier roles, she specialized in Puccini and was particularly kno...

Scala, La

(Encyclopedia)Scala, La [Teatro alla Scala], one of the world's great opera houses, located in Milan, Italy. It opened in 1778 with a production of Antonio Salieri's Europa Riconosciuta. Built on the site of the Ch...

Leopardi, Giacomo

(Encyclopedia)Leopardi, Giacomo jäˈkōmō lāōpärˈdē [key], 1798–1837, Italian poet and scholar, considered Italy's outstanding 19th-century poet. An intellectual prodigy, he taught himself Hebrew and ancie...

Long, John Luther

(Encyclopedia)Long, John Luther, 1861–1927, American playwright, b. Hanover, Pa. In 1900, in collaboration with David Belasco, he dramatized his short story “Madame Butterfly” (1897), which Puccini later made...

Meyerbeer, Giacomo

(Encyclopedia)Meyerbeer, Giacomo jäˈkōmō mīˈyərbĕr [key], 1791–1864, German operatic composer. He traveled in Italy and experimented in various styles of composition, but his real success came only with h...

Murger, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Murger, Henry äNrēˈ mürzhĕrˈ [key], 1822–61, French poet and novelist. His Scènes de la vie de Bohème (1845–49; tr., 1905, 1930), like many of his works, is a romantic and sentimental acco...

Tucker, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Tucker, Richard, 1913–75, American tenor, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Tucker began his singing career as a cantor and remained one throughout his 30-year operatic career. In 1945 he made his debut at the Metr...

Pavarotti, Luciano

(Encyclopedia)Pavarotti, Luciano lo͞ochäˈnō pävōräˈtēē [key], 1935–2007, Italian tenor. He made his debut in Italy in 1961, in London in 1963, and in the United States in 1965. He appeared regularly at ...

Casanova de Seingalt, Giovanni Giacomo

(Encyclopedia)Casanova de Seingalt, Giovanni Giacomo kăzənōˈvə, Ital. jōvänˈnē jäˈkōmō käzänōˈvä dā sāngältˈ [key], 1725–98, Venetian adventurer, author, and celebrated libertine. He studied...

Corelli, Franco

(Encyclopedia)Corelli, Franco kōrĕlˈlē [key], 1921–2003, Italian tenor. He made his operatic debut at Spoleto in 1952 as Don José in Bizet's Carmen and debuted with the Metropolitan Opera in 1961, singing M...
 

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