Portal:Opera/Did you know

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

...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 the Balık sisters from Turkey are the only identical twins singing opera?

...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 Gaetano Donizetti's opera Le duc d'Albe didn't receive its first performance until more than 40 years after his death?

...that Bantcho Bantchevsky, former singer and voice coach, committed suicide during a nationally-broadcast performance from the Metropolitan Opera?

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

...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?