Wikipedia:WikiProject Opera/Did you know?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Did you know....
...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 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 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 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 both Herbert Witherspoon and Göran Gentele died before the opening nights of their first seasons as general directors of the Metropolitan Opera?
...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 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?
