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Monday, November 27, 2017

Carol Neblett (February 1, 1946 – November 23, 2017) was an American operatic soprano.

In 1979, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Senta in The Flying Dutchman, in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's production, opposite José van Dam. She sang with the Met until 1993, in such operas as Tosca, La bohème, Un ballo in maschera (with Carlo Bergonzi), Don Giovanni, Manon Lescaut, Falstaff (with Giuseppe Taddei). Neblett was born in Modesto, California and raised in Redondo Beach. She studied at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1969 she made her operatic debut with the New York City Opera, playing the part of Musetta in Puccini's La bohème. With that company, she continued to sing many leading roles, in Mefistofele (with Norman Treigle), Prince Igor (conducted by Julius Rudel), Faust, Manon, Louise (opposite John Alexander, later Harry Theyard), La traviata, Le coq d'or, Carmen (as Micaëla, with Joy Davidson, staged by Tito Capobianco), The Marriage of Figaro (as the Contessa Almaviva, with Michael Devlin and Susanne Marsee), Don Giovanni (as Donna Elvira), L'incoronazione di Poppea (with Alan Titus as Nerone), Ariadne auf Naxos (directed by Sarah Caldwell), and Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Die tote Stadt (in Frank Corsaro's production). WIKIPEDIA

Izabella Jadwiga Zielińska (née Ostaszewska; 10 December 1910 – 20 November 2017) was a Polish pianist and pedagogue with one of the longest artistic biographies in Poland, starting back in 1935.

Izabella Jadwiga Ostaszewska was born in Klimkówka, Podkarpackie Voivodeship and attended primary school in Sanok and at the Lyceum of the Ursuline Convent in Lvov, graduating in 1929. She took piano lessons from Klaudia Rylska. In 1930 she went to Belgium to continue her education in the Ursulines Institute at Wavre-Notre-Dame, where she studied French and music. WIKIPEDIA

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Silver-Maned Baritone From Siberia, Dies at 55

Dmitri Aleksandrovich Hvorostovsky PAR (Дми́трий Алекса́ндрович Хворосто́вский, 16 October 1962 – 22 November 2017) was a Russian operatic baritone. His operatic debut in the West was at the Nice Opera in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades (1989). In Italy he debuted at La Fenice as Eugene Onegin, a success that sealed his reputation, and made his American operatic debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago (1993) in La traviata. He subsequently sang at virtually every major opera house, including the Metropolitan Opera (debut 1995), the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Berlin State Opera, La Scala and the Vienna State Opera. He was especially renowned for his portrayal of the title character in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin; The New York Times described him as "born to play the role. Hvorostovsky died on 22 November 2017 in London after a two-and-a-half-year battle with brain cancer. WIKIPEDIA

Sunday, November 19, 2017

RIP Luis Enriquez Bacalov, Oscar-winning Italian film composer

The Oscar-winning composer known for his work in Quentin Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' and 'Django Unchained' was 84. Luis Enríquez Bacalov (30 August 1933 – 15 November 2017) was an Argentine-born Italian composer of film scores. Early on in his career, he composed scores for Spaghetti Western films. In the early 1970s, he collaborated with Italian progressive rock bands. Bacalov has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Original Score, winning it in 1996 for Il Postino. Bacalov has composed significant works for chorus and orchestra. Before his death he was the artistic director of the Orchestra della Magna Grecia in Taranto, Italy. WIKIPEDIA

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Robert De Cormier, Composer And Renowned Music Director, Dies At 95

Robert De Cormier (January 7, 1922 – November 7, 2017) was an American musical conductor, arranger, and director. He arranged music for many singers and groups, including Harry Belafonte and Peter, Paul, and Mary, and worked with Milt Okun. vpr.net

He has directed concerts and recordings for television specials, and was choral director for a television special and recording starring Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle, conducted by James Levine. De Cormier was the conductor and leader of The Belafonte Folk Singers during most of its lifetime from 1957 to 1965. He also headed The Robert De Cormier singers, who performed extensively in the mid-1960s and then on and off until the mid-1990s Robert De Cormier was Music Director and Conductor of the New York Choral Society from 1970–1987 and is a Music Director Emeritus. In 1993, De Cormier helped to found the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Chorus, and remains its director.

WIKIPEDIA