Opera singing is unique, inimitable, powerful. No pop performance can compare with him. Perhaps that is why the opera is still in demand and loved despite the changes of eras or musical trends. And the stars of this art form are world celebrities, whose names will forever remain in the history of music.
Legendary opera singers of the 20th century
In many ratings dedicated to opera stars, the name of the Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti is ranked first. His career fell on the period 1961-2004, and his world fame was promoted by his performance at the opening of the World Cup in Italy in 1990. Pavarotti then sang the aria Nessun Dorma from the opera Turandot, and this composition remained his hallmark for a long time. One of the tenor's performances at the Metropolitan Opera entered the Guinness Book of Records, as the enthusiastic audience summoned him 165 times after the concert. Pavarotti did a lot to popularize opera music. His project "Three Tenors", created jointly with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, is widely known.
Andrea Bocelli is another legendary tenor from Italy. Due to eye problems, he lost his sight at the age of 12. Luciano Pavarotti became his godfather on stage when he invited him to participate in a concert in his homeland. In addition to performing operatic parts, Bocelli works a lot in the pop genre. His albums receive platinum status, and his concerts are always sold out. The tenor is equally popular in the United States and Europe.
Placido Domingo is a lyric tenor from Spain, the record holder for the number of operatic parts performed (he has over 150 of them). His career began in Mexico, where he lived with his parents from the age of 8. Then Domingo moved to the United States. Since 1968, he has been honored to open the season at the Metropolitan Opera in New York more than 20 times, overtaking the legendary Enrico Caruso. The tenor's studio albums received gold and platinum status, and also brought him 11 Grammy awards.
Jose Carreras is from Spain. He is known not only for his opera performances, but also for his charity work. After at the age of 33, Carreras fell ill with leukemia and managed to defeat a terrible ailment, he organized a fund that is studying this disease and finding an effective treatment for it. In 2009, the tenor decided to end his illustrious career.
Enrico Caruso is a famous tenor of the early 20th century. He began his career in his native Italy, but his greatest success is associated with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Caruso was one of the first to record his unique voice on gramophone records, thanks to which you can still enjoy his singing today. The tenor's life was cut short at the age of 48 due to complications caused by pneumonia.
Jussi Bjerling is a Swedish tenor who is also called one of the legends of the 20th century. Following his father, he became the successor of the dynasty of opera singers. In his native country, for special services in this art form in 1944 he was awarded the honorary title of "Court Singer". After successful concert tours in Europe, Bjerling sang for a long time in New York. The last years of his life were worried about heart problems, which led to the premature death of the tenor at the age of 49.
Fyodor Chaliapin is the most famous Russian opera singer (bass). In 1919, he was the first to receive the title of People's Artist from the Soviet government. The artist's creative biography is closely connected with the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi theaters. Contemporaries noted Chaliapin's rare artistic talent. To the performance of opera arias, he knew how to add his frantic temperament and surprisingly accurate intonations, which transformed his every performance.
Top opera singers of the 20th century
Maria Callas is a Greek-American soprano performer, owner of a dramatic soprano. Like no one else, she was able to convey the whole gamut of emotions with just one voice, introducing elements of theatrical action into the opera. Callas managed to be organic in different opera genres and styles, which explains her extensive repertoire. She was born in New York, but in her youth she returned with her mother to her homeland to study at the Athens Conservatory. One of the singer's phenomenal abilities was her ability to masterly perform seemingly incompatible vocal parts. Callas was called “the queen of the Italian prima donnas”. The decline of a successful career at the age of 37 was facilitated by the loss of voice caused by a rare progressive disease - dermatomyositis.
Joan Sutherland is an Australian opera singer who started out as a mezzo-soprano. Her stage debut took place in Sydney, but fame came during her performances at London's Covent Garden. She sang at the world's best opera venues: La Scala, Grand Opera, Metropolitan Opera. Sutherland was awarded the Knightly Order of the British Empire. She officially retired in 1990 and passed away in 2010.
Kirsten Flagstad is a singer from Norway, her hallmark were parts from the works of Richard Wagner. His career flourished in the first half of the 20th century. Flagstad rose to fame after the role of Isolde in Wagner's opera Tristan and Isolde. In addition to the Scandinavian countries, she often performed in London and New York. In honor of the singer, a monument is erected near the Opera House in Oslo.
Renee Fleming is an American opera star who sings the parts of the lyric soprano. The singer's career began in the 80s. Among her best works are Desdemona in the opera "Othello" by Verdi, Countess Almaviva in "The Marriage of Figaro" by Mozart, the main role in "The Mermaid" by Dvorak and others. Fleming is fluent in German, Italian and French. She has won four Grammy Awards for Best Classical Vocal Solo.
Montserrat Caballe was a Spanish opera diva (soprano), who had an excellent command of the bel canto technique (virtuoso performance). A resounding success came to her in 1965, when the singer was invited to replace another performer in the opera Lucrezia Borgia. Caballe herself called the role of Imogen in Bellini's The Pirate the most difficult in her career. The singer became known to a wide circle of music lovers when she recorded the album Barcelona (1988) together with Freddie Mercury. Over the years of her creative activity, she presented to the public about 90 roles. Thanks to her fans, the nickname "Excellent" has stuck to her.
Famous Russian opera performers
Irina Arkhipova is a star of the Bolshoi Theater, who has performed on its stage for more than 30 years (1956-1988). She performed the parts of mezzo-soprano. Her repertoire consisted of over 800 works by Russian and foreign performers. Arkhipova performed on the best world stages and often took part in the jury of international vocal competitions. She gained worldwide fame by performing the role of Carmen in the famous opera by Bizet.
Galina Vishnevskaya became one of the first Soviet singers (soprano), which the whole world learned about. This happened after the release of the recording of her performance in Puccini's opera Turandot in 1964, where she starred as Liu. Dmitry Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten composed musical compositions especially for Vishnevskaya. Her career developed at the Bolshoi Theater, but after the Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya couple were deprived of Soviet citizenship in 1978, the singer did not perform for long in France and the USA. She left the stage in 1982. Upon returning to Russia, she was engaged in teaching.
Elena Obraztsova is the star of the Soviet opera scene (mezzo-soprano). In 1964, after graduating from the Conservatory, she was admitted to the Bolshoi Theater. World success came to her in 1975 during a tour in the United States, where Obraztsova shocked the audience with the performance of the part of Marina Mnishek in the opera Boris Godunov. In the early 80s, the composer Georgy Sviridov composed vocal cycles specially for her on the verses of the poets Sergei Yesenin and Alexander Blok. She starred in many musical television films: "The Merry Widow", "Tosca" and others. She had a chance to perform with the best opera singers, but Obraztsova especially emphasized her work with Placido Domingo and Vladimir Atlantov.
Dmitry Hvorostovsky was a brilliant singer (baritone) on the world opera stage. His breakthrough came in 1989 after winning an opera competition in the UK. Since 1994 he has lived and worked in London. The composer Sviridov created the vocal cycle "Petersburg" for Hvorostovsky. The singer himself performed a lot with the patriotic cycle "Songs of the War Years", tried his hand at the pop genre, when he recorded a joint album with Igor Krutoy. The singer did not leave the stage after learning about the fatal illness. As long as his health allowed, he continued to perform, including for charitable purposes. The death of Hvorostovsky in 2017 was a huge loss for operatic art.
Modern opera stars
Natalie Desse was born in 1965 in France. At the height of her career, her coloratura soprano was recognized as the best in the world. She was especially successful in the role of the doll Olympia in Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffmann". Unfortunately, after two operations on the ligaments, she lost her unique sound, so she decided to leave the opera and switch to the stage.
Anna Netrebko is a modern diva of the opera stage (soprano), the pride of Russia. The part of Donna Anna from Mozart's Don Giovanni, performed in 2002 at the Salzburg Festival, captivated the audience once and for all. It is most popular in German-speaking countries. In Russia, Netrebko collaborates a lot with the Mariinsky Theater. Attention to her is fueled by Anna's bright media appearance, thanks to which she often flashes on the pages of fashion magazines.
Cecilia Bartoli is an Italian, has been performing on stage since the age of 9, and she studied vocals with her mother, a professional singer. She was invited to the Teatro alla Scala when its director saw Bartoli perform on a television show in 1986. She is best known for performing works by Rossini, Mozart, and Baroque music. In 2002 she was awarded the Grammy Award.
Juan Diego Flores is a tenor from Peru who is called the "golden boy" for his success on the opera stage. He especially succeeds in tenor parts in the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti.
Simon Keenleyside is a British baritone who made his debut at the Hamburg Opera House in 1988 as Count Almaviva from Le Nozze di Figaro. An opera recording of this role won a Grammy in 2005. For many years he performed at the Scottish Opera, collaborates with Covent Garden in London.
