Brian Salesky is an American conductor of operatic and orchestral music. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University, he also studied at The Juilliard School.
In the fall of 1978, Salesky first appeared at the New York City Opera, conducting Naughty Marietta . He went on to lead La traviata , Rigoletto (with Pablo Elvíra), Falstaff (with Donald Gramm and Muriel Costa-Greenspon, in Sarah Caldwell's production), the world premiere of Stanley Silverman's Madame Adare, Carmen , Les contes d'Hoffmann , etc., with the company. In 1980, the City Opera production of La cenerentola was televised over PBS, with Salesky leading Susanne Marsee, Rockwell Blake, and Alan Titus, to much acclaim.
In Europe, Salesky has conducted at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu ( L'elisir d'amore , with Alfredo Kraus), and then led concerts with Kraus and Renata Scotto, in Madrid and Granada. Elsewhere, he has appeared with Opera Australia (Adriana Lecouvreur), the Spoleto Festival (Falstaff), Chicago Lyric Opera (Simon Boccanegra), Cincinnati Opera, Atlanta Opera, Dayton Opera, Knoxville Opera Company as well as the opera companies of Washington and Montana. He has also led many symphony orchestras.
On Broadway, Salesky conducted the revival of Man of La Mancha , with Raúl Juliá, in 1992. As of 2005, he is Executive Director and Conductor of the Knoxville Opera Company.
Falstaff is a comic opera in three acts by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV, parts 1 and 2. The work premiered on 9 February 1893 at La Scala, Milan.
Raymond John Leppard was a British conductor, harpsichordist, composer and editor. In the 1960s, he played a prime role in the rebirth of interest in Baroque music; in particular, he was one of the first major conductors to perform Baroque opera, reviving works by Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli. He conducted operas at major international opera houses and festivals, including the Glyndebourne Festival where he led the world premiere of Nicholas Maw's The Rising of the Moon, the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House. He composed film scores such as Lord of the Flies and Alfred the Great.
Tito Gobbi was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation.
Sarah Caldwell was an American opera conductor, impresario, and stage director.
The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center.
June Anderson is a Grammy Award-winning American dramatic coloratura soprano. Originally known for bel canto performances of Rossini, Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, she was the first non-Italian ever to win the prestigious Bellini d'Oro prize.
Vincent La Selva was an American conductor. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he began performing at the age of 8 and by the age of 12 he was conducting student performances. He received his bachelor's degree from the Juilliard School where he has served on the faculty since 1969. After his graduation from Juilliard, he served in the United States Army where he conducted the First Army band at Fort Jay on Governor's Island.
Antonio Scotti was an Italian baritone. He was a principal artist of the New York Metropolitan Opera for more than 33 seasons, but also sang with great success at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Milan's La Scala.
Joseph Rescigno is an American conductor best known for his work in opera in North America and Europe. He served as Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of the Florentine Opera Company of Milwaukee, WI for 38 seasons beginning in 1981. He also served as Artistic Director of l'Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, in Quebec, Canada, for four seasons. His commitment to young musicians and singers returns him each year to La Musica Lirica, a summer program for singers in Northern Italy, where he has been Music Director since 2005., He has mentored Solti Foundation U.S. Award recipients as part of the Foundation's residency project since the 2014–2015 season, first at the Florentine and later elsewhere. In this program, award recipients apprentice through an entire rehearsal and performance cycle. In addition, he serves on the advisory committee of the Olga Forrai Foundation, which supports the training, education, and career development of singers and conductors.
Carol Lee Neblett was an American operatic soprano.
Giuseppe Valdengo was an Italian operatic baritone. Opera News said that, "Although his timbre lacked the innate beauty of some of his baritone contemporaries, Valdengo's performances were invariably satisfying — bold and assured in attack but scrupulously musical."
Vicente (Vicenç) Sardinero, né Sardinero-Puerto, was a Spanish operatic lyric baritone. Born in Barcelona, he made his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in his native city in the 1964–65 season, as Escamillo in Carmen. His first appearance at the Teatro alla Scala was in 1967, as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, opposite Renata Scotto, subsequently appearing there in Il trovatore (1978), I due Foscari (1980), and Falstaff. Sardinero also sang at London's Covent Garden and was often heard in zarzuela.
Gabriel Bacquier is a French operatic baritone. One of the leading baritones of the 20th century and particularly associated with the French and Italian repertories, he is considered a fine singing-actor equally at home in dramatic or comic roles.
Alberto Erede was an Italian conductor, particularly associated with operatic work.
Michael Chioldi is an American opera singer who has performed leading baritone roles in the opera houses and festivals of North and South America, Europe and Asia. He first appeared at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1995 when he was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition.
Fernando Corena was a Swiss bass who had a major international opera career from the late 1940s through the early 1980s. He enjoyed a long and successful career at the Metropolitan Opera between 1954 and 1978, and was a regular presence at the Vienna State Opera between 1963 and 1981. His repertoire encompassed both dramatic and comic roles in leading and secondary parts, mainly within Italian opera. He was highly regarded for his performances of opera buffa characters and is generally considered one of the greatest basso buffos of the post-war era. He was heralded as the true successor to comic Italian bass Salvatore Baccaloni, and in 1966 Harold C. Schonberg wrote in The New York Times that he was "the outstanding buffo in action today and the greatest scene stealer in the history of opera".
Jeanette Scovotti is an American coloratura soprano.
Arnold U. Gamson was an American conductor who is particularly known for his work within the field of opera. He notably co-founded and served as the Music Director and principal conductor of the American Opera Society from 1950-1960. His work with the AOS was highly influential in sparking and perpetuating the post World War II bel canto revival, particularly through a number of highly lauded productions of rarely heard works by Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini. He is the husband of renowned dancer and choreographer Annabelle Gamson. Their daughter, Rosanna Gamson, is also a celebrated choreographer and their son, David Gamson is composer of platinum-selling popular songs.
Donald John Gramm was an American bass-baritone whose career was divided between opera and concert performances. His appearances were primarily limited to the United States, which at the time was unusual for an American singer. John Rockwell of The New York Times described Gramm as follows: "He had an unusually rich, noble tone, and although its volume may not have been large, it penetrated even the biggest theaters easily. Technically, he could handle bel-canto ornamentation fluently. But his real strengths lay in his aristocratic musicianship and his instinctive acting." Among the most notable of his many operatic roles were the title role in Verdi's Falstaff, Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, and Dr. Schön and Jack the Ripper in Berg's Lulu.
The Knoxville Opera is an American opera company based in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1978 as the Knoxville Civic Opera by Edward Zambara, who served as Artistic Director until 1981. The company changed its name and became an entirely professional opera company in 1983. Since 1981 the company has had three General Directors who also served as the Principal Conductor; Robert Lyall who served from 1982-1999, Francis Graffeo from 2000-2005, and Brian Salesky who has served in the position since 2005.
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