Renata Tebaldi was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-war period, and especially prominent as one of the stars of La Scala, San Carlo and, especially, the Metropolitan Opera. Often considered among the great opera singers of the 20th century, she focused primarily on the verismo roles of the lyric and dramatic repertoires. Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini called her voice "la voce d'angelo", and La Scala music director Riccardo Muti called her "one of the greatest performers with one of the most extraordinary voices in the field of opera."
La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo, Tyrant of Padua, a 1835 play in prose by Victor Hugo.
June Anderson is a Grammy Award-winning American dramatic coloratura soprano. She is known for bel canto performances of Rossini, Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini.
Juan Diego Flórez is a Peruvian operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in bel canto operas. On June 4, 2007, he received his country's highest decoration, the Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Sun of Peru.
Gianluigi Gelmetti OMRI, was an Italian-Monégasque conductor and composer.
Leo Nucci is an Italian operatic baritone, particularly associated with Verdi and Verismo roles.
Marcelo Raúl Álvarez is an Argentine lyric tenor who achieved international success starting in the mid-1990s.
Rockwell Blake is an American operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in Rossini operas. He was the first winner of the Richard Tucker Award.
Roberto Abbado is an Italian opera and symphonic music conductor. Currently he is Artistic Partner of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In 2015 he has been appointed Music Director of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. From 2018 he's Music Director of the Festival Verdi in Parma. Previously he held the position of Chief Conductor of Münchner Rundfunkorchester.
La buona figliuola, or La Cecchina, is an opera buffa in three acts by Niccolò Piccinni. The libretto, by Carlo Goldoni, is based on Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded. This was Piccinni's most successful Italian opera. There was a sequel entitled La buona figliuola maritata (1761) by the same composer and librettist. La buona figliuola supposta vedova by Gaetano Latilla followed in 1766.
Marco Lazzara is an Italian countertenor who sings a wide-ranging repertoire from baroque composers to those of the 20th century and has performed in a number of notable premieres and revivals of rarely performed operas. He has recorded widely on the Bongiovanni, Ricordi, Nuova Era, Forlane, Opera Rara and Dynamic labels.
Marc Laho is a Belgian lyric tenor opera singer.
Don Giovanni, o sia Il convitato di pietra, also known as Don Giovanni Tenorio is a one-act opera by the Italian composer Giuseppe Gazzaniga. The opera was first performed at the Teatro San Moisè, Venice, on 5 February 1787, the same day as Francesco Gardi's opera Don Giovanni in the same city at the Teatro San Samuele The libretto, by Giovanni Bertati, is based on the legend of Don Juan as told by Tirso de Molina in his play The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest (c. 1630), leading to comparisons with Mozart's Don Giovanni which had its premiere later in 1787. Mozart's librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte, certainly knew the earlier opera. Gazzaniga's work is much shorter than Mozart's, and originally formed part of a double-bill with another piece, Il capriccio drammatico.
Francesco Meli is an Italian operatic tenor particularly associated with the romantic repertoire. He began his vocal studies at age 17 with Norma Palacios at the Conservatorio di Musica "Niccolò Paganini" in Genoa. He later became a pupil of mezzo-soprano Franca Mattiucci. In 2002 he debuted in Verdi's Macbeth and as the tenor soloist in Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle and Puccini's Messa di Gloria, broadcast by RAI from the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto. He has gone on to sing leading roles in La Scala, The Metropolitan Opera, Teatro Regio di Torino, London's Royal Opera House, Opéra National de Lyon, Zurich Opera, and the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. In 2017, he will make his debut as Verdi's Don Carlo at La Scala and as Radames in Salzburg next to Anna Netrebko's Aida.
Antonino Fogliani is an Italian conductor.
Giovanni Meoni is an Italian operatic baritone.
Nino Surguladze is a Georgian mezzo-soprano.
Riccardo Frizza is an Italian conductor, particularly known for his work in the Italian operatic repertoire. After making his professional conducting debut in 2001 with Rossini's Stabat Mater at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, he went on to conduct in the leading opera houses of Europe and the United States, including La Scala, La Fenice. the Paris Opera, and New York's Metropolitan Opera.
Edoardo Müller was an Italian conductor who was chiefly recognized for his interpretations of bel canto operas. A frequent guest conductor with opera houses internationally, he had a lengthy association with the San Diego Opera which spanned 31 years. He was also an accomplished pianist who accompanied several notable singers in recitals and concerts; including Carlo Bergonzi, Renato Bruson, Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Leyla Gencer, Elena Obraztsova, and Renata Tebaldi. His work is preserved on recordings made for the Philips, BMG, Bongiovanni, and Orfeo record labels. He served as conductor for Joyce DiDonato's 2009 CD Colbran, the Muse: Rossini Opera Arias.
Svetla Vassileva is a Bulgarian opera singer (soprano).
