Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had control over northern Italian theatres at the time, the opera had a triumphant premiere at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851.
Ileana Cotrubaș is a Romanian operatic soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages.
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras. From the early 20th century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain and, according to the BBC, was Britain's first international conductor.
Anna Moffo was an American opera singer, television personality, and actress. One of the leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation, she possessed a warm and radiant voice of considerable range and agility. Noted for her physical beauty, she was nicknamed "La Bellissima".
Adele Addison is an American lyric soprano who was a figure in the classical music world during the 1950s and 1960s. Although she did appear in several operas, Addison spent most of her career performing in recital and concert. Her performances spanned a wide array of literature from the Baroque period to contemporary compositions. She is best remembered today as the singing voice for Bess in the 1959 movie, Porgy and Bess. Known for her polished and fluent tone, Addison made a desirable Baroque vocal artist. She can be heard on numerous recordings, of which her Baroque performances are perhaps her best work. Many of her recordings were made with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.
Jan Peerce was an American operatic tenor. Peerce was an accomplished performer on the operatic and Broadway concert stages, in solo recitals, and as a recording artist. He is the father of film director Larry Peerce.
June Anderson is a Grammy Award-winning American coloratura soprano. She is known for bel canto performances of Rossini, Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini.
Dame Gwyneth Jones is a Welsh dramatic soprano, widely regarded as one of the greatest Wagnerian sopranos in the second half of the 20th century.
Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto Story (2005) is a film version of Giuseppe Verdi's 1851 opera Rigoletto. Filmed in Siena in 2002, it was directed by Gianfranco Fozzi and produced by David Guido Pietroni and Maurizio De Santis distributed worldwide by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Elizabeth Harwood was an English lyric soprano. After a music school, she enjoyed an operatic career lasting for over two decades and worked with such conductors as Colin Davis and Herbert von Karajan. She was one of the few English singers of her generation to be invited to sing in productions at the Salzburg Festival and La Scala, Milan, as well as at the Metropolitan Opera.
Karan Armstrong was an American operatic soprano, who was celebrated as a singing actress. After winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1966, she was given small roles at the Metropolitan Opera, and appeared in leading roles at the New York City Opera from 1969, including Conceptión in Ravel's L'heure espagnol, Blonde in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and the title roles in Verdi's La traviata, Offenbach's La belle Hélène and Puccini's La fanciulla del West. After she performed in Europe from 1974, first as Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen, and then as a sensational Salome at the Opéra du Rhin, she enjoyed a career at major opera houses, appearing in several opera recordings and films. Armstrong was for decades a leading soprano at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where her husband Götz Friedrich was director. She appeared in world premieres, including Gottfried von Einem's Jesu Hochzeit, Luciano Berio's Un re in ascolto and York Höller's Der Meister und Margarita. She was awarded the title Kammersängerin twice.
Benita Valente is an American soprano whose career has encompassed the operatic stage as well as performance of lieder, chamber music and oratorio. She is especially lauded for her interpretations of Mozart and Handel, but she also excelled in certain Verdi roles. The New York Times once referred to her as "as gifted a singer as we have today, worldwide."
Gabriella Tucci was an Italian operatic soprano who was particularly associated with the Italian repertory and performed at notable opera houses worldwide. She appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in 11 Verdi roles across 13 seasons, including Violetta in La traviata and Desdemona in Otello.
Quartet is a play by Ronald Harwood about aging opera singers.
Margherita Rinaldi was an Italian lyric soprano, primarily active in the 1960s and 1970s, after she made her debut as Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in 1958, prompting her career at La Scala in Milan. She also appeared internationally, performing a wide repertoire including, besides Italian belcanto roles, Baroque and French opera. She recorded the roles of Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto and Ilia in Mozart's Idomeneo. From 1981, she worked as a voice teacher.
Hedsor House is an Italianate-style mansion in the United Kingdom, located in Hedsor in Buckinghamshire. Perched overlooking the River Thames, a manor house at Hedsor can be dated back to 1166 when the estate was owned by the de Hedsor Family. In the 18th century it was a royal residence of Princess Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales.
Margherita Grandi was an Australian-born Italian dramatic soprano.
Evelyn Scotney was an Australian coloratura soprano of great renown in the period from 1913 to the late 1920s. Her range extended to E in altissimo. She was compared very favourably with Amelita Galli-Curci, Luisa Tetrazzini and others. Her recording of "Caro nome" from Verdi's Rigoletto was described by a critic as "one of the best soprano records in existence", and her recording of The Blue Danube and other Strauss vocal waltzes was described as "absolutely perfect coloratura singing". She appears in The Record of Singing.
Gwendoline Florence Catley was an English lyric coloratura soprano who sang in opera, concert and revues. She often sang on radio and television, and made numerous recordings of songs and arias, mostly in English. She was renowned for the clarity and agility of her voice particularly in florid parts, and her English diction was outstanding.
Audrey Luna is an American soprano who won a Grammy Award in 2014 for Best Opera Recording of Thomas Adès's The Tempest and is the record holder for singing the highest written note at the Metropolitan Opera. Luna regularly performs on stages in America and Europe, including the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Royal Opera House, Houston Grand Opera, La Fenice in Venice, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Den Norske Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, and Opéra de Montréal.
