La Scala is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala. The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's Europa riconosciuta.
Johann(es) Simon Mayr, also known in Italian as Giovanni Simone Mayr or Simone Mayr, was a German composer. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era. He was an early inspiration to Rossini and taught and advocated for Donizetti.
Teatro Regio di Parma, originally constructed as the Nuovo Teatro Ducale, is an opera house and opera company in Parma, Italy.
Luigi Ricci, was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. He was the elder brother of Federico Ricci, with whom he collaborated on several works. He was also a conductor.
Giuseppe Farinelli was an Italian composer active at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century who excelled in writing opera buffas. Considered the successor and most successful imitator of Domenico Cimarosa, the greatest of his roughly 60 operas include I riti d'Efeso, La contadina bizzarra and Ginevra degli Almieri. More than 2/3 of his operas were produced between 1800-1810 at the height of his popularity. With the arrival of Gioachino Rossini his operas became less desirable with the public, and by 1817 his operas were no longer performed. His other compositions include 3 piano forte sonatas, 3 oratorios, 11 cantatas, 5 masses, 2 Te Deums, a Stabat mater, a Salve regina, a Tantum ergo, numerous motets, and several other sacred works.
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.
Giacomo David, was a leading Italian tenor of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Fanny Salvini-Donatelli was an Italian operatic soprano. She is best known today for creating the role of Violetta in Verdi's opera, La traviata, but she was also an admired interpreter of the composer's other works as well as those by Donizetti.
Raffaele Mirate was a celebrated Italian operatic tenor who had an active career from the 1830s through the 1860s. Known for his intelligent phrasing and bright and powerful vocal timbre, he was regarded as an outstanding interpreter of the tenor roles in the early and middle period operas of Giuseppe Verdi. He notably created the role of the Duke of Mantua in the world premiere of Verdi's Rigoletto in 1851. He was also a highly regarded interpreter of bel canto roles, excelling in the operas of Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Gioachino Rossini.
Ginevra di Scozia is an opera in two acts by Simon Mayr set to an Italian libretto by Gaetano Rossi based on Antonio Salvi's Ginevra, principessa di Scozia, which in turn was adapted from cantos 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. Ginevra di Scozia premiered on 21 April 1801 at the Regio Teatro Nuovo in Trieste to celebrate the inauguration of the new theatre. The story is virtually identical to that of Handel's Ariodante which shares the same source for the libretto.
Teresa Bertinotti was a celebrated Italian soprano and voice teacher. She created leading roles in several operas, including Simon Mayr's Ginevra di Scozia.
Giuseppe Antonicelli was an Italian conductor who was highly active with Italy's leading opera houses from the 1920s through the 1950s. Among the houses he conducted at were, La Scala in Milan, the Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, La Fenice in Venice, the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, the Teatro Nuovo in Turin, and the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste. He also conducted a total of 158 performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1948–1950.
Ferdinando Orlandi, also referred to as Orland and Orlando. Little is known of his early life and his year of birth is also cited as 1777. He was an Italian musician and teacher of singing who composed cantatas and sacred music, but was particularly known for his operas, not all of which have survived. He was born and died in Parma.
Adelaide Malanotte was an Italian operatic contralto who performed in major opera houses in Italy from 1806–1821. She is best known for creating the title role in the world premiere of Gioachino Rossini's Tancredi in 1813. After her marriage, she performed under the name Adelaide Montresor. Her son, Giovanni Battista Montresor, had a career as a tenor and impresario in the United States. From 1812 until her death 20 years later she carried on an extra-marital affair with the poet Luigi Lechi.
Giuseppe Siboni was an Italian operatic tenor, opera director, choir conductor, and voice teacher. He began his career in his native country in 1797 and actively performed in major Italian opera houses up through 1818. From 1806 to 1809 he performed successfully in London, and from 1810 to 1814 he was active in Vienna, where he enjoyed the friendship of Ludwig van Beethoven. He played a critical role in Danish musical life from 1819 until his death in 1839. In 1819 he joined the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, where he worked first as a singer and later as director of the opera chorus and head director. In 1827 he founded the Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen. He was married three times during his life, including his second marriage to the sister of poet Franz von Schober. His third marriage produced a son, the composer and pianist Erik Siboni (1828–1892).
Elisabetta Manfredini-Guarmani was an Italian opera singer best known for having created the leading soprano roles in four of Rossini's operas, roles which he wrote specifically for her voice. She was born Antonia Elisabetta Manfredini in Bologna and was the daughter of the composer and music theorist Vincenzo Manfredini. After her stage debut in 1810 when she sang in the premiere of Stefano Pavesi's Il trionfo di Gedeone at Bologna's Teatro del Corso, she went on to perform at La Fenice, La Scala, Teatro Regio di Torino, Rome's Teatro Argentina and several other opera houses, primarily in Northern Italy. In addition to the roles she created in Rossini's operas, she also sang in the world premieres of operas by several composers who are lesser known today, including Pietro Raimondi, Simon Mayr, and Ferdinando Paër. Her last known appearance was in 1828 after which there is no further trace of her. The date and place of her death are unknown.
Carlo Negrini was an Italian spinto tenor and creator of Gabriele Adorno in Verdi’s opera Simon Boccanegra.
Elvina Ramella was an Italian operatic soprano.
Carolina Bassi was an Italian contralto who knew Rossini, Meyerbeer, Donizetti and Bellini.
Claudio Bonoldi was an Italian tenor.
