Humor is not a quality normally associated with Verdi. He was a dour fellow, dubbed “the bear of Busetto” by his long-suffering wife. His first comic opera, “Un giorno di regno,” was a crashing failure, and “Falstaff,” his final work for the stage, looks more intently into the abyss than most commentators care to admit.
Ripples of lightness in Verdi's dark 'Ballo'
BY MARION LIGNANA ROSENBERG [7 Apr 05]
Humor is not a quality normally associated with Verdi. He was a dour fellow, dubbed "the bear of Busetto" by his long-suffering wife. His first comic opera, "Un giorno di regno," was a crashing failure, and "Falstaff," his final work for the stage, looks more intently into the abyss than most commentators care to admit.
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Un Ballo in Maschera/Voigt, Metropolitan Opera, New York
By Martin Bernheimer [Financial Times, 6 Apr 05]
It isn't over, apparently, until the fat lady has gastric-bypass surgery. And tells the world about it.
Earlier this season, the soprano Andrea Gruber garnered a lot of attention by declaring that she had undergone an abdominal-stapling procedure in time to sing Turandot at the Met and Covent Garden. Now Deborah Voigt, the diva famously fired by the Royal Opera for not fitting into Ariadne's little black dress, has followed suit.
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