While Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) is best known to modern audiences for his colorful programmatic works associated with Italian locations, his vocal music is also engaging.
Author: Gary Hoffman
Netrebko and Hvorostovsky, Royal Festival Hall, London
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/f63624a0-06b8-11df-b426-00144feabdc0.html
Monteverdi, 1610: Vespers to Usher in the Baroque
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/arts/music/22vespers.html?ref=music
Norma, ThÈ‚tre du Ch‚telet, Paris
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/a31d502c-05eb-11df-8c97-00144feabdc0.html
For Verdi, Masquerading as a Baritone
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/arts/music/20simon.html?ref=music
Simon Boccanegra, Metropolitan Opera, New York
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/379e6866-051b-11df-a85e-00144feabdc0.html
Operatic Italian
Robert Stuart Thomson’s Italian language learning text, Operatic Italian, promises to become an invaluable textbook for aspiring operatic singers, voice teachers, coaches and conductors.
La Boheme at the Grand, Leeds
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/opera/article6992715.ece
Stiffelio at the MET
Stiffelio was composed just after Luisa Miller — an opera that has had little trouble holding its own in the repertory — and just before the magic trio of Rigoletto, Trovatore and Traviata, the first Verdi operas to take their immediate place on the stages of the world and hold them without a break from that day to this.