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Jeanne-Anaïs Castellan (real name Jeanne Anaïs Castel or Chastel), born in Beaujeu, Rhône on 26 October 1819, died in Paris 1861, was a French soprano. She is most notable for creating the part of…

Paulina García Sitches , also known as Michelle Pauline Viardot García ( Paris , 18 July 1821 – Paris, 18 May 1910), was a French opera singer ( mezzo - soprano ) and composer

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗗𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗧 Opera and ballet were never fully separate worlds. From the 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗾𝘂𝗲 era onward, many major operas incorporated dances, ballets, divertissements,…

"The Dance Class" by Edgar Degas, 1875, Musée d'Orsay. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons , public domain)

Photograph of the premiere of Tchaikovsky's ballet, The Sleeping Beauty (1890).

Impression of the second scene of the Ballet Comique de la Reine, presented in Paris in 1581 for the French court.

Photo of 1892 production of The Nutcracker in St Petersburg

Sleeping Beauty -Marie Petipa as the Lilac Fairy & Lyubov Vishnevskaya as an Attendant -1890

𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗩 𝗞𝗟𝗜𝗠𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗩 𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗡 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 The idea of encounters between 𝗚𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘃 𝗞𝗹𝗶𝗺𝘁 and 𝗚𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘃 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿 is not only plausible but historically very likely. Both stood near the center…

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘀 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 This collage is made up of portraits and photographs of four generations of the Strauss family; from the left, 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘀 𝗜, his sons 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗝𝗿., 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗳 and 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱, next…

𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗦 𝗜𝗜: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗭 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗔: 𝗔 𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗛𝗬𝗧𝗛𝗠 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗧 Johann Strauss II was born in 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟱, 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟱, into…

𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢 𝗣𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗜: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗖 𝗩𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗢𝗦𝗢 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗡 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗔: 𝗔 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗜𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗦𝗛 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗜𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 Nicolo Paganini was born in 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗮 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟳, 𝟭𝟳𝟴𝟮, into a…

Modest Mussorgsky

𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗦𝗬, 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟵𝟬𝟮 - 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀 & 𝗠𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱. 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 (𝟭𝟴𝟲𝟮-𝟭𝟵𝟭𝟴)

𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 - 1866

𝗔 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗣𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗛 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗦𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗦𝗞𝗬 (𝟭𝟴𝟯𝟵–𝟭𝟴𝟴𝟭)

𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧: 𝗖𝗢𝗦𝗜 𝗙𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗘 Complete Audio Recordings in patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/2107924 There are operas that win affection immediately, and others whose greatness reveals itself more slowly. 𝗖𝗼𝘀ì 𝗳𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲 belongs to that second category. At…

𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧: 𝗗𝗢𝗡 𝗚𝗜𝗢𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗜 Complete Audio Recordings in Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/2107867 There are operas that dazzle by beauty, others that impress by dramatic force, and a very small number that seem to contain 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻…

Lorenzo da Ponte

Pierre-Augustin de Beaumarchais , author of the play La folle journée, ou Le mariage de Figaro (1784), in which the opera is based.

Printed libretto for the Prague production of 1786

Anastasia Robinson, Cornelia

Giulio Cesare, Senesino

𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹'𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗚𝗶𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗼 𝗖𝗲𝘀𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗴𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗼 (𝗝𝘂𝗹𝗶𝘂𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗲𝘀𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗴𝘆𝗽𝘁) (𝗛𝗪𝗩 𝟭𝟳). 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟳𝟮𝟰.