Trevor Gillis

Sherrill Milnes

Sherrill Milnes

Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes was another name that kept popping up on the CD box sets I was buying. I first heard Milnes on the famous 1971 recording of Verdi’s Rigoletto with Sutherland and Pavarotti. Like so many great singers, he has an unforgettable and unmistakable sound. The first word that comes to mind when I think of Milnes is power. He also has a wonderful ability to convey emotion in his tone and bring out different colors of his instrument. Listen below to see what I mean. I wouldn’t say his voice is beautiful in the way, say, Gerald Finley’s is, but he certainly has his place secured in the list of great divi.

(more…)

By Trevor Gillis, ago
Das Rheingold and Wotan

5 free resources – Das Rheingold, Opera of the Month

 

One of the things I’ve always found fascinating about opera is the fact that it can be so many different things to different people; for one person, an opera may simply be an opportunity to listen to some gorgeous music. For someone else, the story itself may be the most intriguing element. Yet others may find enjoyment only upon researching and “doing their homework” on the work, digging into the opera’s musical and dramatic themes. I personally derive the greatest pleasure from an opera when I know the work well, and we at Opera Sense are committed to helping people learn as much as they can about this life-changing genre. To that end, here are a few free online resources you can use to get to know our Opera of the Month – Das Rheingold – better…

(more…)

By Trevor Gillis, ago
Kathleen Battle

Kathleen Battle

The opera world loves a good controversy, and Kathleen Battle certainly provided one! Born in 1948, Battle first appeared on the operatic stage as Rosina in Michigan Opera Theater’s 1975 production of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. Two years later she made her Met debut, playing the Shepherd in Wagner’s Tannhäuser. During the 1980s, Battle became a renowned interpreter of lyric and coloratura soprano roles.

Kathleen Battle

(more…)

By Trevor Gillis, ago
Laura Wilde

“This production shows how the magic works,” Laura Wilde on Lyric Opera’s Das Rheingold

I first met Laura Wilde during our sophomore year at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. At St. Olaf, it soon became obvious to everyone who listened to her that she was going to make something of herself in the notoriously competitive world of opera. Unsurprisingly, she’s done just that! Playing Freia in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s latest production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold, Wilde was gracious enough to answer a few questions about herself and the production for Opera Sense.

(more…)

By Trevor Gillis, ago
Das Rheingold

Overview – Das Rheingold, Opera of the Month

The libretto to Das Rheingold was the last one Richard Wagner wrote for Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), but it was the first opera of the cycle that he composed music for. This opera serves as the prologue in his epic Ring tetralogy, with the next three operas being Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung. Rheingold premiered in Munich in 1869, but it was not until 1876 that it was performed as part of the first complete cycle at the legendary Bayreuth Festspielhaus theater (a theater designed by Wagner and built specifically for the Ring) in Bayreuth, Germany. The annual Bayreuth festival continues to this day.

Das Rheingold

(more…)

By Trevor Gillis, ago