Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of soprano Astrid Varnay. When Varnay was eight years old, Puccini’s opera Turandot premiered in Milan.Also today marks the Birthday anniversaries of bass Italo Tajo (1915), singer Ella Fiztgerald (1917) , soprano Irene Jordan (1919) and
bass Fritz Hübner (1933).
Happy 72nd birthday tenor Seppo Ruohonen, and 69th birthday mezzo-soprano Cynthia Clarey.
Dan Soda (Windy City Operaman) is a Chicago native whose first visit to opera was at age 17 and Massenet’s Werther with Troyanos and Kraus. Nothing was ever the same. Opera and concert performances, recordings and video are an obsession. He prepares Parterre Box’s daily birthday and anniversary tributes. He also enjoys concerts, live theater and movies.
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Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
