Birthday anniversaries of librettist Antonio Ghislanzoni (1824), composers Johann Strauss Jr (1825), and Georges Bizet (1838), conductor Karl Elmendorff (1891), sopranos Anita Välkki (1926) and Hana Janku(1940), and tenor Giuliano Ciannella (1943)
Happy 82nd birthday contralto Ortrun Wenkel
On this day in 1995 the stage musical Victor/Victoria opened on Broadway
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.
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.
