Mary Garden Rocked The Amphitheatre Before The Beatles

One With Nature: Mary Garden singing at Red Rock

"This week marks the 100th anniversary of touring acts playing live concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheater, Denver's iconic venue of the West. Shortly after internationally acclaimed opera singer Mary Garden crooned 'Ave Maria' on Stage Rock this week in 1911, she gushed: 'Never in any opera house the world over have I found more perfect acoustic properties.' 'I predict that someday, 20,000 people will assemble there to listen to the world's greatest masterpieces,' she wrote. Garden's sentiment proved prophetic. The dramatic twin fins of monolithic sandstone that harbor a historical record dating back 250 million years have hosted a much shorter but equally inspiring record of musical performances in the past century. 'It makes your hair just stand up when you think about the artists who've been here,' says Erik Dyce, who has shepherded Red Rocks marketing for Denver's Theatres and Arenas Division for the past 23 years. 'This place is a temple. It's overwhelming when the venue overpowers the artist.' Red Rocks has well served Denver, which acquired the venue in 1941 for $50,000 and quickly elevated the 868-acre park and venue to its crown jewel in an already impressive trove of mountain parks. Culturally and financially, Red Rocks plays an important role for the city, contributing $1.85 million in tax revenue last year. This week, Denver leaders merged the Theatres and Arenas Division, of which Red Rocks is a part, with the city's Office of Cultural Affairs, saving Denver's strapped general fund $1.2 million a year." [Source] For more information about The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Jethro Tull, The Carpenters, Jimi Hendrix, and many more that have performed throughout the history of Red Rocks, click here. Scottish-American soprano Mary Garden's setlist for May 10, 1911, included "Ave Maria" and "Annie Laurie." Learn more about the soprano and her singing, after the jump.

The Red Rocks Amphitheater as it appears today for Rock and Jazz concerts in Colorado.

Three Romanian Divas in Concert: Donose, Gheorghiu, Văduva

Taking a cue from "The Three Tenors" concerts, three Romanian divas, Ruxandra Donose (left), Teodora Gheorghiu (middle) and Leontina Văduva (right), will perform in concert together on December 17. Full details: "Cele trei dive Ruxandra Donose, Teodora Gheorghiu şi Leontina Văduva vor fi pentru prima dată împreună pe scenele din România, la invitaţia pianistului Horia Mihail, care le va acompania, informează Radioul Public. Turneul naţional extraordinar "Cele trei dive" se va desfăşura la Iaşi, Cluj-Napoca, Timişoara, Bucureşti, între 17 şi 23 decembrie, după programul: Sala Filarmonicii din Iaşi - pe 17 decembrie, ora 19.00; Sala Auditorium Maximum Universitatea "Babeş-Bolyai" din Cluj Napoca - 19 decembrie, ora 19.00; Sala Capitol din Timişoara - 21 decembrie, ora 19.00; Sala Radio, Bucureşti - 23 decembrie, ora 19.00, împreună cu Orchestra Naţională Radio, dirijată de Iurie Florea. Dacă triada Pavarotti-Domingo-Carreras a devenit un brand preluat apoi cu succes de tenori din toată lumea, care au apelat la această formulă, în cadrul turneului "Cele trei dive", publicul va descoperi această idee de tripletă, realizată pornind de la alegerea vocilor şi continuând cu "negocierea" repertoriului, care va fi unul foarte atractiv, cu arii şi duete celebre din opere precum "Habanera" din "Carmen" de Bizet, "Aria Adelei" din "Liliacul" de Strauss, "Aria Charlottei" din "Werther" de Massenet, duete celebre din "Nunta lui Figaro" de Mozart, "Lakme" de Delibes, "Povestirile lui Hoffmann" de Offenbach, precum şi celebrul "Noel" de Adolphe Adam cântat de toate trei." [Source]

"Summit of the Stars": Netrebko, Schrott and Kaufmann in Munich

They came, they sang, they conquered. The opera trio performed to a crowd of 15,000 who were willing to pay ticket prices up to $500 for tickets. There was beer and champagne, as well as pretzels and steak. The open-air concert managed to avoid the rains as well. Read a summation here: "Opernstars aus Russland, Uruguay und Bayern, dazu ein tschechisches Orchester mit italienischem Dirigenten: Es geht international zu beim "Gipfeltreffen der Stars.' Bunt gemischt ist auch das Programm, das Sopranistin Anna Netrebko, Bassbariton Erwin Schrott und Tenor Jonas Kaufmann am Freitagabend in München bei ihrem ersten gemeinsamen Auftritt präsentieren: Opern- und Operettenmelodien aus drei Jahrhunderten - von Mozart über Verdi und Gounod bis hin zu Gershwin und Tauber. Obwohl die vor den klassizistischen Propyläen aufgebaute Bühne 38 mal 16 Meter misst, ist sie dicht gefüllt. Mehr als 100 Musiker bevölkern das Podium: Die drei Opernstars