Revisiting Dario Argento's "Terror At The Opera" From 1987

Smoking Gun: Cristina Marsillach as Betty as Lady Macbeth

A decade before his film, The Phantom of the Opera (1998), Dario Argento found himself in the opera house shooting another sort of slasher film. Terror at the Opera, or just Opera as it would later be called, featured a glimpse of soprano obsession not seen since the film Diva (1981) and the much later Las Hijas De Danao (2014). The plot of Argento's bloody film is as follows: "A young opera singer (Betty) gets her big chance when the previous star of a production of Verdi's Macbeth is run over by a car. Convinced the opera is bad luck she accepts, and becomes the target (in Argento's unmistakable style) of a psychopath - a man she has been dreaming of since childhood." [Source] The horror film's soundtrack includes original compositions of Brian and Roger Eno, Claudio Simonetti, Bill Wyman and Terry Taylor, The Group Steel Grave, The Group Norden Light, as well as opera contributions from the following: "Vieni t'afretti" from opera Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi performed by Maria Callas; "Casta Diva" from Norma composed by Vincenzo Bellini performed by Maria Callas; "Amami Alfredo" from La Traviata composed by Giuseppe Verdi performed by Maria Callas; "Sempre libera" from La Traviata composed by Giuseppe Verdi performed by Maria Callas; "Un bel dì vedremo" from Madama Butterfly composed by Giacomo Puccini performed by Mirella Freni; Macbeth (excerpt) composed by Giuseppe Verdi performed by Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz (as Elisabetta Norberg Schulz) soprano, Paola Leolini Soprano, Andrea Piccinni (as Andrea Piccini) Tenor, Michele Pertusi Baritone, with "Artouro Toscanini" Symphonic Orchestra of Emilia and Romagna. Watch the film, read more about Dario Argento, and see the cast list, after the jump.

Mirella Freni 80th Birthday Celebration Begins At La Scala

Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy, kicked off an early 80th birthday celebration of soprano Mirella Freni on Wednesday, February 25, with a conversation that included music critics Elvio Giudici and Alberto Mattioli. The evening was free to the public and included videos with audio clips documenting her career. [Source] In an interview prior to the evening, Madame Freni recounted the tale of how at the age of 2 she would forgo playing games to listen to music on the radio. And when asked at age 5 by her mother what she wanted to be when she grew up, she replied "a great opera singer." It was actually her Uncle who would play the piano and teach her songs for fun. That passion eventually grew and that's when she decided to study music. She debuted professionally in her hometown of Modena on February 3, 1955, at the age of 19 as Micaela in Bizet's Carmen. This is a role she would go on to sing all over the world and love so much that she named her daughter Micaela. She talks about all of her favorite roles and the secret to her long career was probably the ability to say "no" to certain offers. Read the whole interview by clicking here. Be sure to check out the birthday tribute with biography, photos, and audio clips, by clicking here. Friday, February 27, marks the official birthday of the soprano. Brava! See a wonderful archival photo of Mirella Freni from La Scala, and video of the evening in conversation with the soprano,  after the jump.

Remembering Maestro Claudio Abbado And His Opera Stars

Claudio Abbado backstage with Renata Scotto after I Capuleti e i Montecchi at Teatro alla Scala in 1967

Conductor Claudio Abbado passed away on Monday, January 20, 2014, at the age of 80. He left an immaculate legacy of live musical performances and countless recordings on a variety of labels. He conducted a great majority of opera throughout his career and subsequently had many friendships with singers from around the globe. Check out some spectacular photos of the Maestro with singers from the past 50 years, along with some biographical information, after the jump.

What Smells Like A Dozen Famous Sopranos And Is Red All Over?

One King's Lane is currently running an auction of Metropolitan Opera memorabilia. Perhaps the most interesting item among the lot is a costume worn by a curious collection of divas that have sung the role of Elizabeth of Valois with the company over the last three decades, beginning with its original wearer Renata Scotto. A nice bargain of operatic history for only $4,999US and Halloween is just around the corner! 

A full image of the dress after the jump and be sure to check the tags at the end of this post to see the list of singers to wear the garment.

Click on the image to enlarge. You will see a detail of the tags sewn into the costume that designate some of the singers who wore it over the years. You can see sopranos wearing it here and here. Also watch the dress in action here.

Limelight Magazine Picks Their Top 10 Opera Film Selections

Catherine Zeta-Jones look-alike
Sylvia Sass doing Bartók.

Paulo Montoya chooses from a plethora of operatic depictions on celluloid and narrows the best down to the top 10. Directors include such luminaries as Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Robert Dornhelm, Miklós Szinetár, Gianfranco de Bosio and Götz Friedrich, while some of the greatest opera singers in the last 60 years featured include Mirella Freni, Teresa Stratas, Plácido Domingo, Leonie Rysanek and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. The most recent film on the list is Puccini's La Bohème featuring Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón from 2009. Chances are many of the titles are available on demand through Netflix. Sounds like a good chance to stay inside from the summer heat and see some cinematic excellence. View the full list.

Happy Birthday: Mirella Freni

Scène de la Crau: "Voici la vaste plaine"
Mireille (Gounod)

"Born February 27, 1935 as Mirella Freni into a working class family in Modena (both her mother and tenor Luciano Pavarotti's mother worked in the same cigarette factory in that city); her aunt was the soprano Valentina Bartolomasi. She was a musically gifted child and sang 'Un bel dì vedremo' in a radio competition at age ten. The tenor Beniamino Gigli warned her, however, that she risked ruining her voice and advised her to give up singing until she was older. She resumed singing at age 17. Mirella made her operatic debut in Modena at 1955, at age 19, as Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen. She was offered many roles after this, but she decided to put her career aside and marry her singing teacher, Leone Magiera. She resumed her career in 1958 by winning a singing competition and singing Mimì in Puccini's La bohème at the Teatro Regio in Torino. She then sang with The Netherlands Opera during the 1959-60 season. Her international breakthrough came when she

"Va godendo vezzoso e bello"
Xerxes (Händel)

sang Adina in Franco Zeffirelli's staging of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at Glyndebourne, where she also sang the Mozart comic roles of Susanna and Zerlina during the 1960-62 seasons. In 1961, Freni made her Royal Opera House debut as Nannetta in Verdi's Falstaff. In 1963, she made her debut at La Scala, in a production staged by Zeffirelli and conducted by Herbert von Karajan (Freni went on to become one of Karajan's favourite singers, and she collaborated with him in numerous operas and concerts). In 1965, Freni made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Mimì, and later appeared there as Liù in Puccini's Turandot, as well as Marguerite in Faust and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, among many other roles, for a total of 139 performances. The following year she sang Mimì again for her debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company with Flaviano Labò as Rodolfo. From the early 1970s into the 1980s, Freni began singing heavier Verdi roles, notably Elisabetta in Don Carlo (in John Dexter's production), Desdemona in Otello (with Jon

"So anch'io la virtu magica"
Don Pasquale (Donizetti)

Vickers), and Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Elvira in Ernani (staged by Luca Ronconi), Leonora in La forza del destino, and the title role of Aïda. She also added the Puccini heroines of Manon Lescaut and Tosca to her repertory, and recorded Madama Butterfly as well as all three roles of Il trittico. She also starred in a 1975 film of Madama Butterfly opposite Plácido Domingo, with von Karajan conducting and Jean-Pierre Ponnelle directing. In 1976, she starred as Susanna in a Ponnelle film of Le nozze di Figaro, also featuring Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Hermann Prey. In 1981, she married Nicolai Ghiaurov, one of the leading operatic basses of the post-war period. Together they helped establish the Centro Universale del Bel Canto in Vignola, where they started giving master classes in 2002. Following Ghiaurov's death in 2004, Freni continued their work in preserving the Bel Canto tradition, and currently teaches

"Dove sono" Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart)

young singers from around the world. Freni published a memoir, Mio Caro Teatro in 1990. She was also awarded the order Cavaliere della Gran Croce della Repubblica Italiana that year and the French Légion d'honneur in March 1993. The University of Pisa awarded her an honorary degree in 2002 for "her great contribution to European culture." Freni continued to add to her repertory well into the 1990s with Italian verismo, taking on the title roles of Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur in Milan, Paris, Barcelona and New York and Giordano's Fedora in London, Milan, New York, Torino, Barcelona and Zürich. In 1998, she performed Giordano's Madame Sans-Gêne in Catania. During this time she also ventured into the Russian operas of Tchaikovsky, appearing as Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Lisa in The Queen of Spades, and Ioanna in Orleanskaya Deva. In 2005, the Metropolitan Opera celebrated the 40th

"Tu, tu piccolo iddio" Madama Butterfly (Puccini)

anniversary of her Met debut and her 50th anniversary on the stage with a special gala concert conducted by James Levine. Freni ended her professional career on stage with Orleanskaya Deva at the Washington National Opera on 11 April 2005, performing the teenager Ioanna (Joan of Arc) at 70 years of age. She was awarded the Italian Cavaliere di Gran Croce and the French Légion d'honneur in March 1993. The University of Pisa awarded her an honorary degree in 2002 for her 'great contribution to European culture.' In 2005, the Metropolitan Opera celebrated the 40th anniversary of her Met debut and her 50th anniversary on the stage with a special gala concert conducted by James Levine." [Source]

"Pace, pace mio Dio!" La Forza del Destino (Verdi)


Tatiana's Letter Scene Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky)


"Io son l'umile ancella Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea)


"Ernani, Ernani involami" Ernani (Verdi)


"Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore" Tosca (Puccini)


"Si, mi chiamano Mimì" La Bohème (Puccini)


September Vier Letzte Lieder (Strauss)

"Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" La Rondine (Puccini)


"Selva opaca, deserta brughiera" Guillaume Tell (Rossini)


"Oh Dieu! que de bijoux" Faust (Gounod)


"Prendi...prendi, per me sei libero" L'elisir d'Amore (Donizetti) with Nicolai Gedda