Word: spontini
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Italian opera," snorts one Milanese buff, "is going to the dogs because so many dogs are singing it today." Symptomatic of the problem was La Scala's season-ending production last week of a 147-year-old opera called Olympie, by Gasparo Spontini. It flopped, mainly because it lacked a singer of superstar rank. In the past, the company could dredge up any old potboiler, cast Callas or Tebaldi in the lead, and have a resounding success. But now Callas and Tebaldi are little more than memories in Italy. Along with the younger corps of fine singers, they have...
Trained as a naval engineer, Corelli did not start studying singing until he was 24, learned most of what he knows by listening to recordings of famous singers. His professional career was begun "by pure good luck" when he got the chance to sing opposite Maria Callas in Spontini's La Vestale on a La Scala opening night...