Opera for the Millions II

The next half of our Chicago Lyric education series is also filled with wonderful stories and intrigue. Within 3 1/2 years of its premiere, The Merry Widow was performed more than 18,000 times in German, english, and American theaters.

Donizetti wasn't one to slave over every note, fussily revising and rewriting - he wrote The Elixir of Love in two weeks. On February 24, 1988, Luciano Pavarotti (tenor) received 165 curtan calls and was applauded for 1 hour 7 minutes after singing in Gaetano Donizetti's E 'Elisir 'Amore at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Germany.

"Did you know that Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838) provided Mozart with the inspiration for Don Giovanni,The Marriage of Figaro, and Cosi fan tutte. Da Ponte was a Venetian priest who fathered a child with a maried woman, was run out of town, moved to Vienna, forged a letter of introduction, passed himself off as a librettist, worked with Mozart, had several affairs with leading divas, moved to London, got heavily into debt, and fled to New York, where he started a grocery story and the Italian department at Columbia University. It's safe to say that Lorenzo da Ponte is the greatest librettist ever to be burried in Queens." (Opera for Dummies)

Did you also know that Mozart's real name was Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart.

Come hear more stories and music in the Maynard Room, given by a docent from the Chicago Lyric Education Corps.

The Merry Widow by Lehar - Wednesday, November 18
The Elixir of Love by Donizetti - Thursday, January 14
The Damnation of Faust by Berlioz - Thursday, February 11
The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart - Thursday, February 18