Maria Callas (1923-1977) stands out as the greatest opera singer of the modern era.
She played an indispensable role in reviving the genre of bel canto opera, which had long been forgotten by the time Callas took the world by storm in the early 1950s.
In 1959, Onassis invited Callas and Meneghini for a cruise on his mega yacht, Christina, named after his daughter. Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was also a passenger, although Callas considered him to be “boring,” Spence writes.
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864), born Jacob Meyer Beer in Berlin, became during his lifetime the undisputed master of opera in Paris.
An overview of Meyerbeer’s life and legacy can be found nearby, see: The Forgotten Master of the Opera: Giacomo Meyerbeer
The Amsterdam-based radio DJ Bart Plantenga has played yodeling – in all musical genres – on his show since the late-1980s. He has even published two books on it, YODEL-AY-EE-OOOO: The Secret History of Yodeling Around the World and Yodel in HiFi, which, in the process, has gained him some notoriety: he’s the world’s leading expert on yodeling.
Yodeling is largely synonymous with Europe’s Alpine region, but the art form is celebrated around the world, including in South Korea, Japan and the United States.
Nearly 70 years after her death, American composer Florence B. Price (née Smith, 1887-1953) is enjoying a formidable renaissance. With over 300 classical music compositions to her repertoire, spanning every genre except for opera, Price’s Symphony No. 3, The Mississippi River Suite and The Oak are emerging as classic Americana in style and routed in the African-American experience.
Islamic art represents a body of work created and developed by skilled craftsmen who have lived and worked in Muslim territories for more than fourteen hundred years.