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From the time of Divo to the professional
Until practically half way through the twentieth century the opera singers were the most famous artists. Now they are professionals in great demand.
“There are people who follow to me Valencia, Beijing or New York. They approach me and they say, Plácido, this year we have seen you in 54 performances”
Plácido Domingo, spanish tenor
Plácido Domingo plays Orestes. Photo: Javier of Real/the Real Theatre
THE UNKNOWN LIFE OF THE SINGER
Italian contralto (Cittá di Castello 1826 - Ville d' Avray 1894). Photo: MAE. Institut del Teatre
Italian tenor (Cagliari, Sardinia, 1810 - Rome 1883).
Italian soprano (1843 Madrid - Wales 1919). MAE. Institut del Teatre
Julián Gayarre
Spanish tenor (Roncal, Navarre, 1844 – Madrid, 1890). Photo: MAE. Institut del Teatre
The tenor Julián Gayarre is the greatest representation of the phenomenon of the divos and the divas of opera, an idolisation that has slowly disappeared (or transferred to other areas). Their followers even booed other singers who acted in the Real.
Spanish tenor (Huesca, 1897 - La Coruña 1938). Photo: MAE. Institut del Teatre
Spanish soprano (Valencia 1904 - Madrid 1985). She developed her artistic career between 1920 and 1930. Photo: MAE. Institut del Teatre
Spanish tenor (Madrid, 1941). Aymerich, Pilar (1989). Photo: MAE. Institut del Teatre
Argentinian mezzosoprano (Buenos Aires, 1947). She performed in the role of the grandmother in “La Vida Breve” by Manuel de Falla during the reopening of the Real in 1997. Photo: EFE/Javier at the Real
Soprano (Albania, 1974). She performed in “Madamme Butterfly” in 2017 in the Teatro Real. Photo: EFE/Ángel Diaz.
DIVAS, ALSO FOR ROYALTY
The critic Fernando Fraga tells the story of Elena Sanz, the favourite of the King in real life and in the opera.
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The tenor Jose Manuel Zapata tells the anecdote of the day that Teresa Berganza talked back the public.
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THE PROTAGONIST ROLE, THE MOST PRESSURED
“The opera singers of today must be very switched on, because in the nineteenth century there was nobody who could record a bad night with their mobile phone, and everyone finds out 30 minutes later. If Julián Gayarre had a bad night almost nobody found out about it, they could be more human. Nowadays the great singers are machines. For that reason they cancel so much, making people despair, but if they are not feeling 100% people are going to want to end their careers in 24 hours”
José Manuel Zapata, spanish tenor.