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5 opera scenes to sweep you off your feet

Opera singers (left to right) Elīna Garanča, Helen Donath and Tamar Iveri perform in Mozart's opera Così fan tutte at the Salzburg Opera Festival. Andreas Schaad/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Andreas Schaad/AFP via Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

5 opera scenes to sweep you off your feet

For World Opera Day, watch scenes that will make you fall in love with the art form — from a crazy day at Mozart's diner to a trippy trip to China with Richard Nixon.

Leontyne Price At 90: The Voice We Still Love To Talk About

Leontyne Price as Leonore in a Metropolitan Opera production of Verdi's La forza del destino, 1977. James Heffernan/Metropolitan Opera Archives hide caption

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James Heffernan/Metropolitan Opera Archives

Deceptive Cadence

Leontyne Price At 90: The Voice We Still Love To Talk About

Sherrill Milnes calls it "an avalanche of sound." Jessye Norman says it's "a cloud filled with silver." Singers and critics talk about the amazing voice of Leontyne Price on her 90th birthday.

Joseph Calleja: Tiny Desk Concert

Joseph Calleja performed a Tiny Desk Concert November 26. Abbey Oldham/Abbey Oldham/NPR hide caption

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Abbey Oldham/Abbey Oldham/NPR

Tiny Desk

Joseph Calleja: Tiny Desk Concert

He's a young tenor with an old-school style and all the world's top opera houses want him. Calleja's expressive shading and dynamic control hearken back to an earlier era — and he's funny.

Joseph Calleja: Tiny Desk Concert

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Note To 'Downton Abbey' Viewers: Nellie Melba Was A Big Deal

Opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, circa 1900. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

Note To 'Downton Abbey' Viewers: Nellie Melba Was A Big Deal

One diva brought another to the screen in this week's episode of the celebrated drama. New Zealand native Dame Kiri Te Kanawa appeared as her predecessor Dame Nellie Melba, an Australian singer in high demand in the years before and After World War I. Hear the real Melba in a signature role.

Licia Albanese: An Opera Diva Hits 100

Soprano Licia Albanese sang the title role in Puccini's Madama Butterfly 72 times at the Metropolitan Opera. The Metropolitan Opera Archives hide caption

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The Metropolitan Opera Archives

Deceptive Cadence

Licia Albanese: An Opera Diva Hits 100

The beloved star of the Metropolitan Opera is revered for her portrayals of Puccini heroines, especially Madama Butterfly. Her service to opera includes creating the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, which supports emerging singers.

Music

Unlikely Alliance: Bluebeard and Gianni Schicchi

Renowned bass Samuel Ramey stars as a serial murderer in Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle, and as the devious title character in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, a comedy with a corpse at the center of the action. It's a deadly double bill from the Washington National Opera.

Washington National Opera on World of Opera -- 'Bluebeard's Castle'

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Music Interviews

Puccini's Beloved 'Boheme,' Times Two

William Berger, author of Puccini Without Excuses, sizes up two new and very different recordings of the composer's best-known opera. Berger says the beauty of Bohème lies in the little details of the characters' lives.

Puccini's Beloved 'Boheme,' Times Two

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China: Culture

Chinese Composer Gives 'Turandot' a Fresh Finale

For 84 years, opera buffs have puzzled over how Italian composer Giacomo Puccini meant to finish one of his best-loved works, Turandot. Now, a young Chinese composer has put a new spin on the famous opera set in a mythical China.

Chinese Composer Gives 'Turandot' a Fresh Finale

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Music News

Italian Tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano Dies at 86

Di Stefano was known for his thrilling Italianate voice and his successful collaborations with soprano Maria Callas. The retired tenor had been brutally attacked in 2004, and never recovered.

Italian Tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano Dies at 86

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Music

'Un bel di,' by Giacomo Puccini

It woud be difficult for a single tune from Madame Butterfly to be more popular than the opera itself, but there's one that comes close: Cio-cio-San's poignant aria, "Un bel di" — "One fine day."

Washington National Opera on World of Opera -- 'Madame Butterfly'

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Music

Maria Callas, The Legend Who Lived for Her Art

Opera superstar Maria Callas died 30 years ago Sunday, at age 53. But you'd hardly know she was gone, judging from the steady stream of releases from her record company. It's a testament to the continuing appeal of a great artist.

Maria Callas, The Legend Who Lived for Her Art

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Music

Cultural Collision: Puccini's 'Madame Butterfly'

Legendary tenor Placido Domingo takes to the podium, to conduct Puccini's Madame Butterfly, in a Washington National Opera production starring soprano Xiu Wei Sun as Cio-Cio-San.

An Introduction to 'Madame Butterfly,' with Placido Domingo

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Music

Puccini's 'The Girl of the Golden West'

Full-bore, Italian "verismo" meets the American frontier, in Puccini's Girl of the Golden West, from Glimmerglass Opera. Minnie is a golden-hearted woman serving a Deadwood-style mining camp as everyman's sister, teacher, mother and sweetheart — until a mysterious stranger comes to town, and she falls in love with the wrong guy.

Roger Honeywell with "Ch'ella mi creda libero" at Glimmerglass Opera.

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Music Interviews

Car Phone Salesman Captures British Hearts

Welsh car phone salesman Paul Potts wowed British audiences last weekend with his performance of "Nessun Dorma," an aria from the Puccini opera, "Turandot." He appeared on the British television network's Britain's Got Talent. Potts talks to Madeleine Brand.

Car Phone Salesman Captures British Hearts

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Music

Puccini's 'Manon Lescaut'

The title character in Puccini's Manon Lescaut is a young woman torn between true love and a life of luxury. The production comes from the Washington National Opera, with stars Veronica Villarroel and Franco Farina, and conductor Placido Domingo.

An Introduction to 'Manon Lescaut'

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