GIFT IDEAS
Tanisha's Favorite Opera Gift Ideas for less than $50
It's holiday season and a great time to give your opera loving friend or perhaps yourself these wonderful gifts compiled my Tanisha and the Opera Talks Staff. Opera Talks received a commission for items purchased on Amazon.
Jessye Norman: The Unreleased Masters (CD)
Jessye Norman’s posthumous album is an honorable connection to intimate moments when the diva recorded repertoire that the world did not hear when she was alive.
The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer
Renée Fleming is a recent Kennedy Center Honor recipient and is a multi-Grammy Winner who performed internationally. However the “People's Diva” came from humble beginnings. From her youth as the child of two singing teachers through her years at Juilliard, from her struggles to establish her career to her international success, The Inner Voice is a luminous, articulate, and candid self-portrait of a contemporary artist—and the most revelatory examination yet of the performing life.
Maria Callas: Life and Art (CD)
This year and beyond is a huge celebration for Maria Callas because December 2 is her 100th birthday. Callas has a huge influence on my life as an artist and this recording has one of my favorite arias: Massenet’s Pleurez Mes Yeux from his unknown opera, Le Cid.
Jackie and Maria: A Novel of Jackie Kennedy & Maria Callas by Gill Paul, Lisa Flanagan, et al.
I always wondered about the dynamic of Maria Callas and Jackie Onassis. The former First Lady of the US and the opera diva both loved Aristotle Onassis-but we all know which one married him. This fiction novel is the answer to “what if?”.
Opera Word Searches by James Adams
What better way to keep opera on your mind than with a word search? I’m such a nerd that I’ll take the words I found and search them… Will you?
Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century by Carole Boston Weatherford (Author), Raul Colón (Illustrator)
If you want to inspire a child to learn about an opera singer, this is the book to add to the collection. This picture book illustrates the illustrious and honorable career of Leontyne Price.
Leontyne Price: Prima Donna Collection (CD)
I love this recording because it contains arias from operas Leontyne Price never performed on stage. It is a keepsake that is hard to find on YouTube.
Leontyne Price: Highlights of a Prima Donna by Hugh Lee Lyon
In this first biography of Leontyne Price, Hugh Lyon delves into Price's early life in childhood and college. There are many details that you would remember after you read it. A must read!
Great Operatic Disasters by Hugh Vickers
“To its devotees, opera is the most sublime of arts. It is also one of the most accident prone, and when things go wrong, they tend to do so on a grand scale. Great Operatic Disasters records some of the most memorable calamities from opera houses around the world. Most of them are true, some have been embroidered over the years, and a few, well, se non e vero, e ben trovato.” -Amazon
Ride on, King Jesus!: Florence Quivar (CD)
Florence Quivar is one of my favorite mezzo sopranos of all time. I feature her in some of my opera talks. This album is truly a spiritual journey with excellent arrangements of spirituals. My favorite track is I am Seeking for a City. Listen to it- you’ll cry too.
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