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Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (La Roncole, Italy, October 10, 1813 – Milano, January 27, 1901) is considered the most influential composer of the 19th century's Italian School of opera. His works are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, some of his themes have long since taken root in popular culture - such as "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto.

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Josh Groban

Joshua Winslow Groban (born in Los Angeles, CA , on February 27, 1981) is an American singer known for his mature, dusky baritone voice. His musical style ranges from classical to pop. After only one year in the theatre department at Carnegie Mellon University, his choice school, Groban left when he was offered a recording contract at Warner Bros. Records through David Foster's own 143 Records imprint.

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Alfie Boe

When Alfie began his studies at the Royal College of Music as an opera singer he was encouraged to explore this beautiful classical folk music. As he immersed himself in the history of these arias he was immediately hooked on the tradition it was steeped in & his love affair had begun! "When I'm performing these songs it's the music and the words that are telling the story and that's where the passion comes from. I really connect with the people and their love and emotion for their homeland," explains Alfie.

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Philippe Jaroussky

Philippe Jaroussky (b. 1978) is a French sopranist countertenor. He is noted for a virtuosic technique of melisma, and for compelling and enlivened interpretations of baroque cantatas and opera. This has contributed to his unusual revival of repertoire. According to La Terrasse, "this young singer with the tone of an angel and the virtuosity of the Devil has come into the limelight in only a few years as the great new French vocal talent." He received the 2007 best French lyrical artist. You can see his performance of a Vivaldi aria on youtube, here.

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Claudio Monteverdi

Claudio Monteverdi ("Green Mountain") (Cremona May 15, 1567 – November 29, 1643) was an Italian composer, violinist and singer. His work marks the transition from Renaissance to Baroque music. During his long life he produced work that can be classified in both categories, and he was one of the most significant revolutionaries that brought about the change in style. Monteverdi wrote the earliest dramatically viable opera, Orfeo, and was fortunate enough to enjoy fame during his lifetime.

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James Bowman

James Thomas Bowman (b. November 6, 1941) is a famous countertenor born in Oxford, England. His career spans opera, oratorio, contemporary music and solo recitals. He began singing as a boy chorister at Ely Cathedral. He later went to New College, Oxford. He was a member of the New College and Christ Church choirs. In 1967 he auditioned for Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group and was cast as Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, a work with which he has subsequently had a long and distinguished association.

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Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22nd May 1813–13th February 1883) was an influential German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or "music dramas" as he later came to call them). His compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their contrapuntal texture, rich harmonies and orchestration, and elaborate use of leitmotifs: themes associated with specific characters, locales, or plot elements. Wagner's chromatic musical language prefigured later developments in European classical music, including extreme chromaticism and atonality.

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