Elisabeth Söderström most human character in the drama." Born in Stockholm, Söderström received her first musical schooling from Adelaide von Skilondz and later studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. She made her debut in 1947 at the Drottningholm Palace Theatre singing in one of Mozart's lesser-known works "Bastien et Bastienne". From 1949 to 1980 she called the Royal Swedish Opera her home but she frequently appeared at some of the largest opera houses in the world. She was also a regular visitor to the recording studio. Between 1959 and 1964 Söderström was contracted by the Metropolitan Opera in New
Mateo Falcone (opera) Mateo Falcone (opera) Mateo Falcone ("Матео Фальконе" in Cyrillic; "Mateo Fal'kone" in transliteration) is a one-act opera composed by César Cui during 1906–1907. (Actually, Cui designated the genre of this work as "dramatic scene.") The libretto was adapted by the composer from Prosper Mérimée's like-named story from 1829 and Vasily Zhukovsky's verse rendering thereof. It was premiered on 14 December 1907 (Old Style), at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow (the work was given along with the composer's early one-act comic opera, "The Mandarin's Son"). The premiere production of "Mateo" was a failure; the work never became part of the standard