Published:
- by Mount Saint Mary College
Legendary basso Salvatore Baccaloni of the Metropolitan Opera, in May of 1963.

Those who were there – as well as those familiar with the Mount’s past – fondly recall how the Aquinas Hall Theatre hosted the U.S. premiere of Dialogues of the Carmelites, directed by legendary basso Salvatore Baccaloni of the Metropolitan Opera, in May of 1963. 

Not many, however, remember the wonderful thing that happened next.

Salvatore Baccaloni and Sr. Ann Leo, OP

It was late July of 1963, about two months after Carmelites premiered at the college. Baccaloni had performed in the Mount’s inaugural Summer Concert just a few days earlier when he returned to conduct an opera workshop at the college. 

Sponsored by the Mount’s Cultural Center, the course included voice training, music theory, staging, fundamentals of makeup, basic acting techniques in opera, operetta and drama, and more. During the class, Sr. Ann Leo, OP, played accompaniment on the piano.

Being mentored by the great Baccaloni, star of stage and screen, was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the small group of men and women who attended the workshop. 

Salvatore Baccaloni conducting an opera workshop in July 1963

Having made his mark internationally and at the Mount, Baccaloni would pass away about six years later on New Year’s Eve of 1969. He was nearly 70 years old.

For those who met him at the Mount, the memory of the benevolent basso lives on. 

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