Philip Eisenbeiss and Domenico Barbaja

Although having been one of the most important figures of early nineteenth century opera, Domenico Barbaja still did not have a biography that would make him well known to the public. The gap was filled by Philip Eisenbeiss, author of the book Bel Canto Bully: The Life and Times of the Legendary Opera Impresario Domenico Barbaja, published in Italy by EDT and presented on the 7th of June 2016. Eisenbeiss, who has lived in Hong Kong for twenty years as a headhunter for the world of finance, engaged the many friends who attended the presentation by stimulating questions and by revealing a number of anecdotes, all in a correct Italian. He started by giving an exact definition of “bel canto” (audio), a term whose actual signification is often mistaken, and that refers to composers such as Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and Mercadante. Not to Verdi.