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Alessandro Severo
(Alexander Severus, HWV A13) is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1738. It is one of Handel's three pasticcio works, made up of the music and arias of his previous operas '' Giustino'', ''Berenice'' and '' Arminio''. Only the overture and recitatives (as well as the words) were new. The impresario Johann Jacob Heidegger probably selected the 1717 libretto by Apostolo Zeno, originally written for Antonio Lotti and re-used by many composers thereafter. Performance history ''Alessandro Severo'' was not a success at its premiere under the direction of the composer on 25 February 1738 at the King's Theatre, London.Hume, Robert D., "Handel and Opera Management in London in the 1730s" (October 1986). ''Music & Letters'', 67 (4): pp. 347-362. Roles Synopsis The opera is based upon the story of the Roman Emperor Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alessandro (opera)
''Alessandro'' ( HWV 21), is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel in 1726 for the Royal Academy of Music. Paolo Rolli's libretto is based on the story of Ortensio Mauro's ''La superbia d'Alessandro''. This was the first time the famous singers Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni appeared together in one of Handel's operas. The original cast also included Francesco Bernardi who was known as Senesino. Handel had originally planned ''Alessandro'' to be his first contribution to the 1725/1726 season of the Royal Academy. However, Bordoni did not arrive in London in time to stage ''Alessandro'', and Handel substituted his own ''Scipione'' in March and April 1726 until her arrival. The opera received its first performance on 5 May 1726 at the King's Theatre, London, and was received "with great applause". The story recounts Alexander the Great's journey to India and depicts him less in a heroic vein than as vainglorious as well as indecisive in matters of the heart. The wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elisabeth Duparc
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (schooner), several ships * ''Elizabeth'' (freighter), an American freighter that was wrecked off New York harbor in 1850; see Places Australia * City of Elizabeth ** Elizabeth, South Australia * Elizabeth Reef, a coral reef in the Tasman Sea United States * Elizabeth, Arkansas * Elizabeth, Colorado * Elizabeth, Georgia * Elizabeth, Illinois * Elizabeth, Indiana * Hopkinsville, Kentucky, originally known as Elizabeth * Elizabeth, Louisiana * Elizabeth Islands, Massachusetts * Elizabeth, Minnesota * Elizabeth, New Jersey, largest city with the name in the U.S. * Elizabeth City, North Carolina * Elizabeth (Charlotte neighborhood), North Carolina * Elizabeth, Pennsylvania * Elizabeth Township, Pennsylvania (other) * Elizabeth, West Vi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1738 Operas
Events January–March * January 1 – At least 664 African slaves drown, when the Dutch West Indies Company slave ship ''Leusden'' capsizes and sinks in the Maroni River, during its arrival in Surinam. The Dutch crew escapes, and leaves the slaves locked below decks to die. * January 3 – George Frideric Handel's opera ''Faramondo'' is given its first performance. * January 7 – After the Maratha Empire of India wins the Battle of Bhopal over the Jaipur State, Jaipur cedes the Malwa territory to the Maratha in a treaty signed at Doraha. * February 4 – Court Jew Joseph Süß Oppenheimer is executed in Württemberg. * February 11 – Jacques de Vaucanson stages the first demonstration of an early automaton, ''The Flute Player'' at the Hotel de Longueville in Paris, and continues to display it until March 30. * February 20 – Swedish Levant Company founded. * March 28 – Mariner Robert Jenkins presents a pickled ear, which he clai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operas By George Frideric Handel
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition. Originally understood as an entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include numerous genres, including some that include spoken dialogue such as ''Singspiel'' and ''Opéra comique''. In traditional number opera, singers employ two styles of singing: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Severus
Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was eventually assassinated, and his death marked the beginning of the events of the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the collapse of the monetary economy. Alexander was the heir to his cousin, the 18-year-old Emperor Elagabalus. The latter had been murdered along with his mother Julia Soaemias by his own guards, who, as a mark of contempt, had their remains cast into the Tiber river. Alexander and his cousin were both grandsons of Julia Maesa, the sister of empress Julia Domna, who had arranged for Elagabalus's acclamation as emperor by the Third Gallic Legion. Alexander's 13-year reign was the longest reign of a sole emperor since Antoninus Pius. He was also the second-young ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonio Montagnana
Antonio Montagnana ( fl. 1730–50, born in Venice) was an Italian bass of the 18th-century who is best remembered for his association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas Montagnana sang. Montagnana's first known appearance is in 1730 at Rome, and 1731 he sang at Turin in operatic works by Nicola Porpora, thought to be his teacher: Porpora also instructed the famous castrato Farinelli. During that same year he came to London to join Handel's opera company, where he created roles in Handel's '' Ezio'' - with words by the renowned librettist Metastasio - and ''Sosarme'', and sang in revivals of ''Admeto'', ''Giulio Cesare'', ''Flavio'', and ''Poro''. During the following season he created the role of Zoroastro in Handel's ''Orlando'' and sang the roles of Polyphemus in '' Acis and Galatea'' and Haman in ''Esther'' in what was Handel's first season of oratorio: he also took part in revivals of ''Tolomeo'' and ''Alessandro''.Grove The part of Abner in Handel's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass (vocal Range)
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C (i.e., E2–E4).; ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'' gives E2–E4/F4 Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is normally defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to national style and classification system. Italians favour subdividing basses into the ''basso cantante'' (singing bass), ''basso buffo'' ("funny" bass), or the dramatic ''basso profondo'' (low bass). The American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass. The German ''Fach'' system offers further distinctions: Spielbass (Bassbuffo), Schwerer Spielbass (Schwerer Bassbuffo), Charakterbass (Bassbariton), and Seriöser Bass. These classification systems can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caffarelli (castrato)
Gaetano Majorano (12 April 1710 – 31 January 1783) was an Italian castrato and opera singer, who performed under the stage name Caffarelli. Like Farinelli, Caffarelli was a student of Nicola Porpora. Early life and training Caffarelli was born Gaetano Carmine Francesco Paolo Majorano to Vito Majorano and Anna Fornella in Bitonto. His early life is uncertain. His stage name, Caffarelli, is said to be taken from an early teacher Caffaro who taught him music in childhood, others say it was taken from a patron, Domenico Caffaro. There is evidence that he personally desired to be castrated. When aged ten, he was given the income from two vineyards owned by his grandmother, according to the legal document, so that he could study grammar and, especially, music: "to which he is said to have a great inclination, desiring to have himself castrated and become a eunuch". He became the pupil of Nicola Porpora. According to legend, Porpora kept the young Caffarelli working from one sheet o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castrato
A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity. Castration before puberty (or in its early stages) prevents the larynx from being transformed by the normal physiological events of puberty. As a result, the vocal range of prepubescence (shared by both sexes) is largely retained, and the voice develops into adulthood in a unique way. Prepubescent castration for this purpose diminished greatly in the late 18th century. Methods of castration used to terminate on the onset of puberty varied. Methods involved using opium to medically induce a coma, then submerging the boy into an ice or milk bath where the procedure of either severing the vas deferens (similar to a vasectomy), twisting the testicles until they atrophied, or comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Severus Alexander
Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was eventually assassinated, and his death marked the beginning of the events of the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the collapse of the monetary economy. Alexander was the heir to his cousin, the 18-year-old Emperor Elagabalus. The latter had been murdered along with his mother Julia Soaemias by his own guards, who, as a mark of contempt, had their remains cast into the Tiber river. Alexander and his cousin were both grandsons of Julia Maesa, the sister of empress Julia Domna, who had arranged for Elagabalus's acclamation as emperor by the Third Gallic Legion. Alexander's 13-year reign was the longest reign of a sole emperor since Antoninus Pius. He was also the second-young ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3–A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4; 220–880 Hz). In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C (F3, 175 Hz) and as high as "high C" (C6, 1047 Hz). The mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano. History While mezzo-sopranos typically sing secondary roles in operas, notable exceptions include the title role in Bizet's '' Carmen'', Angelina (Cinderella) in Rossini's ''La Cenerentola'', and Rosina in Rossini's ''Barber of Seville'' (all of which are also sung by sopranos and contraltos). Many 19th-century French-language operas give the leading female role to mezzos, includin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonia Merighi
Antonia Margherita Merighi (born Bologna – died by 1764) was an Italian contralto active between 1703 and 1744 and known for her performances in operas by George Frideric Handel. Biography Merighi's initial career was in Italy, where for several years she was a virtuosa singer at the court of Violante Beatrice, Grand Princess of Tuscany, and sang in theatres in as well as in Venice, Parma, Turin, Mantua, Naples and her native Bologna, often in ''travesti'' roles. In Naples, she created the role of Iarba in the premiere of Domenico Sarro's ''Didone abbandonata'' (Teatro San Bartolomeo, 1 February 1724) and appeared in at least 18 other operas there. She moved to London in 1729 where for two seasons she sang in many of Handel's operas, sometimes in roles created for her by the composer (Matilda in ''Lotario'', Rosmira in ''Partenope'' and Erissena in ''Poro''), and sometimes in soprano parts from earlier operas adapted for her voice. She returned again to London in 1736 and in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
