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Alicia Nafé
Alicia Nafé (born 4 August 1947) is an Argentinian operatic mezzo-soprano, who has performed leading parts at international opera houses and festivals. She is known for singing the title role in Bizet's ''Carmen''. Career Born in Buenos Aires, Nafé first studied voice in her home town, then continued her studies in Europe, with Luigi Ricci in Rome, and with Teresa Berganza. She won the Concours Francisco Viñas competition in Barcelona. She made her debut singing the alto part in Verdi's Requiem, and made her stage debut at the Teatro Real, Madrid, in 1971. In 1974, she performed the title role in Bizet's ''Carmen'' for the first time, at the Staatstheater Darmstadt. It became her signature role, which she also sang alongside Plácido Domingo in San Francisco and Chicago, and for her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1988, with Domingo as the conductor. At the Bayreuth Festival, she appeared in 1975 and 1976 as a Flower Maiden in ''Parsifal'', in 1976 also as Siegrune in ''Di ... [...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] |
La Cenerentola
' (''Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera '' Cendrillon'' with music by Nicolas Isouard (first performed Paris, 1810) and by Francesco Fiorini for ' with music by Stefano Pavesi (first performed Milan, 1814). All these operas are versions of the fairy tale '' Cendrillon'' by Charles Perrault. Rossini's opera was first performed in Rome's Teatro Valle on 25 January 1817. Rossini composed ''La Cenerentola'' when he was 25 years old, following the success of ''The Barber of Seville'' the year before. ''La Cenerentola'', which he completed in a period of three weeks, is considered to have some of his finest writing for solo voice and ensembles. Rossini saved some time by reusing an overture from '' La gazzetta'' and part of an aria from ''The Barber of Seville'' and by enlisting a collaborator, Luca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luis Antonio García Navarro
Luis Antonio García Navarro (30 April 1941 in Chiva, Valencian Community, Spain – 10 October 2001 in Madrid, Spain), was a Spanish conductor. Biography García Navarro was born in Chiva (Spain), and studied in Valencia and the Madrid Royal Conservatory before moving to Vienna to study at the University of Music and Performing Arts with Hans Swarowsky, Karl Oesterreicher, and Reinhold Schmid. He won the first prize of the Besançon Conducting Competition's Junior Section in 1967. García Navarro served as music director of the Valencia Orchestra from 1970 until his appointment as associate conductor of the Noordelijk Filharmonisch Orkest in Groningen from (1974–1978). He later was the music director of Lisbon's Portuguese Radio Symphony Orchestra (1976–1978) and National Opera at the Sao Carlos Theater (1980–1982). In 1979 he made his debut as an opera conductor at the Royal Opera House, and made his American debut in 1980. From 1987 to 1991 he was the General Music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Vida Breve (opera)
''La vida breve '' (Spanish ''Life is Short'' or ''The Brief Life'') is an opera in two acts and four scenes by Manuel de Falla to an original Spanish libretto by Carlos Fernández-Shaw. Local (Andalusian) dialect is used. It was written between August 1904 and March 1905, but not produced until 1913. The first performance was given (in a French translation by Paul Millet) at the Casino Municipal in Nice on 1 April 1913.Ronald Crichton: "La vida breve", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed June 18, 2009)(subscription access)/ref> Paris and Madrid performances followed, later in 1913 and in 1914 respectively. Claude Debussy played a major role in influencing Falla to transform it from the number opera it was at its Nice premiere to an opera with a more continuous musical texture and more mature orchestration. This revision was first heard at the Paris premiere at the Opéra-Comique in December 1913, and is the standard version. Only an hour long, the complete opera is s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Konex Foundation
Konex Foundation (''Fundación Konex'')is an Argentine cultural non-profit organization created in 1980 ''to promote, stimulate, help, and participate in any form of cultural, educational, intellectual, artistic, social, philanthropic, scientific or sports initiative, work, and enterprise, in their most relevant aspects'', as defined by its founder and president, Dr. Luis Ovsejevich. The Konex Foundation provides scholarships and individual grants and also sponsors and stimulates group activities through subsidies and assistance to meritorious ideas and enterprises. Konex Awards The Konex Awards, also created in 1980, where conceived as a way to reward the Argentine personalities and institutions of different fields, as well as to stimulate the beginners. Even though the awards are handed every year, they are organised by cycles of 10 years. Each year with a different field in the following order: ''Sports, Entertainment, Visual Arts, Science and Technology, Literature, Popular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Konex Award
Konex Foundation Awards, or simply Konex Awards, are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation honouring Argentine cultural personalities. History and purpose Konex Awards are granted by the Konex Foundation, created in 1980 in Argentina. The purpose of the Foundation is to promote, stimulate, support and participate in any possible manner in cultural, educational, intellectual, artistic, social, philanthropic, scientific or sports initiatives, works and enterprises, in their most relevant aspects. To achieve its goals, the Foundation instituted the Konex Awards to be granted to personalities and institutions standing out for his, her or its achievements in any of the aforementioned fields. The Konex Awards were instituted in 1980 to be annually granted to sow for the future so that the most distinguished contemporary personalities and institutions in every field, which compose the cultural spectrum of the nation, will be an example to the nation's youths. Every year the Konex Fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teatro Massimo Bellini
The Teatro Massimo Bellini is an opera house located on Piazza Vincenzo Bellini in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. Named after the local-born composer Vincenzo Bellini, it was inaugurated on 31 May 1890 with a performance of the composer's masterwork, ''Norma''. It seats 1,200. History The creation of what was to finally become the Teatro Massimo Bellini took almost two hundred years, beginning with discussions following the disastrous 1693 earthquake which completely destroyed Catania. The construction of a public theatre was discussed, and a foundation stone was finally laid in 1812. Architect Salvatore Zahra Buda began to prepare a plan for a theatre in the Piazza Nuovaluce, in front of the Santa Maria di Nuovaluce monastery, the location of the present-day theatre. It was decided that a "Great Municipal Theatre" worthy of an expanding city should be created; the plan of the "Teatro Nuovaluce" (New Light Theatre) was a grandiose one in all respects, and was conceived ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adelson E Salvini
''Adelson e Salvini'' (''Adelson and Salvini'') is a three-act opera semiseria composed by Vincenzo Bellini from a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola. The opera was based on the 1772 novel ''Épreuves du Sentiment'' by François-Thomas-Marie de Baculard d'Arnaud, and it draws on a previously performed French play of 1803 by Prospère Delamare. Composition history Bellini's first opera was written as his final project at the Naples San Sebastiano Conservatory, when the composer was 23 years old. It was the custom at the Conservatory to introduce promising students to the public with a dramatic work. Bellini styled his project an ''opera semi-seria'', and it was first performed at the Teatro del Conservatorio di San Sebastiano in Naples sometime between mid-January and mid-March 1825, although David Kimbell states 12 February 1825. Herbert Weinstock attributes the uncertainty as to the exact date to a series of deaths of several prominent people (including Bourbon King Ferdinand I), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norma (opera)
''Norma'' () is a ''tragedia lirica'' or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after the play ''Norma, ou L'infanticide'' (''Norma, or The Infanticide'') by Alexandre Soumet. It was first produced at La Scala in Milan on 26 December 1831. The opera is regarded as a leading example of the bel canto genre, and the soprano prayer "Casta diva" in act 1 is a famous piece. Among the well known singers of Norma of the first half of the 20th century was Rosa Ponselle who played the role in New York and London. Notable exponents of the title role in the post-war period have been Maria Callas, Leyla Gencer, Joan Sutherland, and Montserrat Caballé. Composition history Crivelli and Company were managing both La Scala and La Fenice in Venice, and as a result, in April–May 1830 Bellini was able to negotiate a contract with them for two operas, one at each theatre. The opera for December 1831 at La Scala became ''Norma'', while the one for the 1832 Carnival ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, the first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel, began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there. The current building is the third theatre on the site, following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856 to previous buildings. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. The main auditorium seats 2,256 people, mak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Barber Of Seville
''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy ''The Barber of Seville'' (1775). The première of Rossini's opera (under the title ''Almaviva, o sia L'inutile precauzione'') took place on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina, Rome, with designs by Angelo Toselli. Rossini's ''Barber of Seville'' has proven to be one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music, and has been described as the opera buffa of all "opere buffe". After two hundred years, it remains a popular work. Composition history Rossini's opera recounts the events of the first of the three plays by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais that revolve around the clever and enterprising character named Figaro, the barber of the title. Mozart's opera ''The Marriage of Fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Idomeneo
' (Italian for ''Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', K. 366) is an Italian language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, based on a 1705 play by Crébillion père, which had been set to music by André Campra as ''Idoménée'' in 1712. Mozart and Varesco were commissioned in 1780 by Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria for a court carnival. He probably chose the subject, though it may have been Mozart. The work premiered on 29 January 1781 at the Cuvilliés Theatre in Munich, Germany. Composition The libretto clearly draws inspiration from Metastasio in its overall layout, the type of character development, and the highly poetic language used in the various numbers and the ''secco'' and ''stromentato'' recitatives. The style of the choruses, marches, and ballets is very French, and the shipwreck scene towards the end of act I is alm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
