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Arminio By Hasse (Dresden 1753) - V
''Arminio'' (HWV List of compositions by George Frideric Handel, 36) is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel. The libretto is based on a libretto of the same name by Antonio Salvi, which had been set to music by Alessandro Scarlatti. It is a fictionalisation of events surrounding the Germanic leader Arminius, who defeated the Romans under Publius Quinctilius Varus at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, and his wife Thusnelda. The opera was performed for the first time at the Royal Opera House#First theatre, Covent Garden Theatre on 12 January 1737. Background The German-born Handel had brought Italian opera to London stages for the first time in 1711 with his opera ''Rinaldo (opera), Rinaldo''. An enormous success, ''Rinaldo'' created a craze in London for Italian opera seria, a form focused overwhelmingly on solo arias for the star virtuoso singers. Handel had presented new operas in London for years with great success. One of the major attractions in Handel's ope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historically Informed Performance
Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in which a work was originally conceived. It is based on two key aspects: the application of the stylistic and technical aspects of performance, known as performance practice; and the use of #Early instruments, period instruments which may be reproductions of historical instruments that were in use at the time of the original composition, and which usually have different timbre and temperament (music), temperament from their modern equivalents. A further area of study, that of changing listener expectations, is increasingly under investigation. Given no Sound recording and reproduction, sound recordings exist of music before the late 19th century, historically informed performance is largely derived from Musicology, music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Publius Quinctilius Varus
Publius Quinctilius Varus (Cremona, 46 BC – Teutoburg Forest, AD 9) was a Roman general and politician under the first Roman emperor Augustus. Varus is generally remembered for having lost three Roman legions when ambushed by Germanic tribes led by Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, whereupon he took his own life. Background and early career Although he was a patrician by birth, his family, the Quinctilii Vari, had long been impoverished and was unimportant; Ronald Syme notes, "The sole and last consul of that family", Sextus Quinctilius, "had been two years antecedent to the Decemvirs" (i.e. 453 BC).Syme, ''The Augustan Aristocracy'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), p. 313 His father, Sextus Quinctilius Varus, was a senator who had served as a quaestor in 49 BC. This Sextus aligned with the Senatorial Party in the civil war against Julius Caesar. Although Sextus survived the defeat, it is unknown whether he was involved in the assassination of Julius Caesar. Sext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Reinhold
Henry Reinhold (c. 1690 – 1751), also known as Thomas Reinhold, was a German opera singer. He was born in Dresden and showed an early aptitude for music, which his family apparently discouraged. But he secretly left Dresden to follow Handel, a friend of his reputed father, to London. There, through Handel's good offices, he came under the protection of Frederick, Prince of Wales, who ultimately stood sponsor to his eldest son. In 1731 Reinhold, described as Reynholds, was singing at the Haymarket Theatre. He sang in the first performance of Handel's Arminio at Covent Garden on 12 January 1737, and created principal parts in many of Handel's operas and oratorios. Reinhold was one of the founders, in 1738, of the Royal Society of Musicians. When vocal music was added to the other attractions of Vauxhall Gardens in 1745, Reinhold was one of the first singers engaged. He died in Chapel Street, Soho, on 14 May 1751, and on 20 May Garrick lent his theatre for a benefit performanc ... [...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] |
Francesca Bertolli
Francesca Bertolli (? Rome – 9 January 1767, in Bologna) was an Italian contralto of the 18th century. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas she sang. Details of her early career are not known, but by 1728 she was in service to the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, singing at Bologna and Livorno. After the initial Royal Academy folded, Handel set up a second company of the same name, based at the King's Theatre, and for this purpose in 1729 he engaged Bertolli. She performed in approximately 15 of his operas, as well as works by Ariosti and a number of pasticcios. In 1733, however, she defected to the rival Opera of the Nobility, along with Senesino and Antonio Montagnana, where she sang in operas by Nicola Porpora (such as '' Polifemo'') and Bononcini, in addition to Handel's ''Ottone''. In 1736, however, she returned to Handel for another year and performed in 4 or 5 of his works. Upon the conclusion of this second e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically between the F below middle C (F3 in scientific pitch notation) to the second F above middle C (F5), although, at the extremes, some voices can reach the D below middle C (D3) or the second B above middle C (B5). The contralto voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic contralto. History "Contralto" is primarily meaningful only in reference to classical and operatic singing, as other traditions lack a comparable system of vocal categorization. The term "contralto" is only applied to female singers; men singing in a similar range are called "countertenors". The Italian terms "contralto" and "alto" are not synonymous, "alto" technically denoting a specific vocal range in choral singing without regard to factors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gioacchino Conti
Gioacchino Conti (28 February 1714 – 25 October 1761), best known as Gizziello or Egizziello, was an Italian soprano castrato opera singer. Biography Conti was born in Arpino in 1714, possibly the son of the composer Nicola Conti. After studying in Naples with Domenico Gizzi, after whom he would later be nicknamed, he made his debut in Rome at an early age, around 1730. According to some modern encyclopedic sources, it took place in Leonardo Vinci's ''Artaserse'', which premiered on 4 February at the Teatro delle Dame. However, his name does not appear in the cast of the original libretto, and his theatrical debut ought probably to be dated instead in 1731, in revivals of ''Didone abbandonata'' and of the same ''Artaserse'', both by Vinci. A colourful anecdote relates how another overweening castrato star, Caffarelli, rode post-haste to Rome from Naples just to attend incognito his debut; and full of enthusiasm eventually yelled at him: "Bravo, bravissimo Gizziello, it’s Caff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Maria Strada
Anna Maria Strada ( fl. 1719–1741, in Bergamo) was an Italian soprano. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas Strada sang. Career After an initial career in Italy that included performances at Venice — in Vivaldi's opera '' La verità in cimento'' (1720) — Milan, and Livorno, Strada moved to London in 1729 to sing for Handel after the composer engaged her for his operas. She made her début as Adelaida in '' Lotario'' and was ''prima donna'' in all his operas and oratorios until 1737. She sang in a minimum of 24 of Handel's operas and the opera-ballet ''Terpsicore'', a new prologue to a revision of ''Il pastor fido''. Her roles included Angelica in ''Orlando'', the title role in ''Partenope'', Elmira in ''Sosarme'', Thusnelda in '' Arminio'', and Ariadne in '' Giustino'', and the title role of Atalanta. Strada was the only singer of Handel's company who did not defect to the rival Opera of the Nobility in 173 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880 Hz in choral music, or to "soprano C" (C6, two octaves above middle C) = 1046 Hz or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which often encompasses the melody. The soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, soubrette, lyric, spinto, and dramatic soprano. Etymology The word "soprano" comes from the Italian word '' sopra'' (above, over, on top of),"Soprano" '' |
Thusnelda
Thusnelda (; 10 BC – after AD 17) was a Germanic Cheruscan noblewoman who was captured by the Roman general Germanicus during his invasion of Germania. She was the wife of Arminius. Tacitus and Strabo cite her capture as evidence of both the firmness and restraint of Roman arms. Biography Thusnelda was the daughter of the pro-Roman Cheruscan prince Segestes. In 9 AD, Arminius, Thusnelda's future husband, who had been given by his father to the Romans as a child and raised as a Roman military commander serving under Publius Quinctilius Varus, switched sides to the Germans, and led a coalition of Germanic tribes that defeated the legions of Varus at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. The conflict between the Roman Empire and the Germanic tribes continued after the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, and Arminius abducted and impregnated Thusnelda circa 14 AD, likely as a result of a dispute with her pro-Roman father. In May 15 AD, Thusnelda was captured by Germanicus, who comman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Domenico Annibali
Domenico Annibali (c. 1705 – 1779) was an Italian castrato who had an active international career from 1725–1764. He began his career in his native country and was then committed to the Grosses Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden from 1729 until his retirement from the stage 35 years later. In Dresden he excelled in the operas of Johann Adolf Hasse, notably creating roles in the premieres of two of his operas. He was also admired there in works by Nicola Porpora. Annibali also appeared as a guest artist with theatres in Italy and in Vienna and London. He is best remembered today for originating roles in three operas by George Frideric Handel at Covent Garden in 1737. Musicologist Charles Burney wrote that "his abilities during his stay in England seem to have made no deep impression". However, Mary Delany wrote that he had "the best part of Senesino's voice and Caristini's, with a prodigious fine taste and good action." Other accounts of his time in England praised his c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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