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Ariodante
''Ariodante'' ( HWV 33) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The anonymous Italian libretto was based on a work by Antonio Salvi, which in turn was adapted from Canti 4, 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's ''Orlando Furioso''. Each act contains opportunities for dance, originally composed for dancer Marie Sallé and her company. The opera was first performed in the Covent Garden Theatre, London, on 8 January 1735. ''Ariodante'' opened Handel's first season at Covent Garden and successfully competed against the rival Opera of the Nobility, supported by the Prince of Wales. Handel had the tacit and financial support of the King and Queen and, more vocally, of the Princess Royal. The opera received 11 performances during its premiere season at Covent Garden. Like Handel's other works in the ''opera seria'' genre, ''Ariodante'', despite its initial success, fell into oblivion for nearly two hundred years. An edition of the score was published in the early 1960s, from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Handel Society Of New York
The Handel Society of New York (HSNY) was a New York City based musical organization that presented concert and semi-staged performances of operas and oratorios by George Frideric Handel from 1966-1974. The group mainly performed out of Carnegie Hall and was responsible for presenting the American and New York premieres of several works by Handel. The ensemble was also the first to record many of these works; releasing several LPs for RCA and Westminster Records. History The HSNY was founded in January 1966 by talent manager Arthur Judson and New York businessman and music lover James Grayson. Grayson served as the group's Executive Director throughout the company's history. The ensemble's first music director was conductor Brian Priestman, and the group's longtime harpsichordist was Martin Isepp. The ensemble gave its debut performance, a semi-staged production of '' Xerxes'', at Carnegie Hall on 20 November 1966 with Maureen Forrester in the title role, Maureen Lehane as Arsamene, ... [...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] |
Orlando Furioso
''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'', more loosely ''Raging Roland'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form until 1532. ''Orlando furioso'' is a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's unfinished romance ''Orlando innamorato'' (''Orlando in Love'', published posthumously in 1495). In its historical setting and characters, it shares some features with the Old French ''Chanson de Roland'' of the eleventh century, which tells of the death of Roland. The story is also a chivalric romance which stemmed from a tradition beginning in the late Middle Ages and continuing in popularity in the 16th century and well into the 17th. Orlando is the Christian knight known in French (and subsequently English) as Roland. The story takes place against the background of the war between Charlemagne's Christian paladins and the Sarace ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alcina
''Alcina'' ( HWV 34) is a 1735 opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of ''L'isola di Alcina'', an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after during his travels in Italy. Partly altered for better conformity, the story was originally taken from Ludovico Ariosto's ''Orlando furioso'' (like those of the Handel operas ''Orlando'' and ''Ariodante''), an epic poem. The opera contains several musical sequences with opportunity for dance: these were composed for dancer Marie Sallé. Performance history ''Alcina'' was composed for Handel's first season at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London. It premiered on 16 April 1735. Like the composer's other works in the opera seria genre, ''Alcina'' fell into obscurity; after a revival in Brunswick in 1738 it was not performed again until a production in Leipzig in 1928. The Australian soprano Joan Sutherland sang the role in a production by Franco Zeffirelli in wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie Sallé
Marie Sallé (1707–1756) was a French dancer and choreographer in the 18th century known for her expressive, dramatic performances rather than a series of "leaps and frolics" typical of ballet of her time. Biography Marie Sallé was a prominent dancer and choreographer in early 18th-century dance. She helped to create ''ballet d'action'' (a form continued by her student, Jean-Georges Noverre); she challenged the male-dominated theatrical world; she reformed traditional "feminine" costumes. Born to fairground performers and tumblers in 1707, Marie grew up performing around France with her family. She made her first public performance with her brother, Francis, at London’s Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in 1716. They made their Paris debut at the Saint Laurent fair in 1718 performing ''La Princesse Charisme'', created by Véronique Lesage. In 1725, their family returned to England, but they stayed. The pair is said to have studied with Claude Balon, star of the Paris Opéra, as ... [...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] |
Antonio Salvi
Antonio Salvi (17 January 1664 – 21 May 1724) was an Italian physician, court poet and librettist, active mainly in Florence, Italy. He was in the service of the grand-ducal court of Tuscany and the favourite librettist of Prince Ferdinando de' Medici. Salvi was one of the developers of the opera seria. Life Salvi was born in Lucignano and became a court physician in Florence for the Medici family. From 1694 (?) he wrote libretti for the theatre in Livorno and Florence and adapted works by Jean Racine and Molière.; Salvi took many of his plots from French tragedy. Between 1701 and 1710 seven of his works were performed in the Villa di Pratolino. After the death of Ferdinando (III) de' Medici in 1713 he decided to work outside the Grand Duchy of Tuscany: in Rome, Reggio Emilia, Turin, Venice and Munich. His libretti were set to music by several famous composers including Scarlatti, Vivaldi and Handel. He died in Florence, aged 60. Vivaldi wrote three operas for Florence to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training in Halle (Saale), Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and Handel's Naturalisation Act 1727, became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphony, polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age. Handel started three c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Burney
Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicist and book donor to the British Museum. He was a close friend and supporter of Joseph Haydn. Early life and career Charles Burney was born at Raven Street, Shrewsbury, the fourth of six children of James Macburney (1678–1749), a musician, dancer and portrait painter, and his second wife Ann (''née'' Cooper, c. 1690–1775). In childhood he and a brother Richard (1723–1792) were for unknown reasons sent to the care of a "Nurse Ball" at nearby Condover, where they lived until 1739. He began formal education at Shrewsbury School in 1737 and was later sent in 1739 to The King's School, Chester, where his father then lived and worked. His first music master was a Mr Baker, the cathedral organist, and a pupil of Dr John Blow. Returning to Sh ... [...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] |
Winton Dean
Winton Basil Dean (18 March 1916 – 19 December 2013) was an English musicologist of the 20th century, most famous for his research on the life and works—in particular the operas and oratorios—of George Frideric Handel, as detailed in his book ''Handel's Dramatic Oratorios and Masques'' (1959). Dean was born in Birkenhead in March 1916, the son of the film and theatre producer Basil Dean.Sadie, Stanley. Winton (Basil) Dean. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, London & New York, 1997. He was educated at Harrow and King's College, Cambridge, where he took part in stagings of Handel oratorios in the 1930s. After World War II, he became notable as a writer on music, particularly when he published several articles about the compositions of Bizet, starting with ''La Coupe du roi de Thulé'' in ''Music & Letters'' in 1947. He considerably rewrote his 1948 book on Bizet in 1965 due to new material and music of the composer which had since emerged. Porter, Andrew. O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Rich (producer)
John Rich (1692–1761) was an important director and theatre manager in 18th-century London. He opened The New Theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields (1714), which he managed until he opened the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (1732). He managed Covent Garden until 1761, putting on ever more lavish productions. He introduced pantomime to the English stage and played a dancing and mute Harlequin himself from 1717 to 1760 under the stage name of "Lun.", PeoplePlayUK Theatre Museum, retrieved 2 July 2007 Rich's version of the servant character, Arlecchino, moved away from the poor, disheveled, loud, and crude character, to a colorfully-dressed, silent Harlequin, performing fanciful tricks, dances and magic. The British idea of the Harlequin character was heavily inspired by Rich's idea of a silent character. Rich's choice of being a silent character was influenced by his unappealing voice, which he was well aware of. Biography Rich's theatre specialized in what contemporaries called "sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
