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Ascanio Cassiani
''Ascanio'' is a grand opera in five acts and seven tableaux by composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The opera's French libretto, by Louis Gallet, is based on the 1852 play ''Benvenuto Cellini'' by French playwright Paul Meurice which was in turn based on the 1843 historical novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. The name was changed to ''Ascanio'' to avoid confusion with the Berlioz opera ''Benvenuto Cellini''. The opera premiered on March 21, 1890, at the Académie Nationale de Musique in Paris, in costumes designed by Charles Bianchini and sets by Jean-Baptiste Lavastre and Eugène Carpezat (acts I; II, scene 2; and III), Auguste Alfred Rubé and Philippe Chaperon and Marcel Jambon (act II, scene 1). Composition history ''Ascanio'' was composed by Saint-Saëns during 1887–1888. Saint-Saëns chose the subject of the historical figure of Benvenuto Cellini largely due to his friendship with Meurice who, in addition to writing the play about Cellini, also helped Dumas write the 1843 novel. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano Concerto No. 2 (Saint-Saëns), Second Piano Concerto (1868), the Cello Concerto No. 1 (Saint-Saëns), First Cello Concerto (1872), ''Danse macabre (Saint-Saëns), Danse macabre'' (1874), the opera ''Samson and Delilah (opera), Samson and Delilah'' (1877), the Violin Concerto No. 3 (Saint-Saëns), Third Violin Concerto (1880), the Symphony No. 3 (Saint-Saëns), Third ("Organ") Symphony (1886) and ''The Carnival of the Animals'' (1886). Saint-Saëns was a musical prodigy; he made his concert debut at the age of ten. After studying at the Paris Conservatoire he followed a conventional career as a church organist, first at Saint-Merri, Paris and, from 1858, La Madeleine, Paris, La Madeleine, the official church of the Second French Empire, Fren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philippe Chaperon
Philippe Chaperon (2 February 1823 – 21 December 1906) was a French painter and scenic designer, particularly known for his work at the Paris Opera. He produced stage designs for the premieres of numerous 19th-century operas, including Verdi's ''Don Carlos'' and ''Aida'', Massenet's ''Le Cid'', Saint-Saëns's '' Henri VIII'', part two of Berlioz's ''Les Troyens'' and the first performances in France of Verdi's ''Otello'' and ''Rigoletto'' and Wagner's ''Tannhäuser''. Life and career Chaperon came from a modest background. He was born in Paris, where his father was an employee at the Caisse d'Épargne. He attended the Lycée impérial Bonaparte and then the École des Beaux-Arts where he studied painting and architecture. He won a Prix de Rome scholarship and spent three years at the Villa Medici. He also studied architecture in the atelier of Victor Baltard and painting in the atelier of Léon Riesener where he received guidance from Riesener's cousin Eugène Delacroix. Man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reliquary
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it is housed a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported or actual physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures. The authenticity of any given relic is often a matter of debate; it is for that reason, some churches require documentation of the relic's provenance. Relics have long been important to Buddhism, Buddhists, Christianity, Christians, Hinduism, Hindus and to followers of many other religions. In these cultures, reliquaries are often presented in shrines, churches, or temples to which the faithful make pilgrimages in order to gain blessings. The term is sometimes used loosely of containers for the body parts of non-religious figures; in particular the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Provost (civil)
Provost is a title held by the civic heads of local governments in Scotland. It is similar in use to the title of mayor in other parts of the English-speaking world. In the 32 current unitary councils in Scotland, the title is often used for the convenor or civic head of a council, elected by its members to chair meetings and to represent the council. While convenor and depute convenor are the titles used in statute for this position, councils are generally permitted to choose their own titles for their civic heads. However, in the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the title is specified in law as Lord Provost, who also performs the role of lord-lieutenant for the area. The title of provost is derived from the French term ''prévôt'', which has origins in the Roman Empire. In the past, it was associated with the principal magistrates of Scotland's burghs, but it has since been used in a range of local authorities and community councils, as well as former d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis I Of France
Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a son. A prodigious patron of the arts, he promoted the emergent French Renaissance by attracting many Italian artists to work for him, including Leonardo da Vinci, who brought the ''Mona Lisa'' with him, which Francis had acquired. Francis' reign saw important cultural changes with the growth of central power in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, and the beginning of French exploration of the New World. Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire. For his role in the development and promotion of the French language, he became known as ''le Père et Restaurateur des Lettr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sculptural processes originally used carving (the removal of material) and modelling (the addition of material, as clay), in stone, metal, ceramic art, ceramics, wood and other materials but, since Modernism, there has been an almost complete freedom of materials and process. A wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving, assembled by welding or modelling, or Molding (process), moulded or Casting, cast. Sculpture in stone survives far better than works of art in perishable materials, and often represents the majority of the surviving works (other than pottery) from ancient cultures, though conversely traditions of sculpture in wood may have vanished almost entirely. However, most ancient sculpture was brightly painted, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
