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Bella Alten
Bella Alten (June 30, 1877 – December 31, 1962) was an operatic soprano who performed at the Metropolitan Opera House during the early 1900s. Bella Alten was born in Zaskaczewo, Poland. She studied with Gustav Engel and Joachim at the Imperial Conservatory in Berlin, and later with Aglaja Orgeni in Dresden. Her first appearance in opera was as Aennchen in ''Der Freischütz'' in 1897 after which engagements followed in Berlin, Brunswick, Cologne and London. She was singing Cherubino in ''Le Nozze di Figaro'', Nedda in '' Pagliacci'' and Eva in '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' under Hans Richter when Heinrich Conried, the Metropolitan Opera's General Manager, heard her at the Covent Garden and engaged her for the Met. Her New York debut took place in November 1904 as Cherubino in ''Le Nozze di Figaro'' in a cast that included Emma Eames, Marcella Sembrich and Antonio Scotti. During her nine seasons at the Metropolitan (1904–1908 and 1909–1914) she sang 31 differ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bella Alten As Musetta In La Bohème (cropped)
Bella is a feminine given name. It is a diminutive form of names ending in -bella. ''Bella'' is related to the Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Latin words for beautiful, to the name Belle, meaning ''beautiful'' in French. It increased in usage following the publication of the ''Twilight'' books by Stephenie Meyer. It is also known for being a nickname to Isabella, Annabella or Arabella. Given name People * Bella A. Burnasheva (born 1944), Soviet/Russian astronomer * Bella Abzug (1920–1998), American politician and prominent figure in the women’s movement * Bella Agossou (born 1981), Beninese actress * Bella Akhmadulina (1937–2010), Soviet/Russian poet, writer, and translator * Bella Alarie (born 1998), American basketball player * Bella Alten (1877–1962), Polish operatic soprano * Bella Alubo (born 1993), Nigerian musician, singer, and songwriter * Bella Andre, American author * Bella Angara (born 1939), Filipina politician and former governor of Aurora province ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pol Plançon
Pol Henri Plançon (; 12 June 1851 – 11 August 1914) was a distinguished French operatic bass (''basse chantante''). He was one of the most acclaimed singers active during the 1880s, 1890s and early 20th century—a period often referred to as the "Golden Age of Opera". In addition to being among the earliest international opera stars to have made recordings, he was a versatile singer who performed roles ranging from Sarastro in Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'' to the core bass roles by Meyerbeer, Gounod, Verdi and Wagner, among others. He was renowned for his legato singing as well as for his diction, tone, intonation, and mastery of ornaments and fioriture. Biography Pol Plançon was born in Fumay, in the Ardennes ''département'' of France, near the Belgian border. "Pol" is a pet form of Paul. Training Blessed with a fine natural voice, he commenced learning to sing with the pivotal French tenor Gilbert Duprez (the originator of the "chest voice high C"), who had turned to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Engelbert Humperdinck (composer)
Engelbert Humperdinck (; 1 September 1854 – 27 September 1921) was a German composer. He is known widely for his opera ''Hansel and Gretel (opera), Hansel and Gretel'' (1893). Biography Humperdinck was born at Siegburg in the Rhine Province in 1854. After receiving piano lessons, he produced his first composition at the age of seven. His first attempts at works for the stage were two singspiele written when he was 13. His parents disapproved of his plans for a career in music and encouraged him to study architecture. But he began taking music classes under Ferdinand Hiller and Isidor Seiss at the Cologne Conservatory in 1872. In 1876, he won a scholarship that enabled him to go to Munich, where he studied with Franz Lachner and later with Josef Rheinberger. In 1879, he won the first Mendelssohn Scholarship, Mendelssohn Award given by the Mendelssohn Scholarship, Mendelssohn Stiftung (foundation) in Berlin. He went to Italy, where he became acquainted with composer Richard Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Le Donne Curiose
''Le donne curiose'' (English: ''The Inquisitive Women'') is an opera in three acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari to a text by after Carlo Goldoni's play . Performance history The first dramatic work by Wolf-Ferrari to achieve more than local notice, it was first performed in Munich on 27 November 1903 in a German translation as ''Die neugierigen Frauen''. The first performance in Italian was at the old Metropolitan Opera House in New York on 3 January 1912 with a cast led by Arturo Toscanini, including Geraldine Farrar and Hermann Jadlowker. Tullio Serafin conducted the first performance in Milan on 16 January 1913. Roles Synopsis The story is a comedy set in 18th-century Venice about two wives checking up on the goings-on at their husband's club. Notes References *Warrack, John John Hamilton Warrack (born 1928, in London) is an English music critic, writer on music, and oboist. Warrack is the son of Scottish conductor and composer Guy Warrack. He was educated at Wincheste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fedora (opera)
''Fedora'' is an opera in three acts by Umberto Giordano to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the 1882 play ''Fédora'' by Victorien Sardou. Along with ''Andrea Chénier'' and ''Siberia'', it is one of the most notable works of Giordano. It was first performed at the Teatro Lirico in Milan on 17 November 1898 conducted by the composer; Gemma Bellincioni created the role of Fedora with Enrico Caruso as her lover, Loris Ipanov. Composition history In 1889, Umberto Giordano saw Sardou's play ''Fédora'' at the Teatro Bellini di Napoli, with Sarah Bernhardt (for whom the play was written) in the title role. He immediately asked Sardou for permission to base an opera on the play, and Sardou initially refused because, at the time, Giordano was a relatively unknown composer. Following the premiere of his 1894 ''Regina Diaz'', Giordano's publisher, Edoardo Sonzogno, asked Sardou again. However, Sardou demanded what Sozogno considered an exorbitant fee. It was only on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Der Zigeunerbaron
''The Gypsy Baron'' () is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its German libretto by Ignaz Schnitzer is based on the unpublished 1883 story ''Saffi'' by Mór Jókai. Jokai later published a novel ''A cigánybáró'' () in 1885 using an expanded version of this same story. While an operetta, ''The Gypsy Baron'' was a departure from Strauss's earlier more comic and light hearted works; displaying more serious tones both musically and dramatically in what musicologist Andrew Lamb described as "a step in Strauss’s quest for the composition of a genuine opera". During the composer's lifetime, the operetta enjoyed great success internationally. It is considered one of Strauss's three best stage works, along with ''Die Fledermaus'' (1874) and ''Eine Nacht in Venedig'' (1883). Composition history Strauss was introduced to Jókai's story prior to its publication as a novel in Pest, Hungary in February 1883 by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hänsel Und Gretel (opera)
''Hansel and Gretel'' (German: ') is an opera by nineteenth-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck, who described it as a ' (fairy-tale opera). The libretto was written by Humperdinck's sister, Adelheid Wette, based on the Grimm brothers' fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel". It is much admired for its folk music-inspired themes, one of the most famous being the "" ("Evening Benediction") from act 2. The idea for the opera was proposed to Humperdinck by his sister, who approached him about writing music for songs that she had written for her children for Christmas based on "Hansel and Gretel". After several revisions, the musical sketches and the songs were turned into a full-scale opera. Humperdinck composed ''Hansel and Gretel'' in Frankfurt in 1891 and 1892. The opera was first performed in the Hoftheater in Weimar on 23 December 1893, conducted by Richard Strauss. It has been associated with Christmas since its earliest performances and today it is still most often performed at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Die Fledermaus
' (, ''The Flittermouse'' or ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original literary source for ' was ' (''The Prison''), a farce by German playwright Julius Roderich Benedix that premiered in Berlin in 1851. On 10 September 1872, a three-act French vaudeville play by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, ', loosely based on the Benedix farce, opened at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. Meilhac and Halévy had provided several successful libretti for Offenbach and ''Le Réveillon'' later formed the basis for the 1926 silent film '' So This Is Paris'', directed by Ernst Lubitsch. Meilhac and Halévy's play was soon translated into German by Karl Haffner (1804–1876), at the instigation of Max Steiner, as a non-musical play for production in Vienna. The French custom of a New Year's Eve ''réveillon'', or supper party ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geraldine Farrar
Alice Geraldine Farrar (February 28, 1882 – March 11, 1967) was an American lyric soprano who could also sing dramatic roles. She was noted for her beauty, acting ability, and "the intimate timbre of her voice." She had a large following among young women, who were nicknamed "Gerry-flappers". Biography Farrar was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, the daughter of baseball player Sidney Farrar, and his wife Henrietta Barnes. At age five, she began studying music in Boston and by 14 was giving recitals. Later she studied voice with the American soprano Emma Thursby in New York City, in Paris, and finally with the Italian baritone Francesco Graziani in Berlin. Farrar created a sensation at the Berlin Hofoper with her debut as Marguerite in Charles Gounod's ''Faust'' in 1901 and remained with the company for three years, during which time she continued her studies with famed German soprano Lilli Lehmann. (She had been recommended to Lehmann by another famous soprano of the previ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louise Homer
Louise Beatty Homer (April 30, 1871May 6, 1947) was an American operatic contralto who had an active international career in concert halls and opera houses from 1895 until her retirement in 1932. After a brief stint as a vaudeville entertainer in New England, she made her professional opera debut in France in 1898. She then became a member of the Metropolitan Opera from 1900 to 1919 and again from 1927 to 1929. She was also active as an opera singer in Boston, Chicago, and California. She recorded extensively for Victor Records and Columbia Records in the early decades of the 20th century. She was married to composer Sidney Homer for 52 years. The composer Samuel Barber was her nephew. Homer sang a broad repertoire which encompassed works from the French, German, and Italian repertoires. She enjoyed particular success in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner. She often stated in interviews that her favorite role to perform was Amneris in Verdi's ''Aida''. At the Met sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olive Fremstad
Olive Fremstad (14 March 1871 – 21 April 1951) was the stage name of Anna Olivia Rundquist, a celebrated Swedish-American opera diva who sang in both the mezzo-soprano and soprano ranges.Rosenthal and Warrack (1979) p. 180 Background Born in Stockholm, she received her early education and musical training in Christiania, Norway. When she was 12 years of age her parents moved to America, settling in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Even before leaving Christiania, her progress on the piano had been such that she had appeared as an infant prodigy. She was adopted by an American couple living in Minnesota, taking on their surname of Fremstad. She began her vocal training in New York City with Frederick Bristol in 1890 after singing in church choirs, then studied in Berlin with Lilli Lehmann before making her operatic debut as a mezzo-soprano as Azucena in Verdi's ''Il trovatore'' at the Cologne Opera in 1895. She remained there for at least three years, before going on to Vienna, Mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pasquale Amato
Pasquale Amato (21 March 1878 – 12 August 1942) was an Italian operatic baritone. Amato enjoyed an international reputation but attained the peak of his fame in New York City, where he sang with the Metropolitan Opera from 1908 until 1921. Early career Amato was born in Naples and studied locally at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella under Beniamino Carelli and Vincenzo Lombardo (who also gave singing lessons to the great Neapolitan tenor Enrico Caruso). In 1900, he made his debut at the Teatro Bellini in Naples as Germont père in '' La traviata''. Engagements followed in Genoa and Rome. Over the next few years he sang in Monte Carlo, Germany, parts of eastern Europe and Argentina. In 1904, he appeared at London's Royal Opera House with the Teatro di San Carlo Company; although well-received, he was not invited back. He was engaged by La Scala, Milan, and sang there in 1907 under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. His voice had matured by now into a top-class instrument ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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