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Chess (musical)
''Chess'' is a musical with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of the pop group ABBA, lyrics by Ulvaeus and Tim Rice, and book by Rice. The story involves a politically driven, Cold War-era chess tournament between two grandmasters, one American and the other Soviet, and their fight over a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other. Although the protagonists were not intended to represent any real individuals, the character of the American grandmaster (named Freddie Trumper in the stage version) was loosely based on Bobby Fischer, while elements of the story may have been inspired by the chess careers of Russian grandmasters Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov. ''Chess'' allegorically reflected the Cold War tensions present in the 1980s. The musical has been referred to as a metaphor for the whole Cold War, with the insinuation being made that the Cold War is itself a manipulative game. Released and staged at the height of the strong anti-communist agenda tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benny Andersson
Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, singer, composer and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', '' Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma Mia!'' For the 2008 film version of ''Mamma Mia!'' and its 2018 sequel, ''Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again'', he worked also as an executive producer. Since 2001, he has been active with his own band Benny Anderssons orkester. Early life Göran Bror Benny Andersson was born 16 December 1946 in the Vasastan district of Stockholm to civil engineer Gösta Andersson (1912–1973) and his wife Laila (1920–1971). His sister Eva-Lis Andersson followed in 1948. Andersson's musical background comes from his father and grandfather (Efraim); they both enjoyed playing the accordion, and at six, Benny got his own. His father and grandfather taught him Swedish folk music, traditional music, and schlager. The first records Benny bought were "Du Bist Musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concept Album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Sometimes the term is applied to albums considered to be of "uniform excellence" rather than an LP with an explicit musical or lyrical motif. There is no consensus among music critics as to the specific criteria for what a "concept album" is. The format originates with folk singer Woody Guthrie's ''Dust Bowl Ballads'' (1940) and was subsequently popularized by traditional pop/jazz singer Frank Sinatra's 1940s–50s string of albums, although the term is more often associated with rock music. In the 1960s several well-regarded concept albums were released by various rock bands, which eventually led to the invention of progressive rock and rock opera. Since then, many concept albums have been released across numerous musical genres. Definiti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orchestra because of a new rule requiring players to give the orchestra their exclusive services. The LSO itself later introduced a similar rule for its members. From the outset the LSO was organised on co-operative lines, with all players sharing the profits at the end of each season. This practice continued for the orchestra's first four decades. The LSO underwent periods of eclipse in the 1930s and 1950s when it was regarded as inferior in quality to new London orchestras, to which it lost players and bookings: the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1930s and the Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic after the Second World War. The profit-sharing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Ambrosian Singers
The Ambrosian Singers are an English choral group based in London. History They were founded after World War II in England. One of their co-founders was Denis Stevens (1922–2004), a British musicologist and viola player who joined the BBC Music Department in 1949 and developed programs of Renaissance and early Baroque music. Stevens conducted them from 1956 to 1960. The other was John McCarthy (1919–2009), a professional tenor soloist. McCarthy continued to conduct them until the late 1980s. During the 1960s the choir called on the services of between 600 and 700 singers. They organised and created the Ambrosian Singers as a small professional chorus in 1951, initially to sing polyphonic choruses for renaissance and medieval pieces for ''The History of Music'' series. However, their repertoire greatly expanded afterwards. Depending on the style to be sung and on the occasion, they may go by the names "the Ambrosian Light Opera Chorus", "the Ambrossian Chorus", the "Ambrosi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polar Studios
Polar Studios was a recording studio in Stockholm, Sweden, which operated from 1978 through 2004. The studio was formed by ABBA musicians Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and the band's manager Stig Anderson, owner of the Polar Music recording label. The studio was used to record each of the last three ABBA albums, '' Voulez-Vous'', '' Super Trouper'' and '' The Visitors'', as well as their two non-LP singles "The Day Before You Came" and "Under Attack".BBC article:Abba studios forced to close down" Following the demise of ABBA, all members of the group continued using the studio to record their solo projects. In addition to ABBA, a range of other well-known artists recorded at Polar. Among the albums to have been recorded at the studio are Led Zeppelin's ''In Through the Out Door'' and Genesis' ''Duke''. History The studio was created in 1978 at a disused cinema theatre on the street floor of a building known as ''Sportpalatset'' (Palace of Sports) in central Stockholm. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Album Musical
An album musical is a type of recording that sounds like an original cast album but is created specifically for the recording medium and is complete entertainment product in itself, rather than just promoting or reflecting an existing or planned musical theatre production or revue. Although there has been no one term consistently used to describe this type of recording, the genre predates the use of the term "concept album" by several decades, dating back to the era of 78-rpm records with such original works as Gordon Jenkins' '' Manhattan Tower'' (1946, expanded in 1956) and ''The Letter'' (1959) starring Judy Garland, and Stan Freberg's '' Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Volume One: The Early Years'' (1961). On most contemporary concept albums, the performers or bands sing as themselves, whereas on an album musical the performers are playing characters in a story. Some original album musicals have later been expanded into staged musicals, including ''You're a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agnetha Fältskog
Agneta Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950), known as Agnetha Fältskog (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She later achieved international stardom in the 1970s as a member of the pop group ABBA. The group has sold over 380 million albums and singles worldwide, making it one of the best-selling music acts in history. She is the youngest member of ABBA, and the only one born in the 1950s. After the unofficial break-up of ABBA in December 1982, Fältskog found renewed success later in the decade as a solo artist with three albums and a leading role in a movie. She became reclusive in the 1990s, avoiding outside publicity and residing on the Stockholm County island of Ekerö. Fältskog stopped recording music for 16 years until she released a new album, '' My Colouring Book'', in 2004. She returned in 2013 with '' A'', her highest UK charting solo album to date. ABBA sin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Our Last Summer
"Our Last Summer" is a song by ABBA from the group's seventh studio album, '' Super Trouper''. It was written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Recording for this track began on 4 June 1980 in Polar Music Studios. The song features Anni-Frid Lyngstad on lead vocals and her time in the studio during the recording is captured in a series of photographs taken by Anders Hanser. In the background of the bridge to this song, during Lasse Wellander's guitar solo, part of the ''Chess'' song, "Anthem" can be heard. Andersson and Ulvaeus had been working on the melody for Anthem for a number of years but had never found a place for it in any ABBA project. When they finally came to use it in the musical Chess they hoped that no one would notice that part of it had already been used in Our Last Summer. Ulvaeus found lyrical inspiration for this song in a memory of a romance he had during a visit to Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an es ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, which is owned by News Corp. Times Newspapers also publishes ''The Times''. The two papers were founded independently and have been under common ownership since 1966. They were bought by News International in 1981. ''The Sunday Times'' has a circulation of just over 650,000, which exceeds that of its main rivals, including ''The'' ''Sunday Telegraph'' and ''The'' ''Observer'', combined. While some other national newspapers moved to a tabloid format in the early 2000s, ''The Sunday Times'' has retained the larger broadsheet format and has said that it would continue to do so. As of December 2019, it sells 75% more copies than its sister paper, ''The Times'', which is published from Monday to Saturday. The paper publishes ''The Sunday Ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cats (musical)
''Cats'' is a sung-through musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based upon the 1939 poetry collection ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' by T. S. Eliot. It tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make the "Jellicle choice" by deciding which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. As of 2022, ''Cats'' remains the fourth-longest-running Broadway show and the seventh-longest-running West End show. Lloyd Webber began setting Eliot's poems to music in 1977, and the compositions were first presented as a song cycle in 1980. Producer Cameron Mackintosh then recruited director Trevor Nunn and choreographer Gillian Lynne to turn the songs into a complete musical. ''Cats'' opened to positive reviews at the New London Theatre in the West End in 1981 and then to mixed reviews at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway in 1982. It won numerous awards including Best Musical at both the Laurence Olivier and Tony Awards ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky ( rus, Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky played three world championship matches: he lost to Tigran Petrosian in 1966; defeated Petrosian in 1969 to become world champion; then lost to Bobby Fischer in a famous match in 1972. Spassky won the Soviet Chess Championship twice outright (1961, 1973), and twice lost in playoffs (1956, 1963), after tying for first place during the event proper. He was a World Chess Championship candidate on seven occasions (1956, 1965, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980 and 1985). In addition to his candidates wins in 1965 and 1968, Spassky reached the semi-final stage in 1974 and the final stage in 1977. Spassky immigrated to France in 1976, becoming a French citizen in 1978. He continued to compete in tournaments but was no longer a major ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Chess Championship 1972
The World Chess Championship 1972 was a match for the World Chess Championship between challenger Bobby Fischer of the United States and defending champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union. The match took place in the Laugardalshöll arena in Reykjavík, Iceland, and has been dubbed the Match of the Century. Fischer became the first American born in the United States to win the world title, and the second American overall (Wilhelm Steinitz, the first world champion, became a naturalized American citizen in 1888). Fischer's win also ended, for a short time, 24 years of Soviet domination of the World Championship. The first game was played on July 11, 1972. The last game (the 21st) began on August 31, was after 40 moves, and Spassky resigned the next day without resuming play. Fischer won the match 12½–8½, becoming the eleventh undisputed world champion. Background The match was played during the Cold War, although during a period of increasing détente. The Soviet Ches ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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