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Desirée Rancatore
Desirée Rancatore (born 29 January 1977) is an Italian dramatic coloratura soprano with an active career on the opera and concert stages of Europe. Biography Rancatore was born in Palermo. She studied violin and piano before studying singing with her mother Maria Argento at the age of 16 and later in Rome, with Margaret Baker Genovesi. She won first prizes at several competitions: Ibla International Competition in Ragusa (1995), V. Bellini International Competition in Caltanissetta (1995), Maria Caniglia International Competition in Sulmona (1996). In 1996, at the age of 19 she debuted at the Salzburg Festival as Barbarina in Mozart's ''The Marriage of Figaro''. She returned to the Festival in the following seasons for ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' (Blonde; 1997, 1998), Verdi's ''Don Carlo'' conducted by Lorin Maazel (Voice from Heaven; 1998, 1999), ''Great Mass in C minor'' (2000), Honegger's ''Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' (2001), Hasse's '' Piramo e Tisbe'' (2010; conducted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old. Palermo is in the northwest of the island of Sicily, by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The city was founded in 734 BC by the Phoenicians as ("flower"). Palermo then became a possession of Carthage. Two ancient Greeks, Greek ancient Greek colonization, colonies were established, known collectively as ; the Carthaginians used this name on their coins after the 5th centuryBC. As , the town became part of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, Empire for over a thousand years. From 831 to 1072 the city was under History of Islam in southern Italy, Arab ru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fabio Biondi
Fabio Biondi (born 15 March 1961) is an Italian violinist and conductor. He is a specialist in Baroque and early music. Biography Born in Palermo, Sicily, Biondi had a late start, having never even held a violin till age 11, but by the following year he had advanced so quickly that he played a concerto with the RAI Symphony Orchestra.Cosic, Miriam (17-18 October 1999). "Baroque con brio", ''The Weekend Australian'', Review, p. 19 When he was 16, he performed Johann Sebastian Bach's violin concertos at the Musikverein in Vienna. Since then, he has performed with a number of baroque ensembles including La Capella Reial, Musica Antiqua Wien, Seminario Musicale, La Chapelle Royale and Les Musiciens du Louvre. In 1990 Biondi founded Europa Galante, an Italian ensemble specializing in baroque music, that he directs. Biondi's recordings include Antonio Vivaldi's ''Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione'' including '' The Four Seasons'' and the opera '' Bajazet'', Arcangelo Corell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teatro Real
The Teatro Real (Royal Theatre) is an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace of Madrid, Royal Palace, and known colloquially as ''El Real'', it is considered the top institution of the performing and musical arts in the country and one of the most prestigious opera houses in Europe. The groundbreaking of the Teatro Real was on 23 April 1818, under the reign of Ferdinand VII of Spain, King Ferdinand VII, and it was formally opened by his daughter Isabella II of Spain, Queen Isabella II on 19 November 1850. It closed in 1925 due to damage to the building and reopened on 13 October 1966 as a symphonic music venue. Beginning in 1991, it underwent major refurbishment and renovation works and finally reopened as an opera house on 11 October 1997 with a floor area of and a maximum capacity of 1,958 seats. Since 1995, the theatre is managed by a public foundation in whose Board of Trustees are represented the Ministry of Culture (Spain), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Théâtre Du Capitole
The Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse is an opera house within the main administration buildings, the Capitole, of the city of Toulouse in south-west France. It houses an opera company, ballet company and symphony orchestra, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse. The first performance space, a ''salle du jeu de spectacle'', was created in the building in 1736 by Guillaume Cammas. Following a period of neglect, the current space was created during the rebuild of 1818. The theatre suffered fire damage in 1917 but was restored in 1923. The front of house areas were modernised in 1996. The current capacity is 1156 seats. Michel Plasson was responsible for the artistic direction of the company from 1973. He was followed by Jacques Doucet in 1981, by Nicolas Joel in 1991, and by Frédéric Chambert in 2009, after Joel's move to the Opéra national de Paris. Chambert's first season was marked by the use of alternate spaces while the theatre was renovated, and the thea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teatro Regio (Turin)
The Teatro Regio (Royal Theatre) is a prominent opera house and opera company in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. Its season runs from October to June with the presentation of eight or nine operas given from five to twelve performances of each. Several buildings provided venues for operatic productions in Turin from the mid-16th century, but it was not until 1713 that a proper opera house was considered, and under the architect Filippo Juvarra planning began. However, the cornerstone was not laid until the reign of Charles Emmanuel III in 1738 after Juvarra's death. The work was supervised by Benedetto Alfieri until the theatre was completed and decorated by Bernardino Galliari. Teatro Regio, 1740 to 1936 The Teatro Regio (Royal Theatre) was inaugurated on 26 December 1740 with Francesco Feo's ''Arsace''. It was a sumptuously built facility, seating 1,500 and with 139 boxes located on five tiers plus a gallery. However, the theatre was closed on royal order in 1792 and it became a wareho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zürich Opera
Zürich Opera (Oper Zürich) is a Swiss opera company based in Zürich. The company gives performances in the Zürich Opera House. History The first performance at the current theatre occurred on 30 September 1891, with a production of Wagner's ''Lohengrin''. Wilhelm Furtwängler began his career there, and in 1913 Richard Wagner’s ''Parsifal'' was given its first performance outside Bayreuth. Ferruccio Busoni, Paul Hindemith, Richard Strauss, Othmar Schoeck, Arthur Honegger, Frank Martin and other famous composers all left their mark on the development of Zürich's musical theatre. Zürich Opera House has been the setting for numerous world premières, such as Alban Berg’s ''Lulu,'' Paul Hindemith’s ''Mathis der Maler'', Arnold Schönberg’s ''Moses und Aron'', and Rudolf Kelterborn's ''Der Kirschgarten''. Works by Heinrich Sutermeister and Giselher Klebe were also performed there for the first time. From 1975 to 1986, Claus Helmut Drese was artistic director of the compan ... [...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] |
Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière's comedy ''Monsieur de Pourceaugnac''. It was first performed at the Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden on 26 January 1911 under the direction of Max Reinhardt, Ernst von Schuch conducting. Until the premiere, the working title was ''Ochs auf Lerchenau''. (The choice of the name Ochs is not accidental, for in German "Ochs" means "ox", which describes the character of the Baron throughout the opera.) The opera has four main characters: the aristocratic Marschallin; her very young lover, Count Octavian Rofrano; her brutish cousin Baron Ochs; and Ochs' prospective fiancée, Sophie von Faninal, the daughter of a rich bourgeois. At the Marschallin's suggestion, Octavian acts as Ochs' ''Rosenkavalier'' by pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II. It is the biggest in Italy, and one of the largest of Europe (at the time of its inauguration, it was - with its area of 7730 m² - the third largest opera house in Europe after the Palais Garnier in Paris, and the K. K. Hof-Opernhaus in Vienna), renowned for its perfect acoustics. Construction and opening An international competition for the creation of the opera house was announced by the Palermo Council in 1864 at the instigation of the mayor, Antonio Starrabba di Rudinì. For many years there had been talk of building a large new theatre in Palermo, worthy of the second biggest city in southern Italy (after Naples) and designed to promote the image of the city following the unification of Italy in 1861. The opera house was designed, and overseen by the Italian architect Giovan Battista Filippo Basile, who was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teatro Massimo Bellini
The Teatro Massimo Bellini is an opera house located on Piazza Vincenzo Bellini in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. Named after the local-born composer Vincenzo Bellini, it was inaugurated on 31 May 1890 with a performance of the composer's masterwork, ''Norma''. It seats 1,200. History The creation of what was to finally become the Teatro Massimo Bellini took almost two hundred years, beginning with discussions following the disastrous 1693 earthquake which completely destroyed Catania. The construction of a public theatre was discussed, and a foundation stone was finally laid in 1812. Architect Salvatore Zahra Buda began to prepare a plan for a theatre in the Piazza Nuovaluce, in front of the Santa Maria di Nuovaluce monastery, the location of the present-day theatre. It was decided that a "Great Municipal Theatre" worthy of an expanding city should be created; the plan of the "Teatro Nuovaluce" (New Light Theatre) was a grandiose one in all respects, and was conceived ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Tales Of Hoffmann
''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in October 1880, four months before the premiere. Composition history and sources Offenbach saw a play, , written by Barbier and Michel Carré and produced at the Odéon Theatre in Paris in 1851. After returning from America in 1876, Offenbach learned that Barbier had adapted the play, which had now set to music at the Opéra. Salomon handed the project to Offenbach. Work proceeded slowly, interrupted by the composition of profitable lighter works. Offenbach had a premonition, like Antonia, the heroine of Act 2, that he would die prior to its completion. Offenbach continued working on the opera throughout 1880, attending some rehearsals. On 5 October 1880, he died with the manuscript in his hand, just four months before the opening. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francesco Cilea
Francesco Cilea (; 23 July 1866 – 20 November 1950) was an Italian composer. Today he is particularly known for his operas ''L'arlesiana'' and ''Adriana Lecouvreur''. Biography Born in Palmi near Reggio di Calabria, Cilea gave early indication of an aptitude for music when at the age of four he heard a performance of Vincenzo Bellini's ''Norma'' and was greatly affected by it. He was sent to study music at the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella in Naples, where he quickly demonstrated his diligence and precocious talent, earning a gold medal from the Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione (Department of Education). In 1889, for his final examination at the end of his course of study, he submitted his opera ''Gina'', with a libretto by Enrico Golisciani which was adapted from the old French play ''Catherine, ou La Croix d'or'' by Baron Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville (1787–1865). This "melodramma idilico" was performed in the college theatre, and it attracted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
