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Elizabeth Amsden
Elizabeth Amsden (March 27, 1881, Boston – July 20, 1966, Sugar Hill, New Hampshire) was an American operatic soprano. She had an active international opera career during the early 20th century. Life and career Amsden was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but during her school days her family moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where she was educated at the Elmhurst School. In 1892, while still in her youth, she entered the International School for singers in Boston where she studied under William Whitney. She then attended and graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music. After completing her education in the United States, Amsden went to Paris where she remained for six years before relocating to London. While biograhical sources credited her professional opera debut at London's Royal Opera House in 1910, she had been active earlier than this on the London stage. A year earlier, on June 22, 1909, she had performed the role of Avis in the United Kingdom premiere of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth Amsden, Ca
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (schooner), several ships * ''Elizabeth'' (freighter), an American freighter that was wrecked off New York harbor in 1850; see Places Australia * City of Elizabeth ** Elizabeth, South Australia * Elizabeth Reef, a coral reef in the Tasman Sea United States * Elizabeth, Arkansas * Elizabeth, Colorado * Elizabeth, Georgia * Elizabeth, Illinois * Elizabeth, Indiana * Hopkinsville, Kentucky, originally known as Elizabeth * Elizabeth, Louisiana * Elizabeth Islands, Massachusetts * Elizabeth, Minnesota * Elizabeth, New Jersey, largest city with the name in the U.S. * Elizabeth City, North Carolina * Elizabeth (Charlotte neighborhood), North Carolina * Elizabeth, Pennsylvania * Elizabeth Township, Pennsylvania (other) * Elizabeth, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Götterdämmerung
' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), WWV 86D, is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled (''The Ring of the Nibelung'', or ''The Ring Cycle'' or ''The Ring'' for short). It received its premiere at the on 17 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of the whole work. The title is a translation into German of the Old Norse phrase ', which in Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ... refers to a prophesied war among various beings and gods that ultimately results in the burning, immersion in water, and renewal of the world. As with the rest of the ''Ring'', however, Wagner's account diverges significantly from these Old Norse sources. Composition Roles Synopsis Prologue Prelude to the Prologue Scene 1 T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Gioielli Della Madonna
''I gioielli della Madonna'' (English: ''The Jewels of the Madonna'') is an opera in three acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari to an Italian libretto by and Enrico Golisciani, based on news accounts of a real event. It was first performed at the on 23 December 1911 under the title ''Der Schmuck der Madonna''. That performance was in German, but now it is usually given in Italian. (Wolf-Ferrari stated that his operas were often first given in German simply because he had a German publisher.) The opera was given in Budapest in 1913, conducted by Fritz Reiner, who also conducted the first Dresden performance the following year.Philip Hart, Fritz Reiner, Evanston Illinois, 1994, pages 7 & 9 Its controversial themes include love between a brother and his adopted sister, implied criticism of the Catholic Church, and an on-stage orgy. There is an extant recording of the opera, made in 1967, featuring Pauline Tinsley, André Turp and Peter Glossop, conducted by Alberto Erede. It was issued o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (born Ermanno Wolf) (January 12, 1876 – January 21, 1948) was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as '' Il segreto di Susanna'' (1909). A number of his works were based on plays by Carlo Goldoni, including ''Le donne curiose'' (1903), ''I quatro rusteghi'' (1906) and ''Il campiello'' (1936). Life Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari was born in Venice in 1876, the son of German painter August Wolf and Emilia Ferrari, from Venice. He added his mother's maiden-name, Ferrari, to his surname in 1895. Although he studied piano from an early age, music was not the primary passion of his young life. As a teenager Wolf-Ferrari wanted to be a painter like his father; he studied intensively in Venice and Rome and traveled abroad to study in Munich. It was there that he decided to concentrate instead on music, taking lessons from Josef Rheinberger. He enrolled at the Munich conservatory and began taking counterpoint and composition classes. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cavalleria Rusticana
''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; Italian for "rustic chivalry") is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name and subsequent play by Giovanni Verga. Considered one of the classic ''verismo'' operas, it premiered on 17 May 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Since 1893, it has often been performed in a so-called ''Cav/Pag'' double-bill with ''Pagliacci'' by Ruggero Leoncavallo. Composition history In July 1888 the Milanese music publisher Edoardo Sonzogno announced a competition open to all young Italian composers who had not yet had an opera performed on stage. They were invited to submit a one-act opera which would be judged by a jury of five prominent Italian critics and composers. The best three would be staged in Rome at Sonzogno's expense. Mascagni heard about the competition only two months before the closing date and asked his friend Giovanni Targioni-Tozze ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Fanciulla Del West
''La fanciulla del West'' (''The Girl of the West'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by and , based on the 1905 play '' The Girl of the Golden West'' by the American author David Belasco. ''Fanciulla'' followed ''Madama Butterfly'', which was also based on a Belasco play. The opera has fewer of the show-stopping highlights that characterize Puccini's other works, but is admired for its impressive orchestration and for a score that is more melodically integrated than is typical of his previous work. ''Fanciulla'' displays influences from composers Claude Debussy and Richard Strauss, without being in any way imitative. Similarities between the libretto and the work of Richard Wagner have also been found, though some attribute this more to the original plot of the play, and have asserted that the opera remains quintessentially Italian. The opera had a successful and highly publicised premiere at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, in 1910. Neve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faust (opera)
''Faust'' is an opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play ''Faust et Marguerite'', in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's ''Faust, Part One''. It debuted at the Théâtre Lyrique on the Boulevard du Temple in Paris on 19 March 1859, with influential sets designed by Charles-Antoine Cambon and Joseph Thierry, Jean Émile Daran, Édouard Desplechin, and Philippe Chaperon. Performance history The original version of Faust employed spoken dialogue, and it was in this form that the work was first performed. The manager of the Théâtre Lyrique, Léon Carvalho cast his wife Caroline Miolan-Carvalho as Marguerite and there were various changes during production, including the removal and contraction of several numbers. The tenor Hector Gruyer was originally cast as Faust but was found to be inadequate during rehearsals, being eventually replaced by a principal of the Opéra-Comique, Joseph-Théodore ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Il Trovatore
''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's most successful play, one which Verdi scholar Julian Budden describes as "a high flown, sprawling melodrama flamboyantly defiant of the Aristotelian unities, packed with all manner of fantastic and bizarre incident." The premiere took place at the Teatro Apollo in Rome on 19 January 1853, where it "began a victorious march throughout the operatic world," a success due to Verdi's work over the previous three years. It began with his January 1850 approach to Cammarano with the idea of ''Il trovatore''. There followed, slowly and with interruptions, the preparation of the libretto, first by Cammarano until his death in mid-1852 and then with the young librettist Leone Emanuele Bardare, which gave the composer the opportunity to propose signifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germania (opera)
''Germania'' is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' consisting of a prologue, two acts, an intermezzo and an epilogue by Alberto Franchetti to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. The opera premiered on 11 March 1902 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Maehder, Jürgen: "''Germania''", '' Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Retrieved February 12, 2010), Illica, known for penning the librettos for some of Giacomo Puccini's best loved operas, originally gave the libretto for ''Tosca'' to Franchetti after the latter had obtained the rights to the Victorien Sardou play on which it was based. However, after Puccini expressed interest in it, Franchetti relinquished his rights,Budden, Julian: "''Tosca''", '' Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Retrieved February 12, 2010), and Illica gave the composer ''Germania'' instead. The composer and librettist, who were long-time close friends, had previously collaborated on the opera '' Cristoforo Colombo'' (1892). The plot of the libretto, which was w ... [...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] |
Don Giovanni
''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legend about a libertine as told by playwright Tirso de Molina in his 1630 play '' El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra''. It is a ''dramma giocoso'' blending comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements (although the composer entered it into his catalogue simply as ''opera buffa''). It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the National Theater (of Bohemia), now called the Estates Theatre, on 29 October 1787. ''Don Giovanni'' is regarded as one of the greatest operas of all time and has proved a fruitful subject for commentary in its own right; critic Fiona Maddocks has described it as one of Mozart's "trio of masterpieces with librettos by Da Ponte". Composition and premiere The opera was commissioned after the succes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aida
''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December 1871, in a performance conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Today the work holds a central place in the operatic canon, receiving performances every year around the world; at New York's Metropolitan Opera alone, ''Aida'' has been sung more than 1,100 times since 1886. Ghislanzoni's scheme follows a scenario often attributed to the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, but Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz argues that the source is actually Temistocle Solera. Elements of the opera's genesis and sources Isma'il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write an opera to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal, but Verdi declined. However, Auguste Mariette, a French Egyptologist, proposed to Khedive Pasha a plot for a celebratory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
