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Edith Furmedge
Edith Ellen Furmedge (London, 27 March 1890—London, 9 October 1956) was a British operatic contralto and singing teacher. After secondary school she attended Homerton College, Cambridge to train as a teacher. While in attendance she took up singing and abandoned a career in teaching. She studied with Dinh Gilly whom she eventually married on 2 June 1932. The first mention of Furmedge in the ''Musical Times'' from 1921 speaks of her as a participating soloist the Sheffield Amateur Musical Society. Endowed with a powerful voice she obtained small parts in Der Ring des Nibelungen at Covent Garden. She participated in early acoustic recordings of excerpts from The Ring.Discus robably Herman Klein "Gramophone Notes," ''Musical Times'' (Vol. 64, Apr. 1, 1923), p. 249. Reviewing one of her earliest performances, a highly astute critic in the ''Musical Times'' reported: Miss Edith Furmedge, a contralto, sang on March 21, and excited considerable interest in her prospects. Her gifts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically between the F below middle C (F3 in scientific pitch notation) to the second F above middle C (F5), although, at the extremes, some voices can reach the D below middle C (D3) or the second B above middle C (B5). The contralto voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic contralto. History "Contralto" is primarily meaningful only in reference to classical and operatic singing, as other traditions lack a comparable system of vocal categorization. The term "contralto" is only applied to female singers; men singing in a similar range are called "countertenors". The Italian terms "contralto" and "alto" are not synonymous, "alto" technically denoting a specific vocal range in choral singing without regard to factors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinh Gilly
Dinh Gilly (19 July 1877 – 19 May 1940) was a French-Algerian operatic baritone and teacher. Biography He studied in Toulouse, Rome (with Antonio Cotogni), and at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he won a first prize in 1902. That same year he made his debut at the Paris Opera as Silvio in Leoncavallo's ''Pagliacci''. In 1908 he left the Paris Opera and from 1909 to 1914 he performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He also sang at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and later taught in London. During this period he also headlined on fourteen occasions at the Royal Albert Hall, London. His students there included Dennis Noble and John Brownlee. On 4 January 1925, he opened the 'Dinh Gilly School of Singing' at Brinsmead Studios, 17 Cavendish Square, London with fellow singer Margaret Bruce. He later ran the school with his second wife, the contralto Edith Furmedge. Gilly made about 40 gramophone recordings, which show him to have been a stylish and intellig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homerton College, Cambridge
Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the college moved from Homerton High Street, Hackney, London, to Cambridge. Homerton was admitted as an "Approved Society" of the university in 1976, and received its Royal charter in 2010, affirming its status as a full college of the university. The college celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2018. With around 600 undergraduates, 800 postgraduates, and 90 fellows, it has more students than any other Cambridge college but, because only half of those are resident undergraduates, its undergraduate presence is similar to large colleges such as Trinity and St John's. The college has particularly strong ties to public service, as well as academia, having educated many prominent dissenting thinkers, educationalists, politicians, and missionary explo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musical Times
''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Joseph Alfred Novello (who also founded ''The Musical World'' in 1836), and it was published monthly by the Novello and Co. (also owned by Alfred Novello at the time).. It first appeared as ''The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular'', a name which was retained until 1903. From the very beginning, every issue - initially just eight pages - contained a simple piece of choral music (alternating secular and sacred), which choral society members subscribed to collectively for the sake of the music. Its title was shortened to its present name from January 1904. Even during World War II it continued to be published regularly, making it the world's oldest continuously publi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Der Ring Des Nibelungen
(''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibelungenlied''. The composer termed the cycle a "Bühnenfestspiel" (stage festival play), structured in three days preceded by a ("preliminary evening"). It is often referred to as the ''Ring'' cycle, Wagner's ''Ring'', or simply ''The Ring''. Wagner wrote the libretto and music over the course of about twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874. The four parts that constitute the ''Ring'' cycle are, in sequence: * ''Das Rheingold'' (''The Rhinegold'') * '' Die Walküre'' (''The Valkyrie'') * '' Siegfried'' * '' Götterdämmerung'' (''Twilight of the Gods'') Individual works of the sequence are often performed separately, and indeed the operas contain dialogues that mention events in the previous operas, so that a viewer could watch any of them wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and with the Royal Opera House, itself known as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centred on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the historical buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the London Transport Museum and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The area was fields until briefly settled in the 7th century when it became the heart of the Anglo-Saxon trading town of Lundenwic, then abandoned at the end of the 9th century after which it returned to fields. By 1200 part of it had been walled off by the Abbot of Westminster Abbey for use as arable l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alto Rhapsody
The ''Alto Rhapsody'', Op. 53, is a composition for contralto, male chorus, and orchestra by Johannes Brahms, a setting of verses from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's '' Harzreise im Winter''. It was written in 1869, as a wedding gift for Robert and Clara Schumann's daughter, Julie. Brahms scholars have long speculated that the composer may have had romantic feelings for Julie, which he may have integrated into the text and music of the ''Alto Rhapsody''. The text, with its metaphysical portrayal of a misanthropic soul who is urged to find spiritual sustenance and throw off the shackles of his suffering, has powerful parallels in Brahms's life and character. The work is in three sections: the first two, in a chromatically dense and wandering C minor, are for the soloist and orchestra and describe the pain of the misanthropic wanderer. The second section is an aria in all but name. The third section, in a nominal C major, brings in the male chorus, which joins the soloist in a pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Wood
Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundreds of new works to British audiences. After his death, the concerts were officially renamed in his honour as the "Henry Wood Promenade Concerts", although they continued to be generally referred to as "the Proms". Born in modest circumstances to parents who encouraged his musical talent, Wood started his career as an organist. During his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, he came under the influence of the voice teacher Manuel Garcia and became his accompanist. After similar work for Richard D'Oyly Carte's opera companies on the works of Arthur Sullivan and others, Wood became the conductor of a small operatic touring company. He was soon engaged by the larger Carl Rosa Opera Company. One notable event in his operatic career was c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Liverpool Philharmonic and The Hallé, Hallé orchestras. From the early 20th century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of United Kingdom, Britain and, according to the BBC, was Britain's first international conductor. Born to a rich industrial family, Beecham began his career as a conductor in 1899. He used his access to the family fortune to finance opera from the 1910s until the start of the Second World War, staging seasons at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Drury Lane and Her Majesty's Theatre, His Majesty's Theatre with international stars, his own ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the United States in 1939. He worked closely with Gustav Mahler, whose music he helped to establish in the repertory, held major positions with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Salzburg Festival, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Staatsoper Unter den Linden and Deutsche Oper Berlin, among others, made recordings of historical and artistic significance, and is widely considered to be one of the great conductors of the 20th century. Biography Early life Born near Alexanderplatz in Berlin to a middle-class Jewish family, he began his musical education at the Stern Conservatory at the age of eight, making his first public appearance as a pianist when he was nine; he performed a concer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , , ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major influence for many later conductors, and his name is often mentioned when discussing their interpretative styles. Furtwängler was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic between 1922 and 1945, and from 1952 until 1954. He was also principal conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra (1922–26), and was a guest conductor of other major orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic. Although not an adherent of Nazism, he was the leading conductor to remain in Germany during the Nazi regime. Despite his open opposition to antisemitism and the ubiquity of Nazi symbolism, the regime did not seek to suppress him, at Joseph Goebbels' insistence, for propaganda reasons. This situation caused lasting controversy, and the extent to which his pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Coates (musician)
Albert Coates (23 April 1882 – 11 December 1953) was an English conductor and composer. Born in St. Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, where his English father was a successful businessman, he studied in Russia, England and Germany, before beginning his career as a conductor in a series of German opera houses. He was a success in England conducting Richard Wagner, Wagner at the Royal Opera House, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1914, and in 1919 was appointed chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. His strengths as a conductor lay in opera and the Russian repertory, but he was not thought as impressive in the core Austro-German symphonic repertory. After 1923 he failed to secure a permanent conductorship in the UK, and for much of the rest of his life guest-conducted in continental Europe and the US. In his last years he conducted in South Africa, where he died at 71. As a composer, Coates is little remembered, but he composed seven operas, one of which, ''Pickw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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