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Fausta (opera)
''Fausta'' is a melodramma, or opera seria, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was partly written by Domenico Gilardoni, who died while doing so: the remainder was written by Donizetti. The literary source of the opera's libretto is ''Crispo'', a tragedy improvised by Tommaso Sgricci on 3 November 1827. The opera successfully debuted on 12 January 1832 at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, and was written with prima donna Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis in mind. De Begnis was rumored to be the King's mistress. Although the libretto had irked the chief censor, the production went ahead, supposedly because of De Begnis' influence in high places. Donizetti wrote this opera for the birthday of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies. Walter Scott was present at the premiere and it has been suggested that the King introduced him to the composer; Scott thought that ''Fausta'' was “without any remarkable music.” The opera marked the beginning of an important and fruitf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century and a probable influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi. Donizetti was born in Bergamo in Lombardy. At an early age he was taken up by Simon Mayr who enrolled him with a full scholarship in a school which he had set up. There he received detailed musical training. Mayr was instrumental in obtaining a place for Donizetti at the Bologna Academy, where, at the age of 19, he wrote his first one-act opera, the comedy ''Il Pigmalione'', which may never have been performed during his lifetime. An offer in 1822 from Domenico Barbaja, the impresario of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, which followed the composer's ninth opera, led to his move to Naples and his residency there until productio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constantine The Great
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea (now Niš, Serbia), he was the son of Constantius Chlorus, Flavius Constantius, a Roman army officer of Illyrians, Illyrian origin who had been one of the four rulers of the Tetrarchy. His mother, Helena, mother of Constantine I, Helena, was a Greeks, Greek Christian of low birth. Later canonized as a saint, she is traditionally attributed with the conversion of her son. Constantine served with distinction under the Roman emperors Diocletian and Galerius. He began his career by campaigning in the eastern provinces (against the Sasanian Empire, Persians) before being recalled in the west (in AD 305) to fight alongside his father in Roman Britain, Britain. After his father's death in 306, Constantine be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giuditta Pasta
Giuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Pasta (née Negri; 26 October 1797 – 1 April 1865) was an Italian soprano opera singer. She has been compared to the 20th-century soprano Maria Callas. Career Early career Pasta was born Giuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Negri in Saronno, near Milan, on 26 October 1797.Stern (n.d.) She was born of the Negri family, who came from Lomazzo, where the family practiced medical art. Her father, Carlo Antonio Negri or Schwarz, was Jewish and a soldier in the Napoleonic Army. She studied in Milan with Giuseppe Scappa and Davide Banderali, and later with Girolamo Crescentini and Ferdinando Paer among others. In 1816, she married fellow singer, Giuseppe Pasta and took his surname as her own. She made her professional opera début in the world première of Scappa's ''Le tre Eleonore'' in Milan that same year. Later that year she performed at the Théâtre Italien in Paris as Donna Elvira in ''Don Giovanni'', Giulietta in Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli's ''Giuli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice (, "The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice became the site of many famous operatic premieres at which the works of several of the four major bel canto era composers – Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi – were performed. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of three theatres to fire, the first in 1774 after the city's leading house was destroyed and rebuilt but not opened until 1792; the second fire came in 1836, but rebuilding was completed within a year. However, the third fire was the result of arson. It destroyed the house in 1996 leaving only the exterior walls, but it was rebuilt and re-opened in November 2004. In order to celebrate this event the tradition of the Venice New Year's Concert started. Hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teatro Regio Di Torino
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] |
Il Castello Di Kenilworth
(or, under its original name in 1829, ''Elisabetta al castello di Kenilworth'')Ashbrook and Hibberd (2001), p. 229 is a ''melodramma serio'' or tragic opera in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Andrea Leone Tottola wrote the Italian libretto after Victor Hugo's play ' (1828) and Eugène Scribe's play ''Leicester'', both of which following from Sir Walter Scott's novel ''Kenilworth'' (1821). Daniel Auber composed another opera on the same subject, ''Leicester, ou Le chateau de Kenilworth'' in 1823. This opera was the first of Donizetti's excursions into the Tudor period of English history, and it was followed in 1830 by ''Anna Bolena'', (which was based on the life of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII), then by ''Maria Stuarda'' (named for Mary, Queen of Scots) which appeared in different forms in 1834 and 1835. All represented the interests (even obsessions) of many Italian composers of the era, Donizetti's included, in the character of Elizabeth I, whose life he wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adelaide Tosi
Adelaide Tosi ( – 27 March 1859) was an Italian operatic soprano. Born in Milan, Tosi studied singing with Girolamo Crescentini. She made her professional debut in her native city on 26 December 1820, singing Ippolito in Simon Mayr's '' Fedra''.Ashbrook (1982), p. 612, note 149. On 12 March 1822 she portrayed Azema in the premiere of Giacomo Meyerbeer's ''L'esule di Granata'' at La Scala. Her debut in Naples was on 29 September 1824 at the Teatro di San Carlo in the premiere of Giovanni Pacini's ''Alessandro nelle Indie''. On 7 April 1828, she portrayed Bianca in Vincenzo Bellini's ''Bianca e Fernando'' for the grand opening of the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. She returned to that house later that season to sing Pamira in Gioachino Rossini's ''Le siège de Corinthe''. She went on to portray roles in three world premieres of operas by Gaetano Donizetti in Naples: Argelia in ''L'esule di Roma'' (1828), Neala in ''Il paria'' (1829), and Elisabetta in ''Il castello di Kenilworth'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cavatina
Cavatina is a musical term, originally meaning a short song of simple character, without a second strain or any repetition of the air. It is now frequently applied to any simple, melodious air, as distinguished from brilliant arias or recitatives, many of which are part of a larger movement or scena in oratorio or opera. One famous piece that bears the name, although without words, is the 5th movement of Beethoven's String Quartet in B-flat major, Opus 130. "Ecco, ridente in cielo" from Gioachino Rossini's opera ''The Barber of Seville'', "Porgi amor" and "Se vuol ballare" from Mozart's ''The Marriage of Figaro'' are also well-known cavatinas. Ralph Vaughan Williams gave the title of "Cavatina" to the 3rd movement of his Symphony no. 8. In opera, the term has been described as: a musical form appearing in operas and occasionally in cantatas and instrumental music....In opera the cavatina is an aria, generally of brilliant character, sung in one or two sections without repeats ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Overture
Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which were independent, self-existing instrumental, programmatic works that foreshadowed genres such as the symphonic poem. These were "at first undoubtedly intended to be played at the head of a programme". History 17th century The idea of an instrumental opening to opera existed during the 17th century. Peri's '' Euridice'' opens with a brief instrumental ritornello, and Monteverdi's ''L'Orfeo'' (1607) opens with a toccata, in this case a fanfare for muted trumpets. More important, however, was the prologue, which comprised sung dialogue between allegorical characters which introduced the overarching themes of the stories depicted. French overture As a musical form, however, the French overture first appears in the court balle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luigi Lablache
Luigi Lablache (6 December 1794 – 23 January 1858) was an Italian opera singer of French and Irish ancestry. He was most noted for his comic performances, possessing a powerful and agile bass voice, a wide range, and adroit acting skills: Leporello in ''Don Giovanni'' was one of his signature roles. Biography Luigi Lablache was born in Naples, the son of Nicolas Lablache, a merchant from Marseille, France, to an Irish lady. He was educated from 1806 at the Conservatorio della Pietà de' Turchini in Naples, where Gentili taught him the elements of music, and Giovanni Valesi instructed him in singing, while at the same time he studied the violin and cello. He fled the Conservatorio five times in order to pursue an acting career, but each time he was brought back in disgrace.Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954, Eric Blom, ed. His voice was a beautiful contralto, and just before it broke he sang the solos in Mozart's '' Requiem'' on the death of Joseph Hay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luigi Lablache-small
is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's mascot. Luigi appears in many games throughout the Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise, oftentimes accompanying his brother. Luigi first appeared in the 1983 Game & Watch game ''List of LCD games featuring Mario#Mario Bros., Mario Bros.'', where he is the character controlled by the second player. He would retain this role in many future games, including ''Mario Bros.'', ''Super Mario Bros.'', ''Super Mario Bros. 3'', ''Super Mario World'', among other titles. He was first available as a primary character in ''Super Mario Bros. 2''. In more recent appearances, Luigi's role became increasingly restricted to spinoffs, such as the ''Mario Party'' and ''Mario Kart'' series; however, he has been featured in a starring role in ''Nelsonic Industr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adelaide Tosi-head&shoulders
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The demonym ''Adelaidean'' is used to denote the city and the residents of Adelaide. The Traditional Owners of the Adelaide region are the Kaurna people. The area of the city centre and surrounding parklands is called ' in the Kaurna language. Adelaide is situated on the Adelaide Plains north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, between the Gulf St Vincent in the west and the Mount Lofty Ranges in the east. Its metropolitan area extends from the coast to the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges, and stretches from Gawler in the north to Sellicks Beach in the south. Named in honour of Queen Adelaide, the city was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for the only freely-settled British province in Australia. Colonel William Light, one of Adelaide's foundi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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