Franz Völker
Franz Völker (31 March 1899, Neu-Isenburg, Grand Duchy of Hesse – 4 December 1965, Darmstadt, Hesse) was a dramatic tenor who enjoyed a major European career. He excelled specifically as a performer of the operas of Richard Wagner. He was discovered by the conductor Clemens Krauss and he studied singing at Frankfurt, where he made his début as Florestan in Beethoven's only operatic work, ''Fidelio'', in 1926. Engagements followed in Vienna, Munich, Berlin, and London, where he appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1934 and 1937. He also performed often at the Salzburg Festival and the Bayreuth Festival, earning considerable public and critical acclaim. Roles that he sang during this period, in addition to Fidelio, included ''Parsifal'', ''Lohengrin'', Siegmund in Wagner's ''Die Walküre'' and Max in Weber's ''Der Freischütz''. Later in his career, he sang the lead role in Verdi's ''Otello''. He taught singing in Stuttgart, Germany, after retiring from the st ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Neu-Isenburg
Neu-Isenburg is a town in Germany, located in the Offenbach district of Hesse. It is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area and has a population of 38,204 (2020). The town is known nowadays mainly for its regionally used shopping centre, the ''Isenburg-Zentrum'' (IZ), the ''Hugenottenhalle'', the Hotel Kempinski Frankfurt, the ''Autokino Gravenbruch'' (the oldest drive-in cinema in Europe), the ''Sportpark'', the ''Waldschwimmbad'' (swimming pool) and not least of all its central location near Frankfurt Airport. Geography Neighbouring communities Neu-Isenburg borders in the west and north on the district-free city of Frankfurt am Main, in the east on the district-free city of Offenbach and in the south on the towns of Dreieich, Langen and Mörfelden-Walldorf ( Groß-Gerau district). Constituent communities In 1959, building work began on the ''Wohnstadt im Grünen'' ("Living Town in the Green"), as it was marketed. This was Gravenbruch. Almost 7,000 people found a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lohengrin (opera)
''Lohengrin'', WWV 75, is a Romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the ''Parzival'' of Wolfram von Eschenbach, and its sequel ''Lohengrin'', itself inspired by the epic of ''Garin le Loherain''. It is part of the Knight of the Swan legend. The opera has inspired other works of art. King Ludwig II of Bavaria named his castle Neuschwanstein Castle after the Swan Knight. It was King Ludwig's patronage that later gave Wagner the means and opportunity to complete, build a theatre for, and stage his epic cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''. He had discontinued composing it at the end of Act II of ''Siegfried'', the third of the ''Ring'' tetralogy, to create his radical chromatic masterpiece of the late 1850s, ''Tristan und Isolde'', and his lyrical comic opera of the mid-1860s, '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''. The most popular and recognizabl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1899 Births
Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a customs office in Puerto Alonso, leading to the Brazilian settlers there to declare the Republic of Acre in a revolt against Bolivian authorities. **The first part of the Jakarta Kota–Anyer Kidul railway on the island of Java is opened between Batavia Zuid ( Jakarta Kota) and Tangerang. * January 3 – Hungarian Prime Minister Dezső Bánffy fights an inconclusive duel with his bitter enemy in parliament, Horánszky Nándor. * January 4 – **U.S. President William McKinley's declaration of December 21, 1898, proclaiming a policy of benevolent assimilation of the Philippines as a United States territory, is announced in Manila by the U.S. commander, General Elwell Otis, and angers independence activists who had fought against ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gramophone (magazine)
''Gramophone'' is a magazine published monthly in London, devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie who continued to edit the magazine until 1961. It was acquired by Haymarket in 1999. In 2013 the Mark Allen Group became the publisher. The magazine presents the Gramophone Awards each year to the classical recordings which it considers the finest in a variety of categories. On its website ''Gramophone'' claims to be: "The world's authority on classical music since 1923." This used to appear on the front cover of every issue; recent editions have changed the wording to "The world's best classical music reviews." Its circulation, including digital subscribers, was 24,380 in 2014. Listings and the ''Gramophone'' Hall of Fame Apart from the annual Gramophone Classical Music Awards, each month features a dozen recordings as Gramophone Editor's Choice (now Gramophone Choice). Then, in the annua ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alan Blyth
Geoffrey Alan Blyth (27 July 1929 – 14 August 2007) was an English music critic, author, and musicologist who was particularly known for his writings within the field of opera. He was a specialist on singers and singing. Born in London, Blyth's earliest musical experiences were at Rugby School. He attended the music lectures of Professor Jack Westrup. After graduation from Pembroke College, Oxford, where he read history, he returned to London and worked in journalism and publishing. He wrote reviews, interviews and obituaries for ''The Times'' and for '' Gramophone''. He was a long-time contributor to the British magazine ''Opera''.Baker, Janet, and Max Loppert. "Alan Blyth, 1929–2007", ''Opera Magazine'' (2007): 1168–1171. Articles * * References *C. Mackenzie. "Tribute: Alan Blyth", ''The Gramophone ''Gramophone'' is a magazine published monthly in London, devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scot ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Margarete Klose
Margarete Klose (6 August 1899 or 1902 – 14 December 1968) was a German operatic mezzo-soprano. Life Klose was born (as Frida Klose) and died in Berlin. She lost her father early in life and had to earn her living as a secretary, until a colleague recommended her to the Klindworth-Scharwenka conservatory, where she got a thorough musical education. Klose made her début in 1926 at the Theater Ulm in a supporting role of Emmerich Kálmán's operetta ''Countess Maritza''. Her next role was Azucena in Giuseppe Verdi's ''Il trovatore''. For the next three years Klose sang in Ulm and Kassel, before joining the Mannheim National Theatre in 1929. In 1932, Klose went back to Berlin where she was engaged alternately at Berlin State Opera (1932 to 1949 and 1955 to 1961) and Deutsche Oper Berlin (1949 to 1958). In addition she was a celebrated guest e.g. at Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, La Scala in Milan, Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden, National Theatre Mun ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Maria Müller
Maria Müller (29 January 1898 – 15 March 1958) was a Czech-Austrian operatic soprano. Life and career Müller was born in Terezín, Bohemia on 29 January 1898. She studied in Vienna with Erik Schmedes, and debuted in Linz in 1919 as Elsa in ''Lohengrin''. She also sang at the Deutsches Theater in Prague in 1921-1923 (where she sang the role of Nettchen in the premiere of the revised version of Alexander Zemlinsky's opera '' Kleider machen Leute)'' and at the Staatsoper, Munich in 1923-1924. She studied with voice teacher Estelle Liebling, the teacher of Beverly Sills, in New York City after becoming a principal artist at the Metropolitan Opera (the "Met"). On 21 January 1925, Müller made her debut at the Met as Sieglinde in ''Die Walküre''. The next day, Olin Downes wrote in ''The New York Times'': “young Czech soprano...was warmly welcomed. She has a fresh and youthful voice, a little small for the demands of her role, much grace and sincerity as an actress. Not ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ludwig Hofmann (bass)
Ludwig Hofmann (14 January 1895 in Frankfurt am Main – 28 December 1963 in Frankfurt am Main) was a German opera singer ( bass), who from the late 1920s obtained worldwide recognition above all as an exponent of Wagnerian roles. He worked principally in the opera houses in Berlin and Vienna and in the Vienna State Opera, and from 1928 to 1942 was frequently involved in the Bayreuth Festivals. Life Growing up in Frankfurt am Main, he completed his secondary school there and embarked on the study of singing, which he undertook in Milan. From 1914 to 1918 he took part in the First World War. In 1918, aged 23, he made his debut as an opera singer in the Bamberg Staatstheater. After that he was engaged at the Landestheater in Dessau (1919–1920), at the Stadttheater in Bremen (1920–1925), at the Wiesbaden Staatstheater (1925–1928), at the Berlin Municipal Opera (1928–1932), at the Berlin State Opera (1932–1935) and at the Vienna State Opera (1935–1942). From 1929 unt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robert Heger
Robert Heger (19 August 1886 – 14 January 1978) was a German conductor and composer from Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine. Life and career He studied at the Conservatory of Strasbourg under Franz Stockhausen, then in Zurich under Lothar Kempter and finally in Munich under Max von Schillings. After early conducting engagements in Strasbourg he made his debut at Ulm in 1908 or 1909. He held appointments in Barmen (1909), at the Vienna Volksoper (1911), and at Nuremberg (1913), where he also conducted Philharmonic concerts. He went on to Munich and Vienna, where he recorded a magnificent version of Goldmark's Rustic Wedding Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic; and then to Berlin (1933-1950), where a live wartime ''Lohengrin'' was preserved and afterwards issued on LP, after which he returned again to Munich. In 1932, he conducted the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein in the world premiere of Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left H ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Swabian Jura and the Black Forest. Stuttgart has a population of 635,911, making it the sixth largest city in Germany. 2.8 million people live in the city's administrative region and 5.3 million people in its metropolitan area, making it the fourth largest metropolitan area in Germany. The city and metropolitan area are consistently ranked among the top 20 European metropolitan areas by GDP; Mercer listed Stuttgart as 21st on its 2015 list of cities by quality of living; innovation agency 2thinknow ranked the city 24th globally out of 442 cities in its Innovation Cities Index; and the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked the city as a Beta-status global city in their 2020 survey. Stuttgart was one of the host cities ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Otello
''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887. The composer was reluctant to write anything new after the success of ''Aida'' in 1871, and he retreated into retirement. It took his Milan publisher Giulio Ricordi the next ten years, first to encourage the revision of Verdi's 1857 ''Simon Boccanegra'' by introducing Boito as librettist and then to begin the arduous process of persuading and cajoling Verdi to see Boito's completed libretto for ''Otello'' in July/August 1881. However, the process of writing the first drafts of the libretto and the years of their revision, with Verdi all along not promising anything, dragged on. It wasn't until 1884, five years after the first drafts of the libretto, that composition began, with most of the work finishing in late 1885. When it finally premiere ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the help of a local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, whose works significantly influenced him. In his early operas, Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy. He also participated briefly as an elected politician. The chorus "Va, pensiero" from his early opera ''Nabucco'' (1842), and similar choruses in later operas, were much in the spirit of the unification movement, and the composer himself became esteemed as a representative of these ideals. An intensely private person, Verdi did not seek to ingratiate himself with popular movements. As he became professionally successful, he was able ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |