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Guido Et Ginevra
''Guido et Ginevra, ou La Peste de Florence'' (French: ''Guido and Ginevra, or the Plague at Florence'') is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to a libretto by Eugène Scribe. It was premiered on 5 March 1838 by the Paris Opera at the Salle Le Peletier. Performance history ''Guido et Ginevra'' was only a moderate success for Halévy, not nearly as applauded as his previous grand opera ''La Juive'' (1835) or as ''La reine de Chypre'' which followed it (1841). However, after its premiere it was soon played in all the major European centres. When the opera was revived in Paris in 1840 it was cut to four acts. It was translated into Italian and performed in three acts by the Théâtre-Italien at the Salle Ventadour beginning on 17 February 1870. It was performed in German in Mannheim beginning on 3 April 1879, and Hamburg, on 20 March 1882.Loewenberg 1978, column795. No recent productions are known. The opera contains touches of the composer's innovative orchestration, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and (in their original productions) lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events. The term is particularly applied (sometimes specifically used in its French language equivalent grand opéra, ) to certain productions of the Paris Opéra from the late 1820s to around 1850; 'grand opéra' has sometimes been used to denote the Paris Opéra itself. The term 'grand opera' is also used in a broader application in respect of contemporary or later works of similar monumental proportions from France, Germany, Italy, and other countries. It may also be used colloquially in an imprecise sense to refer to 'serious opera without spoken dialogue'. Origins Paris at the turn of the 19th century drew in many composers, both French and foreign, and especially those of opera. Several Italians working d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diminished Seventh
In classical music from Western culture, a diminished seventh () is an interval produced by narrowing a minor seventh by a chromatic semitone.Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. . Specific example of an d7 not given but general example of minor intervals described. For instance, the interval from A to G is a minor seventh, ten semitones wide, and both the intervals from A to G, and from A to G are diminished sevenths, spanning nine semitones. Being diminished, it is considered a dissonant interval. The diminished seventh is enharmonically equivalent to a major sixth. Its inversion is the augmented second. The diminished seventh is used quite readily in the minor key, where it is present in the harmonic minor scale between the seventh scale step and the sixth scale step in the octave above. In an equal tempered tuning, a diminished seventh is equal to nine semitones, a ratio of 29/12:1 (approximately 1.682), or 900 cents. There is no s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Florence Cathedral
Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally completed by 1436, with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink, bordered by white, and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris. The cathedral complex, in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. These three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major tourist attraction of Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until the development of new structural materials in the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed. The cathedral is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacristan
A sacristan is an officer charged with care of the sacristy, the church, and their contents. In ancient times, many duties of the sacrist were performed by the doorkeepers ( ostiarii), and later by the treasurers and mansionarii. The Decretals of Gregory IX speak of the sacristan as if he had an honourable office attached to a certain benefice, and say that his duty was to care for the sacred vessels, vestments, lights, etc. Nowadays the sacristan is elected or appointed. The '' Cæremoniale Episcoporum'' prescribed that in cathedral and collegiate churches the sacristan should be a priest, and describes his duties in regard to the sacristy, the Blessed Eucharist, the baptismal font, the holy oils, the sacred relics, the decoration of the church for the different seasons and feasts, the preparation of what is necessary for the various ceremonies, the pregustation in pontifical Mass, the ringing of the church bells, the preservation of order in the church, and the distribution ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molinier (baritone)
Molinier was the stage name of François Gély (1807–1859), a French operatic baritone who mostly performed minor roles at the Paris Opéra.Tamvaco 2000, vol. 2, p. 740. He made his professional debut without much success on 15 February 1826 with the Opéra-Comique at the Salle Feydeau as Alibour in Méhul's '' Euphrosine et Coradin''. He first appeared at the Paris Opéra on 2 October 1837 as an emergency replacement in a leading bass role, Pietro in Daniel Auber's ''La muette de Portici''. He sang with great emotion, but was thought to have overextended his resources. However, having rescued the performance (and the receipts), he was rewarded by engagement as a company regular, and continued to sing there until 1854. During this period he created a number of minor roles, as noted in the list below. He also performed other minor roles, such as a herald-in-arms in Meyerbeer's ''Robert le diable'', the Comte de Nevers in Meyerbeer's ''Les Huguenots'', Rodolphe and Melcthal in R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Majordomo
A majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a large or significant residence. A majordomo may also, more informally, be someone who oversees the day-to-day responsibilities of a business enterprise. Historically, many institutions and governments – monasteries, cathedrals, and cities – as well as noble and royal houses also had the post of majordomo, who usually was in charge of finances. Additionally, the Hispanos of New Mexico use the related term ''mayordomo'' to refer to the manager of an ''acequia'' system for a town or valley. Etymology The origin is from (), and it was borrowed into English from Spanish or obsolete Italian . Also, it is found as French , modern Italian , Portuguese and Galician , and Romanian and Catalan as . Examples in fiction In ''Les Misérables'', M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol
Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol (also known as Eugène Massol) (23 August 1802 – 30 October 1887) was a French operatic tenor and later baritone who sang in the world premieres of many French operas. Massol was born in Lodève and trained at the Paris Conservatory under Charles-Henri Plantade. He won the conservatory's first prize in singing in 1825 and that same year made his stage debut as Licinius in Spontini's ''La vestale'' at the Paris Opera. He sang primarily secondary tenor roles until the late 1830s when he increasingly gravitated to baritone roles. In 1845 he went to Brussels where he sang leading baritone roles including the title role of ''Nabucco'' in its first performance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie and went on to serve as the theatre's director from 1848 to 1849. During that period he also sang in London with the Royal Italian Opera at Covent Garden. In 1850 he returned to the Paris Opera and remained there as a principal baritone until his retirement from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Condottiere
''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other European monarchs during the Italian Wars of the Renaissance and the European Wars of Religion. Notable ''condottieri'' include Prospero Colonna, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Cesare Borgia, the Marquis of Pescara, Andrea Doria, and the Duke of Parma. The term ''condottiero'' in medieval Italian originally meant "contractor" since the ''condotta'' was the contract by which the condottieri put themselves in the service of a city or of a lord. The term, however, became a synonym of "military leader" during the Renaissance and Reformation era. Some authors have described the legendary Alberto da Giussano as the "first condottiero" and Napoleon Bonaparte (in virtue of his Italian origins) as the "last condottiero". According to this view, the condot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gilbert Duprez
Gilbert-Louis Duprez (6 December 180623 September 1896) was a French tenor, singing teacher and minor composer who famously pioneered the delivery of the operatic high C from the chest (''Ut de poitrine'', as Paris audiences called it). He also created the role of Edgardo in the popular bel canto-era opera ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' in 1835. Biography Gilbert-Louis Duprez was born in Paris. He studied singing, music theory, and composition with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and made his operatic début at the Odéon in 1825 as ''Count Almaviva'' in Rossini's ''Il barbiere di Siviglia''. He worked in that theatre without much success until 1828, when he decided to try his luck in Italy. There, the operatic scene was more active and developed. As a result, Duprez was able to immerse himself in work, beginning principally with ''tenore contraltino'' roles such as ''Idreno'' in '' Semiramide '' and ''Rodrigo'' in ''Otello'', both by Rossini. He appeared, too, as ''Gualtiero'' in Bellini' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is widely defined to be B2, though some roles include an A2 (two As below middle C). At the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to the second F above middle C (F5). The tenor voice type is generally divided into the ''leggero'' tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, and tenor buffo or . History The name "tenor" derives from the Latin word ''wikt:teneo#Latin, tenere'', which means "to hold". As Fallows, Jander, Forbes, Steane, Harris and Waldman note in the "Tenor" article at ''Grove Music Online'': In polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the [tenor was the] structurally fundamental (or 'holding') voice, vocal or instrumental; by the 15th century it came to signify the male voice that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prosper Dérivis
Nicolas-Prosper Dérivis (28 October 1808 - 11 February 1880) was a French operatic bass. He possessed a rich deep voice that had a great carrying power. While he could easily assail heavy dramatic roles, he was also capable of executing difficult coloratura passages and performing more lyrical parts. Along with Nicolas Levasseur, he was one of the greatest French basses of his generation. Life and career Born in Paris, Dérivis was the son of operatic bass Henri-Étienne Dérivis. He studied singing at the Conservatoire de Paris with Auguste Nourrit and Felice Pellegrini. He made his professional debut at the Paris Opera in 1831 as Pharaon in Gioachino Rossini's ''Moïse et Pharaon''. He remained committed to that opera house for the next ten years, notably performing in the world premieres of Fromental Halévy's ''La tentation'' (1832), Daniel Auber's ''Le serment'' (1832), Luigi Cherubini's ''Ali Baba'' (1833), Halevy's '' La Juive'' (1835, the Herald), Giacomo Meyerbeer's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferrara
Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located north. The town has broad streets and numerous palaces dating from the Renaissance, when it hosted the court of the House of Este. For its beauty and cultural importance, it has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. History Antiquity and Middle Ages The first documented settlements in the area of the present-day Province of Ferrara date from the 6th century BC. The ruins of the Etruscan town of Spina, established along the lagoons at the ancient mouth of Po river, were lost until modern times, when drainage schemes in the Valli di Comacchio marshes in 1922 first officially revealed a necropolis with over 4,000 tombs, evidence of a population centre that in Antiquity must have played a major rol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
