|
Gloriana (band) Songs
''Gloriana'', Op. 53, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Lytton Strachey's 1928 ''Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History''. The first performance was presented at the Royal Opera House, London, in 1953 during the celebrations of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. ''Gloriana'' was the name given by the 16th-century poet Edmund Spenser to his character representing Queen Elizabeth I in his poem '' The Faerie Queene''. It became the popular name given to Elizabeth I. The opera depicts the relationship between Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Essex, and was composed for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. Several in the audience of its gala opening were disappointed by the opera, which presents the first Elizabeth as a sympathetic, but flawed, character motivated largely by vanity and desire. The premiere was one of Britten's few critical failures, and the opera was not included in the series of com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition. Originally understood as an entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include numerous genres, including some that include spoken dialogue such as ''Singspiel'' and ''Opéra comique''. In traditional number opera, singers employ two styles o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olav V Of Norway
Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Norwegian throne when his father was elected King of Norway in 1905. He was the first heir to the Norwegian throne to be brought up in Norway since Olav IV in the fourteenth century, and his parents made sure he was given as Norwegian an upbringing as possible. In preparation for his future role, he attended both civilian and military schools. In 1929, he married his first cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden. During World War II his leadership was much appreciated and he was appointed Norwegian Chief of Defence in 1944. Olav became king following the death of his father in 1957. Owing to his considerate, down-to-earth style, King Olav was immensely popular, resulting in the nickname ('The People's King'). In a 2005 poll by the Norwegian Broa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Elder
Sir Mark Philip Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He is currently music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England. Life and career Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the bassoon when in primary school, and at Bryanston School, Dorset, where he was one of the foremost musicians (bassoon and keyboards) of his generation. He attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge as a choral scholar, where he studied music. He later became a protégé of Sir Edward Downes and gained experience conducting Verdi operas (as well as Sergei Prokofiev, Prokofiev's ''War and Peace'' and Richard Wagner, Wagner's ''Meistersinger'') in Australia, at the Sydney Opera House. Family Elder and his wife, Mandy, have a daughter, Katie. The ENO and association with several orchestras From 1979 to 1993, Elder was the music director of English National Opera (ENO). He was known as part of the "Power House" team that also included genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Hillman (tenor)
David Hillman (21 November 1934 – 8 August 2009) was an English operatic tenor who sang with all the leading opera companies in the United Kingdom. Early career David Hillman was born in London, England. From 1957 to 1962, he worked as a quantity surveyor. From 1960 to 1963, he studied at the National Opera School with Joan Cross, and he also studied privately with Antony Benskin and Otakar Kraus. His professional opera debut was as Arvino in ''I Lombardi'' with Welsh National Opera in 1962, and early engagements with that company and with Sadler's Wells Opera included the principal tenor roles in '' The Queen of Spades'', ''La traviata'', ''The Magic Flute'', ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'', ''La bohème'' and ''Gloriana'', as well as those in ''The Mikado'', ''Ruddigore'', and ''La belle Hélène''. Major debuts and premières Hillman debuted at the Netherlands Opera in 1972 as Tom Rakewell in ''The Rake's Progress'', at Santa Fe Opera in 1974 as Fritz in ''La G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ava June
Ava June Wiggins (23 July 1931 — 22 February 2013) was an English opera singer noted for her roles with the Sadler's Wells Opera (now called the English National Opera). She joined the Opera in 1953 and switched from a mezzo to soprano on the persuasion of her teacher Clive Carey. June left the company in 1963 and also won a gold medal at the Sofia International Competition for young opera singers. She rejoined Sadler's Wells Opera seven years later and made her first performance in the United States in 1974 with the San Francisco Opera. June's last professional appearance as a singer came in 1983 and retired the following year to enter into a coaching role for the next generation of singers. She also taught with various musical organisations and brought her opera experience to directing productions until 1999. Biography Early life and education She was born Ava June Wiggins on 23 July 1931 at the East End Maternity Home, Commercial Road, in Stepney, East London. Her father Geor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Mackerras
Mackerras in 2005 Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the English National Opera (and its predecessor) and Welsh National Opera and was the first Australian chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He also specialized in Czech music as a whole, producing many recordings for the Czech label Supraphon. Early life and education Mackerras was born in Schenectady, New York, to Australian parents, Alan Mackerras and Catherine MacLaurin. His father was an electrical engineer and a Quaker. Mackerras grew up in a very musical family and his mother was immensely cultured. In 1928, when Charles was aged two, the family returned to Sydney, Australia. They initially lived in the suburb of Rose Bay, and in 1933 they moved to the then semi-rural suburb of Turramurra. Mackerras was the eldest of seven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. The Proms were founded in 1895, and are now organised and broadcast by the BBC. Each season consists of concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, chamber music concerts at Cadogan Hall, additional Proms in the Park events across the UK on the Last Night of the Proms, and associated educational and children's events. The season is a significant event in British culture and in classical music. Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek described the Proms as "the world's largest and most democratic musical festival". ''Prom'' is short for '' promenade concert'', a term which originally referred to outdoor concerts in London's pleasure gardens, where the audience was free to stroll around while the orchestra was playing. In the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Graham
Colin Graham OBE (22 September 1931 in Hove, England – 6 April 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri) was a stage director of opera, theatre, and television. Graham was educated at Northaw School (Hertfordshire), Stowe School and RADA. Early in his career, he began a long association with Benjamin Britten, for whom he directed all but one of the composer's stage works, including all of the world premieres after 1954. He became associated with the English Opera Group in 1953. In the 1950s, he also worked for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London and later at Glyndebourne and at the English National Opera in the 1970s. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Graham was associated with several recordings of Gilbert and Sullivan operas conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent with the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus and principals including George Baker. He enhanced these recordings with movement for the performers that makes the recordings sound more like a live staged performance. Graham m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sylvia Fisher
Sylvia Gwendoline Victoria Fisher (18 April 191025 August 1996) was an Australian operatic soprano whose stage career was made in England, who was especially distinguished in German opera, and who created the role of Miss Wingrave in Benjamin Britten's ''Owen Wingrave'' in 1971. Fisher was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 1994 Australia Day Honours, for "service to the arts, particularly opera". Early career in Australia Fisher was born in a private hospital in South Melbourne on 18 April 1910 to John and Margaret Maria Fisher (née Frawley). She studied the piano from the age of nine, and afterwards entered the Albert Street Conservatorium for singing and voice production and obtained the full diploma. When this was completed she continued her singing studies with Adolf Spivakovsky, and worked with him for many years. She made her debut as a student in Lully's ''Cadmus et Hermione'' at the Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, on 5 March 1932, at the Lully Tercentenary Fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sadler's Wells Opera
English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English. The company's origins were in the late 19th century, when the philanthropist Emma Cons, later assisted by her niece Lilian Baylis, presented theatrical and operatic performances at the Old Vic, for the benefit of local people. Baylis subsequently built up both the opera and the theatre companies, and later added a ballet company; these evolved into the ENO, the Royal National Theatre and The Royal Ballet, respectively. Baylis acquired and rebuilt the Sadler's Wells theatre in north London, a larger house, better suited to opera than the Old Vic. The opera company grew there into a permanent ensemble in the 1930s. During the Second World War, the theatre was closed and the company toured British towns and cities. After the war, the compa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Library Of Australia
The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the Australians, Australian people", thus functioning as a national library. It is located in Parkes, Australian Capital Territory, Parkes, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, ACT. Created in 1960 by the ''National Library Act'', by the end of June 2019 its collection contained 7,717,579 items, with its manuscript material occupying of shelf space. The NLA also hosts and manages the renowned Trove cultural heritage discovery service, which includes access to the Australian Web Archive and National edeposit (NED), a large collection of digitisation, digitised newspapers, official documents, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano known for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s. She possessed a voice combining agility, accurate intonation, pinpoint staccatos,"Icons of Opera – Dame Joan Sutherland" ''Opera Britannia'' (6 July 2009). Retrieved 27 September 2010. a trill and a strong upper register, although music critics complained about her poor diction. Sutherland was the first Australian to win a , f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Olav V Of Norway")
.svg "Click for more on -> The Proms"){kind=logo}
.jpg "Click for more on -> Joan Sutherland")