Helen Adams (soprano)
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Helen Adams (soprano)
Helen Adams (born 29 September 1956) is an Australian soprano. She won the 1987 Australia Opera Awards. Life and career Born in Geelong, Adams was trained of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne where she was a voice student of soprano Joan Hammond. After graduating from the Melbourne Conservatorium in 1982, she studied with Antonio Moretti-Pananti of the Victorian Opera. She later studied with Audrey Langford in England. Adams made her professional opera debut in 1983 at the State Opera of South Australia as Pamina in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's ''The Magic Flute''. She was a resident artist with that company for the next three years, appearing as Zerlina in ''Don Giovanni'', Susanna in ''The Marriage of Figaro'', and the title roles in Jules Massenet's ''Manon'' and Emmerich Kálmán's '' Grafin Mariza''. In 1985 she was the soprano soloist in Johann Sebastian Bach's ''St Matthew Passion'' with the Canberra Choral Society at Llewellyn Hall. In 1 ...
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Soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261  Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880 Hz in choral music, or to "soprano C" (C6, two octaves above middle C) = 1046 Hz or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which often encompasses the melody. The soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, soubrette, lyric, spinto, and dramatic soprano. Etymology The word "soprano" comes from the Italian word '' sopra'' (above, over, on top of),"Soprano"
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Emmerich Kálmán
Emmerich Kálmán ( hu, Kálmán Imre; 24 October 1882 – 30 October 1953) was a Hungarian composer of operettas and a prominent figure in the development of Viennese operetta in the 20th century. Among his most popular works are '' Die Csárdásfürstin'' (1915) and ''Gräfin Mariza'' (1924). Influences on his compositional style include Hungarian folk music (such as the csárdás), the Viennese style of precursors such as Johann Strauss II and Franz Lehár, and, in his later works, American jazz. As a result of the ''Anschluss,'' Kálmán and his family fled to Paris and then to the United States. He eventually returned to Europe in 1949 and died in Paris in 1953. Biography Kálmán was born Imre Koppstein in Siófok, then in Austria-Hungary, on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, to a Jewish family. Kálmán initially intended to become a concert pianist, but because of early-onset arthritis, he focused on composition instead. He studied music theory and composition at th ...
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Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The QEH was built along with the smaller Purcell Room as part of Southbank Centre arts complex. It stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival of Britain of 1951, and the Hayward Gallery which opened in 1968. History The QEH stands on the site of a former shot tower, built as part of a lead works in 1826 and retained for the Festival of Britain. The QEH and the Purcell Room were built together by Higgs and Hill and opened in March 1967. The venue was closed for two years of renovations in September 2015, and reopened in April 2018. Description The QEH has over 900 seats and the Purcell Room in the same building has 360 seats. The two auditoriums were designed by a team led by Hubert Bennett, head of the arch ...
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Rigoletto
''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play ''Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had control over northern Italian theatres at the time, the opera had a triumphant premiere at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851. The work, Verdi's sixteenth in the genre, is widely considered to be the first of the operatic masterpieces of Verdi's middle-to-late career. Its tragic story revolves around the licentious Duchy of Mantua, Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's daughter Gilda. The opera's original title, ''La maledizione'' (The Curse), refers to a curse placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter the Duke has seduced with Rigoletto's encouragement. The curse comes to fruition when Gilda falls in love with the Duke and sacrifices her life to save him from the assassin hired by ...
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Falstaff (opera)
''Falstaff'' () is a comic opera in three acts by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian-language libretto was adapted by Arrigo Boito from the play '' The Merry Wives of Windsor'' and scenes from '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', by William Shakespeare. The work premiered on 9 February 1893 at La Scala, Milan. Verdi wrote ''Falstaff'', the last of his 28 operas, as he approached the age of 80. It was his second comedy, and his third work based on a Shakespeare play, following '' Macbeth'' and '' Otello''. The plot revolves around the thwarted, sometimes farcical, efforts of the fat knight Sir John Falstaff to seduce two married women to gain access to their husbands' wealth. Verdi was concerned about working on a new opera at his advanced age, but he yearned to write a comic work and was pleased with Boito's draft libretto. It took the collaborators three years from mid-1889 to complete. Although the prospect of a new opera from Verdi aroused im ...
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Giuseppe 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 ...
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Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture. Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, but completed by an Australian architectural team headed by Peter Hall, the building was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973 after a gestation beginning with Utzon's 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The Government of New South Wales, led by the premier, Joseph Cahill, authorised work to begin in 1958 with Utzon directing construction. The government's decision to build Utzon's design is often overshadowed by circumstances that followed, including cost and scheduling overruns as well as the architect's ultimate resignation. The building and its surrounds occupy the whole of Bennelong Point on Sydney Harbour, between Sydney Cove and Far ...
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Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the Arts Centre Melbourne, where it is accompanied by Orchestra Victoria. In 2004, the company gave 226 performances in its subscription seasons in Sydney and Melbourne, attended by more than 294,000 people. It is funded by government grants, corporate sponsorship, private philanthropy, and ticket sales. The proportion of its revenue from ticket sales is considerably higher than that of most companies, approximately 75 per cent. The company is perhaps best known internationally for its association with Dame Joan Sutherland, for Baz Luhrmann's production of Puccini's ''La bohème'' in the early 1990s and more recently, for, apart from performances inside the opera house, large scale outdoor performances on Sydney Harbour. ...
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The Canberra Times
''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1926 by Thomas Shakespeare along with his oldest son Arthur Shakespeare and two younger sons Christopher and James. The newspaper's headquarters were originally located in the Civic retail precinct, in Cooyong Street and Mort Street, in blocks bought by Thomas Shakespeare in the first sale of Canberra leases in 1924. The newspaper's first issue was published on 3 September 1926. It was the second paper to be printed in the city, the first being ''The Federal Capital Pioneer''. Between September 1926 and February 1928, the newspaper was a weekly issue. The first daily issue was 28 February 1928. In June 1956, ''The Canberra Times'' converted from broadsheet to tabloid format. Arthur Shakespeare sold the paper to John Fairfax Lt ...
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Llewellyn Hall
The ANU School of Music is a school in the Research School of Humanities and the Arts, which forms part of the College of Arts and Social Sciences of the Australian National University. It consists of four buildings, including the main School of Music building – which contains Llewellyn Hall – and the Peter Karmel Building. The School of Music's teaching encompasses performance tuition, alongside musicianship, musicology, sound recording, and ethnomusicology. History The School of Music was established under the name Canberra School of Music in 1965 with Ernest Llewellyn as the founding Director. The original plans for the School were prepared in the 1960s when the Department of the Interior recognized the need to establish centres for art and music study in the national capital, with the vision of providing high-level performance and practice. Sir Richard Kingsland, Secretary of the Department from 1963 to 1970, provided valuable support for Ernest Llewellyn's vision. The ...
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Canberra Choral Society
The Canberra Choral Society (CCS) is an auditioned symphonic choir in Canberra, Australia. The choir is known both for traditional choral repertoire, and new music. A key focus for the choir is an annual "Come and Sing" program, in which up to 120 unauditioned guest singers rehearse with the choir and perform a major work in ANU Llewellyn Hall with professional soloists and orchestra. History The Canberra Choral Society originated in 1952 as the Canberra Choral Group with a small group of people who began singing together for their own pleasure and musical advancement. Conductors originally included Ronald Penny, Peter Bailey and Jane Malone, and the Group was recognised as an important part of the early cultural development of Canberra. The name was changed to the Canberra Choral Society in 1960, and the Society became an officially incorporated association in April 1962. For over sixty years CCS has been a leading player the musical life of the city. Its repertoire includes b ...
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St Matthew Passion
The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets the 26th and 27th chapters of the Gospel of Matthew (in the Luther Bible) to music, with interspersed chorales and arias. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of Baroque sacred music. The original Latin title translates to "The Passion of our Lord J susC[hrist">rist.html" ;"title="susC[hrist">susC[hristaccording to the Evangelist Matthew".Markus Rathey. 2016. ''Bach's Major Vocal Works. Music, Drama, Liturgy'', Yale University Press History The ''St Matthew Passion'' is the second of two Passion settings by Bach that have survived in their entirety, the first being the '' St John Passion'', first performed in 1724. Versions and contemporaneous performances Little is known with certainty about the creation proc ...
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