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I Medici
''I Medici'' is an opera in four acts composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo, with a libretto by the composer. Set in Renaissance Florence at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici, it was intended as the first part of a planned but unfinished trilogy called ''Crepusculum''. The opera premiered on 6 November 1893 at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan. Background and performance history ''I Medici'' was intended as the first part of a planned but unfinished trilogy called ''Crepusculum'', with the second and third operas to be called ''Savonarola'' and ''I Borgia.'' The word "crepusculum" is Latin for "twilight", signaling the influence of Richard Wagner's tetralogy ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (whose fourth installment is called "Twilight of the Gods" (''Götterdämmerung'')). The remaining two operas were never completed. Leoncavallo sought to create an "epic poem" for the stage. However, one contemporary review of the premiere stated: In ''I Medici'' we have a historical opera like those that h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo ( , , ; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera '' Pagliacci'' (1892) that remained his lasting contribution, despite attempts to escape the shadow of his greatest success. Today he remains largely known for ''Pagliacci'', one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the opera repertory. His other compositions include the song "Mattinata", popularized by Enrico Caruso, and the symphonic poem ''La Nuit de mai''. Biography The son of Vincenzo Leoncavallo, a police magistrate and judge, Leoncavallo was born in Naples on 23 April 1857. As a child, Leoncavallo moved with his father to the town of Montalto Uffugo in Calabria, where he lived during his adolescence. He later returned to Naples and was educated at the city's San Pietro a Majella Conservatory and later the University of Bologna studying literature ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C (i.e. F2–F4) in choral music, and from the second A below middle C to the A above middle C (A2 to A4) in operatic music, but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of baritone include the baryton-Martin baritone (light baritone), lyric baritone, ''Kavalierbariton'', Verdi baritone, dramatic baritone, ''baryton-noble'' baritone, and the bass-baritone. History The first use of the term "baritone" emerged as ''baritonans'', late in the 15th century, usually in French sacred polyphonic music. At this early stage it was frequently used as the lowest of the voices (including the bass), but in 17th-century Italy the term was all-encompassing and used to describe the averag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order, where he displayed talents as a scholar and preacher, and enjoyed the patronage of Pius V, who made him a cardinal. As a cardinal, he was known as Cardinal Montalto. As Pope, he energetically rooted out corruption and lawlessness across Rome, and launched a far-sighted rebuilding programme that continues to provoke controversy, as it involved the destruction of antiquities. The cost of these works was met by heavy taxation that caused much suffering. His foreign policy was regarded as over-ambitious, and he excommunicated both Queen Elizabeth I of England and King Henry IV of France. He is recognized as a significant figure of the Counter-Reformation. He is the most recent pope to date to take on the pontifical name "Sixtus". Early lif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medici
The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of Tuscany, and prospered gradually until it was able to fund the Medici Bank. This bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century and facilitated the Medicis' rise to political power in Florence, although they officially remained citizens rather than monarchs until the 16th century. The Medici produced four popes of the Catholic Church—Pope Leo X (1513–1521), Pope Clement VII (1523–1534), Pope Pius IV (1559–1565) and Pope Leo XI (1605)—and two queens of France—Catherine de' Medici (1547–1559) and Marie de' Medici (1600–1610). In 1532, the family acquired the hereditary title Duke of Florence. In 1569, the duchy was elevated to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany after territorial expansion. The Medici ruled the G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas and achievements of classical antiquity. It occurred after the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages and was associated with great social change. In addition to the standard periodization, proponents of a "long Renaissance" may put its beginning in the 14th century and its end in the 17th century. The traditional view focuses more on the early modern aspects of the Renaissance and argues that it was a break from the past, but many historians today focus more on its medieval aspects and argue that it was an extension of the Middle Ages. However, the beginnings of the period – the early Renaissance of the 15th century and the Italian Proto-Renaissance from around 1250 or 1300 – overlap considerably with the Late Middle Ages, conventionally da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3–A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4; 220–880 Hz). In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C (F3, 175 Hz) and as high as "high C" (C6, 1047 Hz). The mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano. History While mezzo-sopranos typically sing secondary roles in operas, notable exceptions include the title role in Bizet's '' Carmen'', Angelina (Cinderella) in Rossini's ''La Cenerentola'', and Rosina in Rossini's ''Barber of Seville'' (all of which are also sung by sopranos and contraltos). Many 19th-century French-language operas give the leading female role to mezzos, includin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francesco Salviati (bishop)
Francesco Salviati Riario was the archbishop of Pisa_in_1474_and_one_of_the_organisers_of_the_717,_Pisan_and_on_31_July_1725_[1726,_Pisan A_special_assembly_(''conventus'')_was_held_in_P_..._in_1474_and_one_of_the_organisers_of_the_ 717,_Pisan_and_on_31_July_1725_[1726,_Pisan A_special_assembly_(''conventus'')_was_held_in_P_..._in_1474_and_one_of_the_organisers_of_the_Pazzi_conspiracy_against_the_House_of_Medici">Medici_family,_the_reason_for_his_execution_after_the_failure_of_the_plot_(26_April_1478)._ __Biography_ A_blood-member_of_the_717,_Pisan_and_on_31_July_1725_[1726,_Pisan A_special_assembly_(''conventus'')_was_held_in_P_..._in_1474_and_one_of_the_organisers_of_the_Pazzi_conspiracy_against_the_House_of_Medici">Medici_family,_the_reason_for_his_execution_after_the_failure_of_the_plot_(26_April_1478)._ __Biography_ A_blood-member_of_the_Riario">Riario_family_and_of_the_Salviati_(bankers).html" "title="Riario.html" ;"title="Pazzi_conspiracy_against_the_House_of_Medici.html" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poliziano
Agnolo (Angelo) Ambrogini (14 July 1454 – 24 September 1494), commonly known by his nickname Poliziano (; anglicized as Politian; Latin: '' Politianus''), was an Italian classical scholar and poet of the Florentine Renaissance. His scholarship was instrumental in the divergence of Renaissance (or Humanist) Latin from medieval norms and for developments in philology. His nickname, ''Poliziano'', by which he is chiefly identified to the present day, was derived from the Latin name of his birthplace, Montepulciano (''Mons Politianus''). Poliziano's works include translations of passages from Homer's ''Iliad'', an edition of the poetry of Catullus and commentaries on classical authors and literature. It was his classical scholarship that brought him the attention of the wealthy and powerful Medici family that ruled Florence. He served the Medici as a tutor to their children, and later as a close friend and political confidant. His later poetry, including ''La Giostra'', g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli
Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli (15 January 1420 – 29 December 1479) was an Italian merchant and one of the instigators of the Pazzi conspiracy. As the opening stroke of the Pazzi conspiracy, Giuliano de' Medici was assassinated on Easter Sunday, 26 April 1478 in the Duomo of Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore, by Francesco de' Pazzi and Baroncelli. Giuliano was killed by a sword wound to the head and was stabbed 19 times. Baroncelli was arrested in Constantinople. Antonio Medici was sent to deliver him from Constantinople. Bandini was hanged on 29 December at the Palazzo del Bargello. Baroncelli was drawn in a macabre sketch by Leonardo da Vinci in Florence in 1479. With dispassionate integrity, Leonardo had registered the colours of the robes that Baroncelli was wearing when he died in neat mirror writing. In popular culture Baroncelli appears as a tenor in Leoncavallo's 1893 opera ''I Medici'' He also appears as a villain and assassination target in the videogame ''Assassin's Cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francesco De' Pazzi
Francesco de' Pazzi (28 January 1444 – 26 April 1478) was an Italian banker and one of the instigators of the Pazzi conspiracy. On Sunday, 26 April 1478, in an incident known as the Pazzi conspiracy, a group headed by Girolamo Riario, Francesco de' Pazzi and Francesco Salviati attacked Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother, the co-ruler Giuliano, in the Duomo of Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore, in an attempt to seize control of the Florentine government. Giuliano de' Medici was assassinated by Francesco de' Pazzi and Bernardo Baroncelli. He was killed by a sword wound to the head and was stabbed 19 times. He, Jacopo de' Pazzi, Renato de' Pazzi, Francesco Salviati (bishop),__Bernardo_Baroncelli_were_executed_after_the_plot_failed. _In_popular_culture Francesco_de'_Pazzi_was_sung_by_bass_Ludovico_Contini_in_the_first_performance_of_Ruggero_Leoncavallo.html" "title="bass_(voice_type).html" ;"title="726,_Pisan A_special_assembly_(''conventus'')_was_held_in_P_..._in_1474_and_on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass (voice Type)
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C (i.e., E2–E4).; ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'' gives E2–E4/F4 Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is normally defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to national style and classification system. Italians favour subdividing basses into the ''basso cantante'' (singing bass), ''basso buffo'' ("funny" bass), or the dramatic ''basso profondo'' (low bass). The American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass. The German ''Fach'' system offers further distinctions: Spielbass (Bassbuffo), Schwerer Spielbass (Schwerer Bassbuffo), Charakterbass (Bassbariton), and Seriöser Bass. These classification systems can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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