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Johann-Werner Prein
Johann-Werner Prein (; born 3 January 1954) is an Austrian operatic bass-baritone who made an international career, performing at major houses and festivals based in Germany. He performed leading roles of both the baritone repertoire such as Wagner's Sachs in ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' and bass roles such as Mozart's Sarastro in '' Die Zauberflöte''. In recordings, he has focused on operas of the early 20th century, such as Busoni's '' Turandot'' and Schulhoff's '' Flammen'' in its 1994 premiere. Career Born in Trofaiach, Prein first studied psychology, philosophy and pedagogy, before he turned to voice studies at the Graz Musikhochschule in 1977, with Herma Handl-Wiedenhofer. He began his career as a concert singer and lieder singer from 1979. In 1980, he made his stage debut in Krenek's '' Jonny spielt auf'' at the Theater an der Wien. Prein received international recognition when he first appeared at the Bayreuth Festival in 1984, as Donner in '' Der Ring des Nib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trofaiach
Trofaiach is a municipality in the Leoben district of the state of Styria in Austria, the site of a post World War II British sector displaced persons camp. Sons and daughters of the town * Josef Forster (1838-1917), composer, he wrote several, at that time successful, but now forgotten operas * Hellmuth Stachel (born 1942), grew up in Trofaiach, Austrian mathematician and professor of geometry at the Vienna University of Technology. * Hannes Arch Hannes Arch (22 September 1967 – 8 September 2016) was an Austrian pilot who competed in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship from 2007 to 2016. Arch won the World Championship in the 2008 season. Early life Hannes Arch was born in Le ... (1967-2016), aerobatics pilot, first Austrian participant in the Red Bull Air Race Series * Monika Maierhofer (born 1967), former ski racer References Cities and towns in Leoben District Displaced persons camps in the aftermath of World War II {{Styria-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. One highlight is the annual performance of the play '' Jedermann'' (''Everyman'') by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Since 1967, an annual Salzburg Easter Festival has also been held, organized by a separate organization. History Music festivals had been held in Salzburg at irregular intervals since 1877 held by the International Mozarteum Foundation but were discontinued in 1910. Although a festival was planned for 1914, it was cancelled at the outbreak of World War I. In 1917, Friedrich Gehmacher and Heinrich Damisch formed an organization known as the ''Salzburger Festspielhaus-Gemeinde'' to establish an annual festival of drama and music, emphasizing especially the works of Mozart. At the close of the war in 1918, the festival's re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Brod
Max Brod ( he, מקס ברוד; 27 May 1884 – 20 December 1968) was a German-speaking Bohemian, later Israeli, author, composer, and journalist. Although he was a prolific writer in his own right, he is best remembered as the friend and biographer of writer Franz Kafka. Kafka named Brod as his literary executor, instructing Brod to burn his unpublished work upon his death. Brod refused and had Kafka's works published instead. In 1939, as the Nazis took over Prague, he emigrated to Mandatory Palestine, taking with him a suitcase of Kafka's papers, many of them unpublished notes, diaries, and sketches. Biography Max Brod was born in Prague, then part of the province of Bohemia in Austria-Hungary, now the capital of the Czech Republic. At the age of four, Brod was diagnosed with a severe spinal curvature and spent a year in corrective harness; despite this he would be a hunchback his entire life. A German-speaking Jew, he attended the Piarist school together with his lifel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salome (opera)
''Salome'', Op. 54, is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss. The libretto is Hedwig Lachmann's German translation of the 1891 French play '' Salomé'' by Oscar Wilde, edited by the composer. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer. The opera is famous (at the time of its premiere, infamous) for its " Dance of the Seven Veils". The final scene is frequently heard as a concert-piece for dramatic sopranos. Composition history Oscar Wilde originally wrote his ''Salomé'' in French. Strauss saw the Lachmann version of the play in Max Reinhardt's production at the Kleines Theater in Berlin on 15 November 1902, and immediately set to work on an opera. The play's formal structure was well-suited to musical adaptation. Wilde himself described ''Salomé'' as containing "refrains whose recurring ''motifs'' make it so like a piece of music and bind it together as a ballad". Strauss pared down Lachmann's German text to what he saw as its essentials, and in the process r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden
The Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden (International May Festival, IMF) is a theater festival in Wiesbaden, Germany. Established in the late 19th century after the Bayreuth Festival, the festival is one of the most distinguished international theatre and music festivals in the world. It is presented annually in May at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the State Theatre of Hesse in the capital Wiesbaden. The festival currently features performances of operas, ballets, plays and musicals. Visiting companies, mostly from European theaters, present their recent productions along with performances of the Theater Wiesbaden. Concerts from a wide array of music genres are featured as well as artistic circus acts and modern dance presentations. Lectures, recitals, cabaret performances, art showings and readings are also part of the program. Kaiserfestspiele In 1896, the festival was established as "Kaiserfestspiele" (Imperial Festival) by Georg von Hülsen, director of the the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Die Tote Stadt
' (German for ''The Dead City''), Op. 12, is an opera in three acts by Erich Wolfgang Korngold set to a libretto by Paul Schott, a collective pseudonym for the composer and his father, Julius Korngold. It is based on the 1892 novel '' Bruges-la-Morte'' by Georges Rodenbach. Origins Rodenbach's novel ' had already been adapted by the author into a play. The play was translated into German by Siegfried Trebitsch under the title ' (''The Silent City''), which he later changed to ' (''The Mirage''). Trebitsch was a friend of Korngold's father, Julius. The two met in the street one day and got into a conversation about a possible operatic adaptation. Trebitsch later met Erich, who was enthusiastic about the project. Trebitsch recalled " met the young master Erich Wolfgang Korngold in search of a scenario or, even better, a mood or operatic background that could be dramatically elaborated. I urged him to take up '."Carroll, Brendan G.; Pauly, Reinhard G., ''The Last Prodigy: A Biography ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Der Prinz Von Homburg (opera)
''Der Prinz von Homburg'' (''The Prince of Homburg'') is a German-language opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze with a libretto by Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973). It was completed in 1958 but premiered on 22 May 1960 in Hamburg. Background The text is based on the 1811 play, '' Prinz Friedrich von Homburg'' by Heinrich von Kleist. Frederick Bridgham prepared an English-language translation for the English National Opera/Schott 1996 production in London. The opera shows Henze's strong personal dislike of German militarism. In a 1996 lecture, extracted and translated in the programme to the ENO 1996 production, Henze mentions the Leipzig tradition from Bach to Max Reger, Hermann Grabner and Wolfgang Fortner, the Viennese classical tradition and the Second Viennese School, in particular Beethoven and Arnold Schoenberg, Gustav Mahler and Stravinsky as influences. He describes how he contrasts "the beautiful old harmonies of yesterday" used to represent the Prince's dreamworld ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aida
''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December 1871, in a performance conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Today the work holds a central place in the operatic canon, receiving performances every year around the world; at New York's Metropolitan Opera alone, ''Aida'' has been sung more than 1,100 times since 1886. Ghislanzoni's scheme follows a scenario often attributed to the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, but Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz argues that the source is actually Temistocle Solera. Elements of the opera's genesis and sources Isma'il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, commissioned Verdi to write an opera to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal, but Verdi declined. However, Auguste Mariette, a French Egyptologist, proposed to Khedive Pasha a plot for a celebratory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Die Ersten Menschen
''Die ersten Menschen'' ''(The first humans)'' is an opera in two acts by Rudi Stephan. For the libretto the composer chose poetry of the same name by Otto Borngräber. The opera was premiered at the Oper Frankfurt on 1 July 1920. History The poet Otto Borngräber wrote ''Die ersten Menschen'', subtitled "Erotisches Mysterium" (Erotic mystery) in 1908. The play is based on the characters from the biblical Genesis creation narrative. When it was premiered in Munich in 1912, it caused a scandal and was banned in the Kingdom of Bavaria. Rudi Stephan set the text to music as an opera in two acts. He began in 1909 and completed it in 1914, shortly before World War I. The premiere was planned at the Oper Frankfurt for the winter 1915; however, by then the composer had died at the Eastern Front. The opera was finally premiered on 1 July 1920, conducted by Ludwig Rottenberg. The critics received the performance positively, but the audience less so, leading to few performances. Karl H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Cenerentola
' (''Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant'') is an operatic ''dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera '' Cendrillon'' with music by Nicolas Isouard (first performed Paris, 1810) and by Francesco Fiorini for ' with music by Stefano Pavesi (first performed Milan, 1814). All these operas are versions of the fairy tale '' Cendrillon'' by Charles Perrault. Rossini's opera was first performed in Rome's Teatro Valle on 25 January 1817. Rossini composed ''La Cenerentola'' when he was 25 years old, following the success of ''The Barber of Seville'' the year before. ''La Cenerentola'', which he completed in a period of three weeks, is considered to have some of his finest writing for solo voice and ensembles. Rossini saved some time by reusing an overture from '' La gazzetta'' and part of an aria from ''The Barber of Seville'' and by enlisting a collaborator, Luca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoffmanns Erzählungen
''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in October 1880, four months before the premiere. Composition history and sources Offenbach saw a play, , written by Barbier and Michel Carré and produced at the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe, Odéon Theatre in Paris in 1851. After returning from America in 1876, Offenbach learned that Barbier had adapted the play, which had now set to music at the Opéra. Salomon handed the project to Offenbach. Work proceeded slowly, interrupted by the composition of profitable lighter works. Offenbach had a premonition, like Antonia, the heroine of Act 2, that he would die prior to its completion. Offenbach continued working on the opera throughout 1880, attending some rehearsals. On 5 October 1880, he died with the manuscript in his hand, just four m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fidelio
''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, with the work premiering at Vienna's Theater an der Wien on 20 November 1805. The following year, Stephan von Breuning helped shorten the work from three acts to two. After further work on the libretto by Georg Friedrich Treitschke, a final version was performed at the Kärntnertortheater on 23 May 1814. By convention, both of the first two versions are referred to as ''Leonore''. The libretto, with some spoken dialogue, tells how Leonore, disguised as a prison guard named "Fidelio", rescues her husband Florestan from death in a political prison. Bouilly's scenario fits Beethoven's aesthetic and political outlook: a story of personal sacrifice, heroism, and eventual triumph. With its underlying struggle for liberty and justice mirroring con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
