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Josef Aloys Tichatschek
Josef Aloys Tichatschek (11 July 1807 – 18 January 1886), originally Ticháček, was a Bohemian opera singer highly regarded by Richard Wagner. He created the title roles in Wagner's operas ''Rienzi'' and ''Tannhäuser''. As the first of the great Wagnerian tenors, he effectively was the original Heldentenor, although it is unlikely that his voice was as powerful as that of 20th-century Heldentenors such as Lauritz Melchior or Jon Vickers, given the smaller volume of sound produced by orchestras in his heyday. Outline Born in Weckelsdorf (now part of Teplice nad Metují, Náchod District, Bohemia), Tichatschek originally studied medicine, but he abandoned this career path for professional singing. He received voice lessons in Vienna from the Italian tenor Giuseppe Ciccimarra (1790–1836)Information from German Wikipedia. and joined the chorus of the Kärntnertortheater in 1830. He advanced to chorus-inspector, and began to take small solo roles. Rising to the status of pri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks The street originated as an early medieval lane referred to in Latin as the ''Via de Aldwych'', which probably connected St. Giles Leper Hospital with the fields of Aldwych Close, owned by the hospital but traditionally said to have been granted to the Danes as part of a peace treaty with King Alfred the Great in Saxon times. It acquired its name from the Suffolk barrister Sir Robert Drury, who built a mansion called Drury House on the lane around 1500. After the death in 1615 of his great-great-grandson, another Robert Drury, the property passed out of the family. It became the London house of the Earl of Craven, then a public house under the sign of his reputed mistress, the Queen of Bohemia. Subsequently, the gardens and courtyards ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Der Freischütz
' ( J. 277, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind, based on a story by Johann August Apel and Friedrich Laun from their 1810 collection '' Gespensterbuch''. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin. It is considered the first German Romantic opera. The opera's plot is mainly based on August Apel's tale "Der Freischütz" from the '' Gespensterbuch'' though the hermit, Kaspar and Ännchen are new to Kind's libretto. That Weber's tunes were just German folk music is a common misconception. Its unearthly portrayal of the supernatural in the famous Wolf's Glen scene has been described as "the most expressive rendering of the gruesome that is to be found in a musical score". Performance history The reception of ''Der Freischütz'' surpassed Weber's own hopes and it quickly became an international success, with productions in Vienna the same ye ... [...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 mirrori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mario (tenor)
Giovanni Matteo De Candia, also known as Mario (17 October 1810 – 11 December 1883), was an Italian opera singer. The most celebrated tenor of his era, he was lionized by audiences in Paris and London. He was the partner of the opera singer Giulia Grisi. Early life Mario was born in Cagliari, Sardinia on 17 October 1810 as Giovanni Matteo de Candia; his inherited titles were ''Cavaliere'' (Knight), ''Nobile'' (Nobleman) and ''Don'' (Sir) in the Kingdom of Sardinia and subsequently the Kingdom of Italy. His family belonged to the Savoyard- Sardinian nobility and aristocracy, within the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the House of Savoy. His relatives and parents were members of the Royal Court of Turin, while his father don Stefano, Marquess de Candia, held the ranks of military general, and Royal Governor General of Nice under the Kingdom of Sardinia, and was aide-de-camp to King Charles Felix of Sardinia (house of Savoy).De Candia, "The Romance of a Great Singer" 1910: Italian ed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johanna Wagner
Johanna Jachmann-Wagner or Johanna Wagner (13 October 1828 – 16 October 1894) was a mezzo-soprano singer, tragédienne in theatrical drama, and teacher of singing and theatrical performance who won great distinction in Europe during the third quarter of the 19th century. She was a niece of the composer Richard Wagner and was the original performer, and in some respects the inspiration, of the character of Elisabeth in ''Tannhäuser''. She was also the original intended performer of Brünnhilde in ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', but in the event assumed other roles. Early career Johanna Wagner was born in Seelze, Hanover. She was the natural daughter of a soldier named Bock von Wülfingen, and was adopted by Albert Wagner (1799–1874) (eldest brother of Richard) and his wife Elise (1800–1864). They had two other daughters. From Seelze the family moved to Würzburg in 1830, where both parents worked in the Royal Bavarian Theatre, father being an actor, singer and stage-manage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Huguenots
() is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, it premiered in Paris on 29 February 1836. Composition history ''Les Huguenots'' was some five years in creation. Meyerbeer prepared carefully for this opera after the sensational success of '' Robert le diable'', recognising the need to continue to present lavish staging, a highly dramatic storyline, impressive orchestration and virtuoso parts for the soloists – the essential elements of the new genre of Grand Opera. Meyerbeer and his librettist for ''Robert le Diable'', Eugène Scribe, had agreed to collaborate on an epic work concerning the French Wars of Religion, with a drama partly based on Prosper Mérimée's 1829 novel ''Chronique du règne de Charles IX''. Coming from a wealthy family, Meyerbeer could afford to take his time, dictate his own terms, and to be a perfectionist. The very detail ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Formes
Karl Johann Franz Formes (b. Mülheim am Rhein, 7 August 1815; d. San Francisco, 15 December 1889), also called Charles John Formes, was a German bass opera and oratorio singer who had a long international career especially in Germany, London and New York. At one time extremely famous and in the forefront of his profession, several roles were composed for his voice, most notably that of Plunkett in Flotow's opera ''Martha''. Formes's own ''Memoirs'', first published in 1888, may not be entirely trustworthy. Charles Santley recorded that Formes was a great teller of stories, 'much after the style of Baron Munchausen'. Origins, training and début Karl Formes derived from the Spanish family of Formes-de-Varaz, settled in Germany since the 16th century. His father was sacristan of the Roman Catholic church at Mülheim, and Karl was eldest of seven sons and one daughter. He began by singing in the church choir, received keyboard (spinet) lessons and became adept at the organ and the g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coloratura
Coloratura is an elaborate melody with runs, trills, wide leaps, or similar virtuoso-like material,''Oxford American Dictionaries''.Apel (1969), p. 184. or a passage of such music. Operatic roles in which such music plays a prominent part, and singers of these roles, are also called coloratura.Steane, J. B.; Jander, Owen, "Coloratura" in Sadie (1992) 1: 907. Its instrumental equivalent is ornamentation. Coloratura is particularly found in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and 19th centuries. The word ''coloratura'' ( , , ) means "coloring" in Italian, and derives from the Latin word ''colorare'' ("to color"). History The term ''coloratura'' was first defined in several early non-Italian music dictionaries: Michael Praetorius's ''Syntagma musicum'' (1618); Sébastien de Brossard's ''Dictionaire de musique'' (1703); and Johann Gottfried Walther's ''Musicalisches Lexicon'' (1732). In these early texts "the term is dealt with briefly and always wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient
Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, born Wilhelmine Schröder (6 December 180426 January 1860), was a German operatic soprano. As a singer, she combined a rare quality of tone with dramatic intensity of expression, which was as remarkable on the concert platform as in opera. Biography Schröder was born in Hamburg, the daughter of the actress Sophie Schröder and the tenor Friedrich Schröder. The poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was her 2nd cousin. Her first role was at the age of 15 as Aricia in Schiller's translation of Racine's ''Phèdre'', and in 1821, aged 17, she was received with so much enthusiasm as Pamina in Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'' that her future career in opera was assured. In 1823, she married Karl Devrient, becoming known as Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, but separated from him in 1828. Meanwhile, she had maintained her popularity at Dresden and elsewhere. She made her first Paris appearance in 1830, and sang in London in 1833 and 1837. Richard Wagner, born in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Le Diable (opera)
''Robert le diable'' (''Robert the Devil'') is an opera in five acts composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer between 1827 and 1831, to a libretto written by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. ''Robert le diable'' is regarded as one of the first grand operas at the Paris Opéra. It has only a superficial connection to the medieval legend of ''Robert the Devil''. The opera was immediately successful from its first night on 21 November 1831 at the Opéra; the dramatic music, harmony and orchestration, its melodramatic plot, its star singers and its sensational stage effects compelled Frédéric Chopin, who was in the audience, to say, "If ever magnificence was seen in the theatre, I doubt that it reached the level of splendour shown in ''Robert''...It is a masterpiece...Meyerbeer has made himself immortal".Brown, ''Robert le diable'', p. 572 ''Robert'' initiated the European fame of its composer, consolidated the fame of its librettist, Scribe, and launched the reputation of the new dire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
