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Jörg Halubek
Jörg Halubek (born 1977) is a German conductor, harpsichordist, organist and professor. Life and career Born in Beckum, Halubek studied church music, historical keyboard instruments and historically informed performance at the conservatories in Stuttgart, Freiburg and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. His teachers were Jon Laukvik, Robert Hill, Andrea Marcon and Jesper Bøje Christensen. In 2004, he won first prize as organist at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig. In 2008, Halubeck founded the Stuttgart Baroque Orchestra il Gusto Barocco with a performance of Bach's ''The Art of Fugue'' at the European Music Festival Stuttgart. In the 2009/2010 season, Halubek took over the musical assistance of the co-production of Antonio Vivaldi's ''Juditha triumphans'' of the Stuttgart State Opera and the Salzburg Festival and conducted several performances at the Stuttgart Schauspielhaus. In 2010, he conducted il Gusto Barocco in Stuttgart Handel's oratorio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harpsichordist
A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied sonatas for harpsichord or concertos accompanied by orchestra. Accompanist harpsichordists might accompany singers or instrumentalists (e.g., a violinist or Baroque flute player), either playing works written for a voice (or an instrument) and harpsichord or an orchestral reduction of the orchestra parts. Chamber musician harpsichordists could play in small groups of instrumentalists, such as a quartet or quintet. Baroque-style orchestras and opera pit orchestras typically have a harpsichordist to play the chords in the basso continuo part. History Many baroque composers played the harpsichord, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, George Frideric Handel, François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau. At this time, it was com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello
Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello (also Bressonelli; ca. 1690, Bologna – 4 October 1758, Stuttgart) was an Italian Baroque composer and violinist. Brescianello's name is mentioned for the first time in a document from 1715 by which Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria conferred on him an appointment as violinist in the court orchestra in Munich. Soon after, in 1716, following the death of Johann Christoph Pez, Brescianello was given a post at the court in Stuttgart of Eberhard Ludwig, Duke of Württemberg, as director of music and ''maître des concerts de la chambre''. In 1717, came an appointment there as '' Hofkapellmeister''. Around 1718, he composed the ''pastorale'' opera ''La Tisbe'', which he dedicated to the Archduke in the vain hope that it would be listed at the Stuttgart theatre. In the years from 1719 to 1721 there arose a fierce conflict when Reinhard Keiser launched repeated attempts to obtain Brescianello's post. Brescianello survived and in 1731 even be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serse
''Serse'' (; English title: ''Xerxes''; HWV 40) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It was first performed in London on 15 April 1738. The Italian libretto was adapted by an unknown hand from that by Silvio Stampiglia (1664–1725) for an earlier opera of the same name by Giovanni Bononcini in 1694. Stampiglia's libretto was itself based on one by Nicolò Minato (ca.1627–1698) that was set by Francesco Cavalli in 1654. The opera is set in Persia (modern-day Iran) about 470 BC and is very loosely based upon Xerxes I of Persia. Serse, originally sung by a mezzo-soprano castrato, is now usually performed by a female mezzo-soprano or countertenor. The opening aria, "Ombra mai fu", sung by Xerxes to a plane tree (''Platanus orientalis''), is set to one of Handel's best-known melodies, and is often known as Handel's "Largo" (despite being marked "larghetto" in the score). Composition history In late 1737 the King's Theatre, London, commissioned Handel to w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hercules (Handel)
''Hercules'' ( HWV 60) is a ''Musical Drama'' in three acts by George Frideric Handel, composed in July and August 1744. The English language libretto was by the Reverend Thomas Broughton, based on Sophocles's ''Women of Trachis'' and the ninth book of Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. Performance history ''Hercules'' was first given at the King's Theatre in London on 5 January 1745 in concert style. There were only two performances in the original run. The role of Lichas was written first as a small one for tenor, but it was greatly expanded before the premiere to provide Susanna Cibber with six airs. She was too ill to sing on the first night, and the music was either omitted or redistributed on that occasion. She sang in the second performance on 12 January. The music for the chorus "Wanton God" and the air "Cease, ruler of the day" was never given in this opera: the latter was adapted for the final chorus of ''Theodora''. The work was a total failure and caused Handel to suspend h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baroque Music
Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transition, the galant style. The Baroque period is divided into three major phases: early, middle, and late. Overlapping in time, they are conventionally dated from 1580 to 1650, from 1630 to 1700, and from 1680 to 1750. Baroque music forms a major portion of the "classical music" canon, and is now widely studied, performed, and listened to. The term "baroque" comes from the Portuguese word ''barroco'', meaning " misshapen pearl". The works of George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach are considered the pinnacle of the Baroque period. Other key composers of the Baroque era include Claudio Monteverdi, Domenico Scarlatti, Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Vivaldi, Henry Purcell, Georg Philipp Telemann, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Jean-Philippe R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oldenburgisches Staatstheater
The Oldenburgisches Staatstheater (Oldenburg State Theatre) is a German theater in the city of Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. Beginnings The theatre was first opened in the times of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, on 1 February 1833. At that time it was a wooden structure built by local master carpenter Herman Wilhelm Muck, who also owned the building. Founder and first director of the theatre was Carl Christian Ludwig Starklof (1789–1850), a lawyer and writer who served as a privy councilor in Oldenburg. Also involved was actor Johann Christian Gerber (1785–1850) who had previously directed a theatre in the neighbouring city of Bremen. The founding was supported by Grand Duchess Cecilia (1807–1844). The theatre was named ''Großherzogliches Hoftheater'' (Grand Ducal Court Theatre) in 1842. The wooden building was given up in 1881 when the theatre moved into the more imposing new Renaissance-style stone building designed by court architect Gerhard Schnitger. It was built next to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommaso Traetta
Tommaso Michele Francesco Saverio Traetta (30 March 1727 – 6 April 1779) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including reducing ornateness of style and the primacy of star singers. Biography Traetta was born in Bitonto, a town near Bari in the Apulia region, in Italy. He eventually became a pupil of the composer, singer and teacher Nicola Porpora in Naples, and scored a first success with his opera ''Il Farnace'' in Naples in 1751. Around this time, he came into contact with Niccolò Jommelli. From here on in, Traetta seems to have had regular commissions from all around the country, running the gamut of the usual classical subjects. Then in 1759, something untoward happened that was to trigger Traetta's first operatic re-think. He accepted a post as court composer at Parma. Parma, it has to be said, was hardly an important place in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonio De Literes
Antoni de Literes (18 June 1673 Majorca – 18 January 1747 Madrid), also known as Antonio de Literes or Antoni Literes Carrión) was a Spanish composer of '' zarzuelas''. As with other national forms of baroque opera, Literes's stage works employ a wide variety of musical forms – arias, ariettas and recitative (accompanied and unaccompanied) as well as dance movements and choruses, though here mingled with spoken verse dialogue. His use of the orchestra follows French and Italian practice in including guitars, lutes, and harpsichords amongst the continuo instruments. From 1693, after the exile of his predecessor Sebastián Durón, Literes became the Master of the Capilla Real of Madrid, playing the bass viol and soon being accounted the greatest Spanish court composer of his time. Zarzuelas His most famous work was ''Acis y Galatea'' (1708), to a libretto by José de Canizares, which enjoyed frequent performances in Madrid's Spanish court and public theatres until ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artaserse (Vinci)
''Artaserse'' is an opera (''dramma per musica'') in three acts composed by Leonardo Vinci to an Italian libretto by Metastasio. This was the first of many musical settings of Metastasio's most popular libretto. Vinci and Metastasio were known to have collaborated closely for the world premiere of the opera in Rome. This was the last opera Vinci composed before his death, and also considered to be his masterpiece. It is known among Baroque opera enthusiasts for its florid vocal lines and taxing tessituras. It premiered during the carnival season on 4 February 1730 at the Teatro delle Dame in Rome. As women were banned from the opera stage in Rome in the 18th century, all the female roles in the original production were taken up by castrati. However, subsequent 18th-century productions outside Rome included women in the cast.Martha Feldman, ''Opera and Sovereignty'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009, 249. ''Artaserse'' continued to be popular for a while after Vinci's deat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iphigénie En Tauride
''Iphigénie en Tauride'' (, ''Iphigenia in Tauris'') is a 1779 opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck in four acts. It was his fifth opera for the French stage. The libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard. With ''Iphigénie,'' Gluck took his operatic reform to its logical conclusion. The recitatives are shorter and they are ''récitatif accompagné'' (i.e. the strings and perhaps other instruments are playing, not just continuo accompaniment). The normal dance movements that one finds in the French ''tragédie en musique'' are almost entirely absent. The drama is ultimately based on the play ''Iphigenia in Tauris'' by the ancient Greek dramatist Euripides which deals with stories concerning the family of Agamemnon in the aftermath of the Trojan War. Performance history ''Iphigénie en Tauride'' was first performed on 18 May 1779 by the Paris Opéra at the second Salle du Palais-Royal and was a great success. Some think that the head of the Paris Opéra, Devismes, had at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saul (Handel)
''Saul'' ( HWV 53) is a dramatic oratorio in three acts written by George Frideric Handel with a libretto by Charles Jennens. Taken from the First Book of Samuel, the story of ''Saul'' focuses on the first king of Israel's relationship with his eventual successor, David—one which turns from admiration to envy and hatred, ultimately leading to the downfall of the eponymous monarch. The work, which Handel composed in 1738, includes the famous "Dead March", a funeral anthem for Saul and his son Jonathan, and some of the composer's most dramatic choral pieces. ''Saul'' was first performed at the King's Theatre in London on 16 January 1739. The work was a success at its London premiere and was revived by Handel in subsequent seasons. Notable modern-day performances of ''Saul'' include that at Glyndebourne in 2015. Background The German-born Handel had been resident in London since 1712 and had there enjoyed great success as a composer of Italian operas. His opportunities to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
L'Olimpiade (Vivaldi)
''L'Olimpiade'' (''The Olympiad'', RV 725) is a dramma per musica in three acts that was composed by Antonio Vivaldi. The opera uses an Italian libretto by Pietro Metastasio that was originally written for Antonio Caldara's 1733 opera of the same name. Vivaldi's version premiered in Venice at the Teatro Sant'Angelo on 17 February 1734. The same libretto was to be later set to music by over 50 other composers, including Giovanni Battista Pergolesi in 1735. Roles Synopsis :Time :Place Act 1 Megacles arrives in Sicyon just in time to enter the Olympic Games under the name of Lycidas, a friend who once saved his life. Unknown to Megacles, Lycidas is in love with Aristaea, whose hand is to be offered to the winner of the games by her father, King Cleisthenes. Lycidas, once betrothed to Princess Argene of Crete, is unaware that Megacles and Aristaea already love each other, and he subsequently tells his friend of the prize. Aristaea and Megacles greet each other fondly, but Megacles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
