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L'assedio Di Calais
''L'assedio di Calais'' (''The siege of Calais'') is an 1836 ''melodramma lirico'', or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti, his 49th opera. Salvatore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto, which has been described as "...a remarkable libretto, the closest Cammarano ever got to real poetry, particularly in his description of the embattled city and the heartfelt pride of its citizens". It was based on Luigi Marchionni's play ''L'assedio di Calais'' (also called ''Edoardo III''), which had been presented in Naples around 1825, and secondarily on Luigi Henry's ballet ''L'assedio di Calais'', which had been performed in Naples in 1828 and revived in 1835. Both of these were probably derived from the French play ''Eustache de St Pierre, ou Le siège de Calais'' by Hubert (pen name of Philippe-Jacques Laroche), which had been given in Paris in 1822 and was in turn taken from the 1765 play ''Le siège de Calais'' by Pierre-Laurent Buirette de Belloy. The historical basis was Edwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century and a probable influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi. Donizetti was born in Bergamo in Lombardy. At an early age he was taken up by Simon Mayr who enrolled him with a full scholarship in a school which he had set up. There he received detailed musical training. Mayr was instrumental in obtaining a place for Donizetti at the Bologna Academy, where, at the age of 19, he wrote his first one-act opera, the comedy '' Il Pigmalione'', which may never have been performed during his lifetime. An offer in 1822 from Domenico Barbaja, the impresario of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, which followed the composer's ninth opera, led to his move to Naples and his residency there until ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugene Scribe
Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the singing group S.E.S. * Eugene (wrestler), professional wrestler Nick Dinsmore * Franklin Eugene (producer), American film producer * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musician Gene Andrusco (1961–2000) * Wendell Eugene (1923–2017), American jazz musician Places Canada * Mount Eugene, in Nunavut; the highest mountain of the United States Range on Ellesmere Island United States * Eugene, Oregon, a city ** Eugene, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area ** Eugene (Amtrak station) * Eugene Apartments, NRHP-listed apartment complex in Portland, Oregon * Eugene, Indiana, an unincorporated town * Eugene, Missouri, an unincorporated town Business * Eugene Green Energy Standard, an int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opera Rara
Opera Rara is a London-based opera company and recording label which specialises in recording and performing forgotten operatic repertoire from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1970 by bel canto enthusiasts Patric Schmid and Don White, Opera Rara's recordings are internationally distributed by Warner Classics. In September 2019, Italian conductor Carlo Rizzi succeeded Sir Mark Elder as Artistic Director. History Opera Rara launched in the 1970s with a series of concerts of 19th-century operatic arias performed at the Southbank Centre, St John’s Smith Square and Wigmore Hall in London. The company presented its first complete opera - Meyerbeer’s '' Il crociato in Egitto'' - in 1972 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, marking the first performance of the opera for more than 100 years. It subsequently performed at the Bath Festival, Camden Festival (where its first staged production was Donizetti’s '' Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali'') and Sadler’s Well ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gilbert Duprez
Gilbert-Louis Duprez (6 December 180623 September 1896) was a French tenor, singing teacher and minor composer who famously pioneered the delivery of the operatic high C from the chest (''Ut de poitrine'', as Paris audiences called it). He also created the role of Edgardo in the popular bel canto-era opera '' Lucia di Lammermoor'' in 1835. Biography Gilbert-Louis Duprez was born in Paris. He studied singing, music theory, and composition with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and made his operatic début at the Odéon in 1825 as ''Count Almaviva'' in Rossini's '' Il barbiere di Siviglia''. He worked in that theatre without much success until 1828, when he decided to try his luck in Italy. There, the operatic scene was more active and developed. As a result, Duprez was able to immerse himself in work, beginning principally with '' tenore contraltino'' roles such as ''Idreno'' in '' Semiramide '' and ''Rodrigo'' in '' Otello'', both by Rossini. He appeared, too, as ''Gualtiero'' in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rondo
The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo and rondeau as musical forms are essentially different. Rondeau is a ''vocal'' musical form that was originally developed as monophonic music (in the 13th century) and then as polyphonic music (in the 14th century). Notably, both vocal forms of rondeau nearly disappeared from the repertoire by the beginning of the 16th century. In French, ''rondeau'' is used for both forms, while in English ''rondeau'' is generally used for the ''vocal'' musical form, while ''rondo'' is used for the ''instrumental'' musical form.Don Neville, "Rondò", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', 4 vols., edited by Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 1992). Form In rondo form, a principal theme (sometimes called the "refrain") alternates with one or more contr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Osborne (music Writer)
Charles Thomas Osborne (24 November 1927 – 23 September 2017) was an Australian journalist, theatre and opera critic, poet and novelist.Campbell, Ian. Obituary - Charles Osborne. Opera, November 2017, Vol.68 No.11, p4133. He was the assistant editor of '' The London Magazine'' from 1958 until 1966, literature director of the Arts Council of Great Britain from 1971 until 1986, and chief theatre critic of '' Daily Telegraph'' (London) from 1986 to 1991. He is the only author the Agatha Christie Estate has ever allowed to produce adapted works in her name. Life and career Osborne was born in Brisbane, Australia. He taught himself to play the piano and at aged 18 he began singing lessons. Osborne's father hailed originally from Devon and his mother was from Vienna, a fact to which he attributes his lifelong love of opera. He went to school locally, then studied at the University of Queensland. Osborne then worked in literary and musical journalism and in repertory theatre in A ... [...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, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semiramide
''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on 3 February 1823. ''Semiramide'' was Rossini's final Italian opera and according to Richard Osborne, "could well be dubbed ''Tancredi Revisited''". As in ''Tancredi'', Rossi's libretto was based on a Voltaire tragedy. The music took the form of a return to vocal traditions of Rossini's youth, and was a melodrama in which he "recreated the baroque tradition of decorative singing with unparalleled skill". The ensemble-scenes (particularly the duos between Arsace and Semiramide) and choruses are of a high order, as is the orchestral writing, which makes full use of a large pit. After this splendid work, one of his finest in the genre, Rossini turned his back on Italy and moved to Paris. Apart from ''Il viaggio a Reims'', which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tancredi
''Tancredi'' is a ''melodramma eroico'' ('' opera seria'' or heroic opera) in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi (who was also to write '' Semiramide'' ten years later), based on Voltaire's play ''Tancrède'' (1760). The opera made its first appearance at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 6 February 1813, and because ''Il signor Bruschino'' premiered in late January, the composer must have completed ''Tancredi'' in less than a month. The overture, borrowed from '' La pietra del paragone'', is a popular example of Rossini's characteristic style and is regularly performed in concert and recorded. Considered by Stendhal, Rossini's earliest biographer, to be "high amongst the composer's masterworks", and describing it as "a genuine thunderbolt out of a clear, blue sky for the Italian lyric theatre," his librettist Gaetano Rossi notes that, with it, "Rossini rose to glory".Rossi, in Osborne, Richard 2007, p. 199 Richard Osborne proclaims it to be "hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically between the F below middle C (F3 in scientific pitch notation) to the second F above middle C (F5), although, at the extremes, some voices can reach the D below middle C (D3) or the second B above middle C (B5). The contralto voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic contralto. History "Contralto" is primarily meaningful only in reference to classical and operatic singing, as other traditions lack a comparable system of vocal categorization. The term "contralto" is only applied to female singers; men singing in a similar range are called " countertenors". The Italian terms "contralto" and " alto" are not synonymous, "alto" technically denoting a specific vocal range in choral singing without regard t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Ashbrook
William Ashbrook (January 28, 1922 – March 31, 2009) was an American musicologist, writer, journalist, and academic. He was perhaps best noted as a historian, researcher and popularizer of the works of Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti. Biography Ashbrook was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania in 1946, and a Master's degree in musicology from Harvard University in 1947.Gossett, Philip, "In Memory of William Ashbrook", ''Opera Quarterly'', November 18, 2009 Ashbrook began an academic career by teaching humanities and then, for nearly twenty years, was a member of the English Department at Indiana State University at Terre Haute. He retired in 1974 as Distinguished Professor Emeritus. From 1974 to 1984 he was professor of opera at the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts (now the University of the Arts). Ashbrook died in Denver, Colorado at the age of 87. Ashbrook as o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trouser Role
A breeches role (also pants role or trouser role, or Hosenrolle) is one in which an actress appears in male clothing. Breeches, tight-fitting knee-length pants, were the standard male garment at the time these roles were introduced. The theatrical term '' travesti'' covers both this sort of cross-dressing and also that of male actors dressing as female characters. Both are part of the long history of cross-dressing in music and opera and later in film and television. In opera, a breeches role refers to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer. Most often the character is an adolescent or a very young man, sung by a mezzo-soprano or contralto. Budden J., "Breeches part" in: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. The operatic concept assumes that the character is male, and the audience accepts him as such, even knowing that the actor is not. Cross-dressing female characters (e.g., Leonore in ''Fidelio'' or Gilda in Act I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
