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L'oiseau Bleu (opera)
''L'oiseau bleu'' (''The Blue Bird'') is an opera in four acts (eight tableaux) by the French composer and conductor Albert Wolff. The libretto by Maurice Maeterlinck is based on his 1908 play of the same name. Boris Anisfeld designed the sets. Performance history It was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City on 27 December 1919. Maeterlinck, the playwright and Nobel laureate, was present at the premiere, which, in the immediate aftermath of World War I, was a benefit for four charities: the Queen of the Belgians Fund, the Millerand Fund for French Orphans, the Three Big Sister Organizations (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish), and the Milk for the Children of America Fund. The first Belgian performance was on 21 April 1920, and it was revived at the Théâtre de la Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Wolff (conductor) And Boris Anisfeld At A Rehearsal For L'Oiseau Bleu At The Metropolitan Opera In 1919
Albert Wolff may refer to: * Albert Wolff (journalist) (1835–1891), Franco-German journalist * Albert Wolff (conductor) (1884–1970), French conductor and composer * Albert Wolff (judge) (1899–1977), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia * Albert Wolff (fencer) (1906–1989), French-born American Olympic fencer * Albert Moritz Wolff (1854–1923), German sculptor and medallion-designer * Albert Wolff (sculptor) (1814–1892), German sculptor {{hndis, Wolff, Albert ... [...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] |
Ruby (Jeanne) Gordon
Jeanne Gordon (born Ruby May Gordon, January 26, 1885 – February 22, 1952) was a Canadian contralto opera singer active during the early 1900s. Gordon was born as Ruby May Gordon in Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada on January 26, 1885, to David Alexander Gordon (1858–1919) and Rose Fox (1867–1940). Gordon got her big break in July 1919. She was called to New York City and offered a three-year Metropolitan Opera contract by Giulio Gatti-Casazza. Shortly after signing her contract she changed her name to Jeanne Gordon. Her debut performance was as Azucena in ''Il trovatore'' on 22 November 1919. In 1919, she created the roles of the Fairy and Mme Berlingot in '' L'oiseau bleu'' by Albert Wolff in its world premiere. Gordon recorded 78s for Columbia and Victor in the 1920s. She made guest appearances with the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 1928. In 1933 she had a nervous breakdown. She died of a heart attack at age 67 in Macon, Missouri Macon is a city in and the county seat of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cecil Arden
Cecil Arden (December 15, 1894 – September 4, 1989) was an American mezzo-soprano and contralto opera singer active over the early decades of the twentieth century. Life and career Cecile Alexia Hart was born in New York City to Benjamin and Mildred Hart. Her father was real estate broker originally from Charleston, South Carolina, and her mother a native of Springfield, Illinois.Cecil A. Hart, December 15, 1894 – September 4, 1989; Social Security Death Index; Ancestry.com Little is known of Arden's early life other than that she studied under the Italian Arturo Buzzi-Peccia and that there are photographs of her singing at a patriotic event on the steps of New York’s Federal Hall National Memorial during World War I (possibly after she joined the Metropolitan Opera). In October 1917, she was one of nearly 30 performers slated to appear in ''Friday Morning Musicals'' at the New York Biltmore Hotel from November into January, 1918. Arden's debut with the Metropolitan Oper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minnie Egener
Minnie Egener (1881–1938) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano. Biography She made her professional opera debut in 1904 at the Metropolitan Opera as one of the flower maidens in Richard Wagner's ''Parsifal''. In 1906 she moved to Italy and spent the next several years performing in operas with various theaters throughout that nation. In 1910 she performed the role of Alissa in Donizetti's ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' with Luisa Tetrazzini at the Teatro Regio di Parma; she also appeared in small roles at Covent Garden and at the Manhattan Center. Over the next four years she performed in several operas with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company and the Chicago Grand Opera Company. In 1914 she returned to the Metropolitan Opera, where she performed mostly comprimario roles for the next eighteen years. Most notably, Egener performed in the original productions of Frederick Delius's ''A Village Romeo and Juliet'' in 1907, Reginald De Koven's ''The Canterbury Pilgrims'' in 1917, Pucci ... [...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 to factors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie Tiffany
Marie Berg Tiffany (July 8, 1881 - April 12, 1948) was an American operatic soprano. She was a member of the Metropolitan Opera in Manhattan, New York City from 1916 to 1928; making a total of 208 appearances at the Met during her career. She created roles in several world premieres at the Met and was notably the only performer to appear in all three one act operas at the premiere of Giacomo Puccini's ''Il Trittico'' in 1918. Biography She was born Marie Berg on July 8, 1881 in Chicago, Illinois. Tiffany married court reporter Willis N. Tiffany in 1900 and resided with him for 16 years in California where she was a soloist at the First Presbyterian Church of Pasadena. In 1916 she moved to New York City, where she soon became a member of the Metropolitan Opera. She made her Met debut on November 17, 1916 as the Milliner in Richard Strauss' ''Der Rosenkavalier'' under conductor Artur Bodanzky. She remained at the Met for the next 12 years, singing mainly comprimario roles. She perf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Perini
Flora Perini (20 November 1887 – 23 September 1975) was an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano who had a prominent opera career in Europe, South America, and the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. She sang a wide repertoire that encompassed works by verisimo composers like Mascagni, bel canto composers like Rossini and Bellini, the Italian grand operas of Verdi, the German operas of Strauss and Wagner, and the Russian operas of Rimsky-Korsakov. She sang in numerous premieres throughout her career, including creating the role of the Princess in the original 1918 production of Puccini's ''Suor Angelica''.Macy, ''Grove Music Online'' Biography Perini was born in Rome on 20 November 1887. She studied at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia before making her professional opera début at La Scala in 1908 as Anacoana in Franchetti's '' Cristoforo Colombo''. Over the next several years she appeared in operas in Nice, Venice, Trieste, Turin, Bologna, Madr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Léon Rothier
Léon Rothier (December 26, 1874 – December 6, 1951) was a French operatic bass who enjoyed a long association with New York's Metropolitan Opera. Biography Rothier was born in 1874 in Reims, in the Champagne-Ardenne ''région'' of northern France. In this city he began his career as a violinist, but afterwards traveled to the Conservatoire de Paris to study voice. In 1899, he made his singing debut at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, in Charles Gounod's ''Philémon et Baucis''. One year later, he participated in the premiere of Gustave Charpentier's '' Louise''. Rothier left the Opéra-Comique in 1907, and after some short stints with a few smaller French opera companies, moved to the United States, beginning a 30-year association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He created the role of Grandfather Tyl in '' L'oiseau bleu'' by Albert Wolff (1919). He was still fulfilling public singing engagements in New York City as late as 1949, at The Town Hall performance spa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass (vocal Range)
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] |
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] |
Florence Easton
Florence Easton (25 October 1882 – 13 August 1955) was a popular English dramatic soprano in the early 20th century. She was one of the most versatile singers of all time. She sang more than 100 parts, covering a wide range of styles and periods, from Mozart, Meyerbeer, Gounod, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Strauss, Schreker and Krenek. In Wagner she sang virtually every soprano part, large and small from Senta onwards, including the ''Götterdämmerung'' Brünnhilde. She described herself as "lyric dramatic soprano", which seems barely adequate in relation to the range of types of role in which she excelled. Her high international reputation, founded mainly in Germany and North America, was almost unique for a British singer of her time. She could move easily through all stages from the light coloratura to the Hochdramatische, from girlish romanticism to powerful Wagnerian and Straussian drama. The voice could be light and airy, gently melancholic or intensely passionate. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
