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La Magicienne
''La magicienne'' (The Sorceress) is a grand opera in five acts composed by Fromental Halévy. The libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges is based on stories surrounding the European folk figure Melusine, especially Coudrette's 15th-century ''Roman de Mélusine''. The opera premiered on 17 March 1858 at the Salle Le Peletier, Théâtre de l'Académie Impériale de Musique in Paris. It had a mixed reception and after its initial run of 45 performances was not heard again until it was revived in a heavily cut concert version performed in Montpellier in 2011. Background ''La magicienne'' was the last opera completed by Halévy before his death in 1862. Like his previous grand opera, ''Le Juif errant (opera), Le Juif errant'' which premiered in 1852 and also had a libretto by Saint-Georges, the work was based on a European folk myth and combined elements of the supernatural with Christian themes. According to musicologists Karl Leich-Galland and Diana Hallman, the explicit rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fromental Halévy
Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy (; 27 May 179917 March 1862), was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera '' La Juive''. Early career Halévy was born in Paris, son of the cantor Élie Halfon Halévy, who was the secretary of the Jewish community of Paris and a writer and teacher of Hebrew, and a French Jewish mother. The name Fromental (meaning 'oat grass'), by which he was generally known, reflects his birth on the day dedicated to that plant: 7 Prairial in the French Revolutionary calendar, which was still operative at that time. He entered the Conservatoire de Paris at the age of nine or ten (accounts differ), in 1809, becoming a pupil and later protégé of Cherubini. After two second-place attempts, he won the Prix de Rome in 1819: his cantata subject was ''Herminie''. As he had to delay his departure to Rome because of the death of his mother, he was able to accept the first commission that brought him ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. The Faust legend has been the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical works that have reinterpreted it through the ages. "Faust" and the adjective "Faustian" imply sacrificing spiritual values for power, knowledge, or material gain. The Faust of early books—as well as the ballads, dramas, movies, and puppet-plays which grew out of them—is irrevocably damned because he prefers human knowledge over divine knowledge: "he laid the Holy Scriptures behind the door and under the bench, refused to be called doctor of theology, but preferred to be styled doctor of medicine". Plays and comic puppet theatre loosely based on this legend were popular throughout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naiad
In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who embodied rivers, and the very ancient spirits that inhabited the still waters of marshes, ponds and lagoon-lakes such as pre-Mycenaean Lerna in the Argolis. Etymology The Greek word is (, ), plural (, ). It derives from (), "to flow", or (), "running water". Mythology Naiads were often the object of archaic local cults, worshipped as essential to humans. Boys and girls at coming-of-age ceremonies dedicated their childish locks to the local naiad of the spring. In places like Lerna their waters' ritual cleansings were credited with magical medical properties. Animals were ritually drowned there. Oracles might be situated by ancient springs. Naiads could be dangerous: Hylas of the '' Argo''’s crew was lost when he was taken ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are typically tied to a specific place or landform, and are usually depicted as maidens. They were not necessarily immortal, but lived much longer than human beings. They are often divided into various broad subgroups, such as the Meliae (ash tree nymphs), the Dryads (oak tree nymphs), the Naiads (freshwater nymphs), the Nereids (sea nymphs), and the Oreads (mountain nymphs). Nymphs are often featured in classic works of art, literature, mythology, and fiction. Since the Middle Ages, nymphs have been sometimes popularly associated or even confused with fairies. Etymology The Greek word has the primary meaning of "young woman; bride, young wife" but is not usually associated with deities in particular. Yet the etymology of the noun remains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genie
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mythology and theology. Like humans, they are accountable for their deeds, can be either believers (''Muslim'') or unbelievers (''kafir''); depending on whether they accept God's guidance. Since jinn are neither innately evil nor innately good, Islam acknowledged spirits from other religions and was able to adapt spirits from other religions during its expansion. Jinn are not a strictly Islamic concept; they may represent several pagan beliefs integrated into Islam. To assert a strict monotheism and the Islamic concept of ''Tauhid'', Islam denies all affinities between the jinn and God, thus placing the jinn parallel to humans, also subject to God's judgment and afterlife. The Quran condemns the pre-Islamic Arabian practise of worshipping the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Chess
Human chess, living chess or live chess is a form of chess in which people take the place of pieces. Human chess is typically played outdoors, either on a large chessboard or on the ground, and is often played at Renaissance fairs. Forms Many human chess games are choreographed stage shows performed by actors trained in stage combat. When this is the case, piece captures are represented by choreographed fights that determine whether the piece is actually taken or not. Alternatively, the pieces may spar, following rules similar to those used by the Society for Creative Anachronism. Instances A costumed human chess game has been staged every two years on the second week in September in the Italian city of Marostica, near Venice, since 1923. The game commemorates a legendary chess game played in 1454 by two young knights in order to settle which of them would court the lady that both had fallen in love with. The event lasts 3 days. The participants of the game dress in histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles-Antoine Cambon
Charles-Antoine Cambon (21 April 1802 – 22 October 1875) was a French scenographer, theatrical production designer, who acquired international renown in the Romantic Era. Career Little biographical information exists on Cambon's early years, other than that he would have been active as an aquarelle and sepia artist before studying with Pierre-Luc Charles Ciceri. At Ciceri's workshop Cambon made acquaintance with Humanité-René Philastre, who would become his first long-term associate. As a stage design for a "Salon" at the Bibliothèque-Musée de l'Opéra testifies, Philastre and Cambon started collaborating in 1824 at the latest. From that time until 1848, Philastre and Cambon accepted numerous joint commissions for theatrical interior decorations and stage designs. Thus, they decorated the interiors of venues in Angoulême, Antwerp, Beaune, Brest, Choiseul, Dijon, Douai, Ghent, Lille, Lyon, Paris and Rouen, often providing complete machineries as well. Philastre and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auguste Alfred Rubé
Auguste Alfred Rubé (20 June 1817 – 13 April 1899) was a French painter. Biography Born in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, Rubé was an innovator in the field of theatrical set design. This "decorator of rare ingenuity", focused on a local color search corresponding to the Romantic mouvement. He had been at a good school with his master Pierre-Luc-Charles Ciceri, the designer of the Opéra-Comique, whose daughter he had just married. Ciceri had the confidence of Alexandre Dumas, who reported to him and his students, Rubé, Charles Séchan, Jules Diéterle, Édouard Desplechin, but Rubé wanted to do even better: not only did he try to reproduce the landscapes accurately, he made them picturesque. The setting of the 2nd act of ''Âme en peine'', by Friedrich von Flotow to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, made for the Paris Opera, served him, in a way, as a premiere. The operas for which he then brushed the sets are masterpieces: in 1846, he created the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dwight's Journal Of Music
''Dwight's Journal of Music'' (1852–1881, ''DJM'') was an American music journal, one of the most respected and influential such periodicals in the country in the mid-19th century. John Sullivan Dwight created the Journal, and published it in Boston, Massachusetts. Among the early writers was Alexander Wheelock Thayer, who would become one of the first major music historians in the country. Other contributors have included John Knowles Paine, William F. Apthorp, W. S. B. Mathews and C. H. Brittan. The ''Journal'' was eventually purchased by music publisher Oliver Ditson.''Continuum'' Publication details The ''Journal'' was published weekly beginning on Saturday, April 10, 1852, with each volume consisting of 26 numbers. Thus, the odd-numbered volumes ran from April to near the end of September, and the even-numbered volumes, from early October to the end of March of the following year. In 1865 the journal was published biweekly and each volume ran for one complete year. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugénie De Montijo
''Doña'' María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick, 19th Countess of Teba, 16th Marchioness of Ardales (5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo (), was Empress of the French from her marriage to Emperor Napoleon III on 30 January 1853 until the Emperor was overthrown on 4 September 1870. Born to prominent Spanish nobility, Eugénie was educated in France, Spain, and England. As Empress, she used her influence to champion "authoritarian and clerical policies"; her involvement in politics earned her much criticism from contemporaries.McQueen, 2011; p. 3 Napoléon and Eugénie had one child together, Napoléon, Prince Imperial (1856–79). After the fall of the Empire, the three lived in exile in England; Eugénie outlived both her husband and son and spent the remainder of her life working to commemorate their memories and the memory of the Second Empire. Youth The woman who became the last Empress of the French was born in Granada, Spain, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew of Napoleon I, he was the last monarch to rule over France. Elected to the presidency of the Second Republic in 1848, he seized power by force in 1851, when he could not constitutionally be reelected; he later proclaimed himself Emperor of the French. He founded the Second Empire, reigning until the defeat of the French Army and his capture by Prussia and its allies at the Battle of Sedan in 1870. Napoleon III was a popular monarch who oversaw the modernization of the French economy and filled Paris with new boulevards and parks. He expanded the French overseas empire, made the French merchant navy the second largest in the world, and engaged in the Second Italian War of Independence as well as the disastrous Franco-Prussian War, dur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
