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Labyrinth (opera)
''Labyrinth'' is an opera in one act by composer Gian Carlo Menotti. The work was commissioned for television by the NBC Opera Theatre and uses an English language libretto by the composer. Unlike Menotti's previous television operas, such as ''Amahl and the Night Visitors'', this opera was written with no intention of being moved to live stage performance later. Menotti intended for this work to utilize the special effects unique to television which could not be recreated in live theatre. As a result, NBC's television production of the opera was the only performance the work had received until Ventura College mounted a production in June of 2020, directed by Brent Wilson. After its March 3, 1963 broadcast the opera was mainly criticized by the press for its trite use of allegory and music which rejected the avant-garde in favour of romanticism. Critic Harold C. Schonberg stated in his review in ''The New York Times'' that, "Menotti falls back on the procedures he has always used: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. One of the most frequently performed opera composers of the 20th century, his most successful works were written in the 1940s and 1950s. Highly influenced by Giacomo Puccini and Modest Mussorgsky, Menotti further developed the verismo tradition of opera in the post-World War II era. Rejecting atonality and the aesthetic of the Second Viennese School, Menotti's music is characterized by expressive lyricism which carefully sets language to natural rhythms in ways that highlight textual meaning and underscore dramatic intent. Like Wagner, Menotti wrote the libretti of all his operas. He wrote the classic Christmas opera '' Amahl and the Night Visitors'' (1951), along with over two dozen other operas intended to appe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Porretta
Frank Porretta Jr. (May 4, 1930, Detroit – April 23, 2015, Stamford, Connecticut) was an American tenor who had an active career performing in operas, musicals, and concerts from 1952 through 1971. He had a particularly fruitful relationship with the New York City Opera from 1956 to 1970 where he sang a highly diverse repertoire; including roles in new operas by composers Norman Dello Joio, Carlisle Floyd, Vittorio Giannini, and Robert Ward. For the NBC Opera Theatre he portrayed The Astronaut in the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's ''Labyrinth''. Porretta also starred in several musicals at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera; notably performing on cast albums of '' The Great Waltz'', ''The King and I'' and ''The Merry Widow''. He made his only film appearance in the 1970 film ''Song of Norway'' in which he starred opposite Florence Henderson and Toralv Maurstad. After retiring from the stage in his early 40s, Porretta serve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operas
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition. Originally understood as an entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include numerous genres, including some that include spoken dialogue such as ''Singspiel'' and ''Opéra comique''. In traditional number opera, singers employ two styles of singing: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One-act Operas
A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writing competitions. One act plays make up the overwhelming majority of Fringe Festival shows including at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The origin of the one-act play may be traced to the very beginning of recorded Western drama: in ancient Greece, ''Cyclops'', a satyr play by Euripides, is an early example. The satyr play was a farcical short work that came after a trilogy of multi-act serious drama plays. A few notable examples of one act plays emerged before the 19th century including various versions of the Everyman play and works by Moliere and Calderon.Francis M. Dunn. ''Tragedy's End: Closure and Innovation in Euripidean Drama''. Oxford University Press (1996). One act plays became more common in the 19th century and are now a standa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English-language Operas
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the island of Great Britain. Existing on a dialect continuum with Scots, and then closest related to the Low Saxon and Frisian languages, English is genealogically West Germanic. However, its vocabulary is also distinctively influenced by dialects of France (about 29% of Modern English words) and Latin (also about 29%), plus some grammar and a small amount of core vocabulary influenced by Old Norse (a North Germanic language). Speakers of English are called Anglophones. The earliest forms of English, collectively known as Old English, evolved from a group of West Germanic (Ingvaeonic) dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century and further mutated by Norse-speaking Viking settlers starting in the 8th and 9th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1963 Operas
Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove River, Sydney, Australia. * January 2 – Vietnam War – Battle of Ap Bac: The Viet Cong win their first major victory. * January 9 – A total penumbral lunar eclipse is visible in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and is the 56th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 114. Gamma has a value of −1.01282. It occurs on the night between Wednesday, January 9 and Thursday, January 10, 1963. * January 13 – 1963 Togolese coup d'état: A military coup in Togo results in the installation of coup leader Emmanuel Bodjollé as president. * January 17 – A last quarter moon occurs between the penumbral lunar eclipse and the annular solar eclipse, only 12 hours, 29 minutes after apogee. * January 19 – Soviet spy Gheorghe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noel Taylor (costume Designer)
Noel Taylor (January 17, 1913 – November 4, 2010) was an American costume designer of the stage, television, and film. A four-time Emmy nominee, Taylor won an Emmy Award in 1978 for his designs for the PBS drama '' Actor: The Paul Muni Story''. Taylor, who designed costumes for more than 70 Broadway shows, as well as thirty films and television shows, was the recipient of the Costume Designers Guild lifetime achievement award in 2004. Life and career Taylor was born Harold Alexander Taylor Jr. in Youngstown, Ohio on January 17, 1913. He was the second of his family's two sons. He moved to Paris, France, with his family when he was seven years old. Taylor dropped out of high school at the age of 16 to pursue a career as an actor. His first and only leading role on Broadway was in 1935 at the age of 18 as Peter in ''Cross Ruff'', a play which he had also written. Abandoning his acting career, he studied painting and design during the late 1930s and early 1940s. Taylor began vaca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbert Grossman
Herbert Grossman (September 30, 1926 – September 11, 2010) was an American conductor who was chiefly known for his work within opera and musical theatre. Early life and education Born in New York City, Grossman was the son of a businessman. He studied piano and trombone in his youth before entering Queens College, City University of New York in 1942. There he continued to pursue studies in both instruments and was a student of Karol Rathaus and Curt Sachs. His studies were interrupted by World War II, and he served in the United States Navy in the South Pacific from 1944-1946. After returning home in 1946, he returned to Queens College to finish his degree; reorienting his studies at that time towards a concentration in conducting. In the summers of 1947 and 1948 he was a student of conducting at the Tanglewood Music Center, studying under such greats as Leonard Bernstein, Boris Goldovsky, and Serge Koussevitzky. Career In 1949 Grossman joined the conducting staff of the newly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kirk Browning
Kirk Browning (March 28, 1921 – February 10, 2008) was an American television director and producer who had hundreds of productions to his credit, including 185 broadcasts of ''Live from Lincoln Center''. Born in New York City, Browning dropped out of Cornell University after attending for only one month and moved to Waco, Texas, where he was hired as a newspaper reporter. Because of a childhood injury, he was rejected by the United States Army when he tried to enlist during World War II, so he worked as an ambulance driver in England and France. In the late 1940s, he was a chicken farmer operating an egg route in Ridgefield, Connecticut when one of his customers offered him a job in the music library at NBC. The clerical position led to his directing live televised performances by the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Soon after he was made a stage manager of the network's newly formed opera company, and he later became its Director. Among Browning's many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leon Lishner
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again from 1296 to 1301 * León (historical region), composed of the Spanish provinces León, Salamanca, and Zamora * Viscounty of Léon, a feudal state in France during the 11th to 13th centuries * Saint-Pol-de-Léon, a commune in Brittany, France * Léon, Landes, a commune in Aquitaine, France * Isla de León, a Spanish island * Leon (Souda Bay), an islet in Souda Bay, Chania, on the island of Crete North America * León, Guanajuato, Mexico, a large city * Leon, California, United States, a ghost town * Leon, Iowa, United States * Leon, Kansas, United States * Leon, New York, United States * Leon, Oklahoma, United States * Leon, Virginia, United States * Leon, West Virginia, United States * Leon, Wisconsin (other), United States, severa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beverly Wolff
Beverly Wolff (November 6, 1928 – August 14, 2005) was an American mezzo-soprano who had an active career in concerts and operas from the early 1950s to the early 1980s. She performed a broad repertoire which encompassed operatic and concert works in many languages and from a variety of musical periods. She was a champion of new works, notably premiering compositions by Leonard Bernstein, Gian Carlo Menotti, Douglas Moore, and Ned Rorem among other American composers. She also performed in a number of rarely heard baroque operas by George Frideric Handel with the New York City Opera (NYCO), the Handel Society of New York, and at the Kennedy Center Handel Festivals. Wolff made only a few appearances on the international stage during her career, choosing instead to work with important opera companies and orchestras in the United States. She was particularly active with the NYCO with whom she performed frequently from 1958–1971. ''Opera News'' stated, "Wolff was one of a go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NBC Opera Theatre
The NBC Opera Theatre (sometimes mistakenly spelled NBC Opera Theater and sometimes referred to as the NBC Opera Company) was an American opera company operated by the National Broadcasting Company from 1949 to 1964. The company was established specifically for the purpose of televising both established and new operas for television in English. Additionally, the company also gave live theatrical presentations of operas, sponsoring several touring productions in the United States and mounting works on Broadway."Less Tuneful Season in the Offing for TV" by Larry Wolters, ''The Chicago Tribune'', October 18, 1964 Conductor Peter Herman Adler served as the NBCOT's music and artistic director, and Samuel Chotzinoff as the company's producer. Conductor Herbert Grossman was an associate conductor with the company when it was founded, but was later promoted to conductor in 1956. From that point on Adler and Grossman shared the conducting load while Adler remained Music Director. NBC disban ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
