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Manon Van Den Boogaard
''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 19 January 1884, with sets designed by Eugène Carpezat (act 1), Auguste Alfred Rubé and Philippe Chaperon (acts 2 and 3), and Jean-Baptiste Lavastre (act 4). Prior to Massenet's work, Halévy (''Manon Lescaut'', ballet, 1830) and Auber (''Manon Lescaut'', opéra comique, 1856) had used the subject for musical stage works. Massenet also wrote a one-act sequel to ''Manon'', ''Le portrait de Manon'' (1894), involving the Chevalier des Grieux as an older man. The composer worked at the score of ''Manon'' at his country home outside Paris and also at a house at The Hague once occupied by Prévost himself. ''Manon'' is Massenet's most popular and enduring opera and, having "quickly conquered th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther'' (1892). He also composed oratorios, ballets, orchestral works, incidental music, piano pieces, songs and other music. While still a schoolboy, Massenet was admitted to France's principal music college, the Paris Conservatoire. There he studied under Ambroise Thomas, whom he greatly admired. After winning the country's top musical prize, the Prix de Rome, in 1863, he composed prolifically in many genres, but quickly became best known for his operas. Between 1867 and his death forty-five years later he wrote more than forty stage works in a wide variety of styles, from opéra-comique to grand-scale depictions of classical myths, romantic comedies, lyric dramas, as well as oratorios, cantatas and ballets. Massenet had a good sense of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam, The Hague has been described as the country's de facto capital. The Hague is also the capital of the province of South Holland, and the city hosts both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The Hague is the core municipality of the Greater The Hague urban area, which comprises the city itself and its suburban municipalities, containing over 800,000 people, making it the third-largest urban area in the Netherlands, again after the urban areas of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, with a population of approximately 2.6&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Moffo
Anna Moffo (June 27, 1932 – March 9, 2006) was an American opera singer, television personality, and actress. One of the leading lyric- coloratura sopranos of her generation, she possessed a warm and radiant voice of considerable range and agility. Noted for her physical beauty, she was nicknamed "La Bellissima". Winning a Fulbright to study in Italy, Moffo became popular there after performing leading operatic roles on three RAI television productions in 1956. She returned to America for her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on October 16, 1957. In New York, her Metropolitan Opera debut took place on November 14, 1959. She performed at the Met for over seventeen seasons. Moffo's earliest recordings were made for EMI Records; she signed an exclusive contract with RCA Victor in 1960, recording for the company until the late 1970s. In the early 1960s, she hosted her own show on Italian television and appeared in several operatic films along with other non-singing roles. In t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria De Los Ángeles
Victoria de los Ángeles López García (1 November 192315 January 2005) was a Catalan Spanish operatic lyric soprano and recitalist whose career began after the Second World War and reached its height in the years from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Early life She was born Victoria de los Ángeles López García in the porter's lodge of the University of Barcelona, to Bernardo Lopez Gómez (or Gamez), a university caretaker, and Victoria García. She studied voice under Dolores Frau, and guitar with Graciano Tarragó, at the Barcelona Conservatory, graduating in 1941 after just three years, at the age of 18. Career in music In 1941, while still a student, she made her operatic debut as Mimì in ''La bohème'' at the Liceu, afterwards resuming her musical studies. In 1945, she returned to the Liceu to make her professional debut as the Countess in ''The Marriage of Figaro''. After winning first prize in the Geneva International Music Competition in 1947, she sang Salud in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bidu Sayão
Balduína "Bidú" de Oliveira Sayão (11 May 1902 – 12 March 1999) was a Brazilian opera soprano. One of Brazil's most famous musicians, Sayão was a leading artist of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1937 to 1952. Life and career Bidu Sayão was born on 11 May 1902 to a family of Portuguese, French and Swiss heritage, in Itaguaí, Rio de Janeiro. Her father died when she was five years old and her mother struggled to support her daughter's pursuit of a singing career. At just eighteen, the Bidu Sayão made her major opera debut in Rio de Janeiro. Her performance led to an opportunity to study with the famous Elena Teodorini, first in Brazil, then in Romania; and then to study with Polish tenor Jean de Reszke, in Nice. During the mid-1920s and early 1930s, she performed in Rome, Buenos Aires, Paris, as well as in her native Brazil. While at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, she met impresario Walter Mocchi (1870–1955). After his wife, soprano Emma Carelli, died in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amelita Galli-Curci
Amelita Galli-Curci (18 November 1882 – 26 November 1963) was an Italian coloratura soprano. She was one of the most popular operatic singers of the 20th century, with her recordings selling in large numbers. Early life She was born as Amelita Galli into an upper-middle-class Italian family of Spanish heritage in Milan, where she studied piano at the Milan Conservatory, winning a gold medal for piano performance, and at the age of 16 was offered a professorship. She was inspired to sing by her grandmother. Operatic composer Pietro Mascagni also encouraged Galli-Curci's singing ambitions. By her own choice, Galli-Curci's voice was largely self-trained at the beginning of her career. She honed her technique by listening to other sopranos, reading old singing-method books, and doing piano exercises with her voice instead of using a keyboard. She later studied regularly with Estelle Liebling for more than a decade in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. Career Galli-Curci mad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucrezia Bori
Lucrezia Bori (24 December 1887 – 14 May 1960) was a Spanish operatic singer, a lyric soprano and a tireless and effective fundraiser for the Metropolitan Opera. Biography Lucrezia Bori was born on 24 December 1887, in Valencia, Spain. Her real name was Lucrecia Borja y González de Riancho. Her father was an officer in the Spanish army. Her family were descended from the influential family of the Italian Renaissance, the House of Borgia and she herself was named after her ancestor, Lucrezia Borgia. Her voice had a unique timbre and transparent quality unlike any present-day singer. She studied in Milan with Vidal and made her debut at the Teatro Adriano in Rome as Micaëla in Bizet's ''Carmen'' on 31 October 1908. In December 1910, she made her debut at La Scala as Carolina in Cimarosa's ''Il matrimonio segreto''; the following year, she sang Octavian in the Italian premiere of ''Der Rosenkavalier'' there. Her career at the Metropolitan Opera began in the summer of 191 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fanny Heldy
Fanny Heldy (29 February 1888 – 13 December 1973) was a Belgian lyric soprano opera singer. Life Born Marguerite Virginie Emma Clémentine Deceuninck in Ath (some sources say Liège), Hainaut Province, Belgium, she graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Liège. Heldy made her professional debut as a substitute in the premiere of ''Ivan the Terrible'', by Raoul Gunsbourg (at La Monnaie, 26 November 1910). Between 1914 and 1918 she sang a number of major roles at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, making her first Paris appearance at the Opéra-Comique in 1917 as Violetta in ''La traviata.'' She portrayed Juliette in Charles Gounod's '' Roméo et Juliette'' at the Paris Opéra in 1920. In 1923, she made the historic (some say first) recording of the Jules Massenet opera ''Manon'', conducted by Henri Büsser, for Pathé Records. In December of that year, she sang the title role in ''Esclarmonde'' by Massenet during the opera's revival at the Paris Opéra. For more than twenty years, Heldy wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sibyl Sanderson
Sibyl Sanderson (December 7, 1864May 16, 1903) was a famous American operatic dramatic coloratura soprano during the Parisian Belle Époque. Biography She was born in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Sibyl's father Silas Sanderson was a California politician and lawyer; after serving as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California, he became a highly paid legal advisor to the Southern Pacific Railroad. After his death in 1886, she and her mother and sisters moved back to Paris and became transplanted socialites. Sanderson proved to be a remarkably gifted singer and began to appear on the stages of the Opéra-Comique, and later Opéra, in Paris, most notably in the works of Jules Massenet. She was his favorite soprano and appeared in the premieres of a number of his operas, the roles having been created for her unique talents (her professional debut took place in Paris in the title role in ''Esclarmonde''). She was also a famous interpreter of ''Manon'', Masse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie Heilbron
Marie Heilbron (or Heilbronn, – 31 March 1886) was a Belgian operatic coloratura soprano, particularly associated with the French repertory, creator of Jules Massenet's quintessential French heroine ''Manon''. Born in Antwerp, she studied first in Brussels and later in Paris with famous tenor Gilbert Duprez. She made her Parisian debut at the Théâtre-Italien in 1866, as Marie in ''La fille du régiment''. In 1867, she appeared for the first time at the Opéra-Comique, as Catherine in ''L'étoile du nord''. She was to create there Massenet's ''Manon'' in 1884. She also appeared at the Théâtre des Variétés from 1871 onwards. She took part in the creation of Jacques Offenbach's ''Les braconniers'', and Victor Massé's ''Une nuit de Cléopâtre''. In 1879, she made her debut at the Opéra Garnier, where she sang as Marguerite in ''Faust'', Ophélie in ''Hamlet'', Juliette in '' Roméo et Juliette''. The same year she made her debut at La Scala in Milan, as Violetta in ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manon Lescaut (Puccini)
''Manon Lescaut'' () is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1889 and 1892 to a libretto by Luigi Illica, Marco Praga and , based on the 1731 novel '' Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux, et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. The opera was first performed in 1893 in Turin, at the Teatro Regio. Composition history The libretto is in Italian, and was cobbled together by five librettists whom Puccini employed: Ruggero Leoncavallo, Marco Praga, Giuseppe Giacosa, and Luigi Illica. The publisher, Giulio Ricordi, and the composer himself also contributed to the libretto. So confused was the authorship of the libretto that no one was credited on the title page of the original score. However, it was Illica and Giacosa who completed the libretto and went on to contribute the libretti to Puccini's next three – and most successful – works, ''La Bohème'', ''Tosca'' and ''Madama Butterfly''. Puccini took some musical elements in ''Manon Lesca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
