|
Nigel Foster (pianist)
Nigel Foster is an English piano accompanist with a particular interest in the art song repertoire. He has performed in the UK and Europe, in Asia (Japan, Malaysia), and the Americas (USA, Canada, Colombia), and in 2008 toured New Zealand. He has appeared on radio and television in the UK and Europe, including song recitals on Classic FM and the soundtrack of the film '' L'homme est une femme comme les autres''. Foster studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music, at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and privately with Roger Vignoles. At both the Academy and the Guildhall, he won numerous prizes and awards for piano accompaniment. He was rehearsal pianist for Sir Georg Solti towards the end of Solti's career. Although he has worked with other instrumentalists (notably violinist Madeleine Mitchell) it is for his work with singers that Foster is best known; he works closely with Sarah Walker in the Guildhall's vocal department and has performed and recorded with singers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. It was invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700. Description The word "piano" is a shortened form of ''pianoforte'', the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from ''clavicembalo col piano e forte'' (key cimbalom with quiet and loud)Pollens (1995, 238) and ''fortepiano''. The Italian musical terms ''piano'' and ''forte'' indicate "soft" and "loud" respectively, in this context referring to the variations in volume (i.e., loudness) produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on the keys: the grea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Bank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the National Poetry Library, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room), together with the Hayward Gallery, and is Europe’s largest centre for the arts. It attracted 4.36 million visitors during 2019. Over two thousand paid performances of music, dance and literature are staged at Southbank Centre each year, as well as over two thousand free events and an education programme, in and around the performing arts venues. In addition, three to six major art exhibitions are presented at the Hayward Gallery yearly, and national touring exhibitions reach over 100 venues across the UK. Location Southbank Centre's site, which formerly extended to 21 acres (85,000 m2) from County Hall to Waterloo Bridge, is fronted by The Queen’s Walk. In 201 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Causton (composer)
Richard Causton (born 1971) is an English composer and teacher. Biography Born in London, Richard Causton attended Quintin Kynaston School and William Ellis Schools. His early musical education took place at the ILEA Centre for Young Musicians, specialising in flute (though also playing piano and singing in choirs). Causton began his formal composition training in India under the direction of Param Vir, before studying for a bachelor's degree at the University of York under Roger Marsh between 1990 and 1993. Having graduated with first-class honours, he took an M.A in composition the following year. He also undertook a Foundation Scholarship at the Royal College of Music, studying composition under Jeremy Dale Roberts and conducting under Edwin Roxburgh. In 1997, receipt of the Mendelssohn Scholarship enabled him to study electro-acoustic composition at the Scuola Civica di Musica. He has subsequently gone on to forge a consistent and productive career as a freelance compo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alun Hoddinott
Alun Hoddinott CBE (11 August 1929 – 11 March 2008) was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition. Life and works Hoddinott was born in Bargoed, Glamorganshire, Wales. He was educated at Gowerton Grammar school before matriculating to University College, Cardiff, and later studied privately with Arthur Benjamin. His first major composition, the Clarinet Concerto, was performed at the Cheltenham Festival of 1954 by Gervase de Peyer with the Hallé Orchestra and Sir John Barbirolli. This brought Hoddinott a national profile, which was followed by a string of commissions by leading orchestras and soloists. These commissions continued up to his death, and he was championed by some of the most distinguished singers and instrumentalists of the 20th century. These include singers such as Dame Margaret Price, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Sir Thomas Allen, Jill Gomez, Sir Geraint Evans and more recently Claire Booth, Helen Field, Gail Pearson a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Metcalf (composer)
John Metcalf MBE (born 1946) is a Welsh-Canadian composer. He has worked in many forms, including large-scale operas, choral and orchestral works, and chamber music, both instrumental and vocal. His music is tonal, and is often rhythmically complex, with much use of polyrhythms. Biography John Metcalf was born in Swansea in 1946, and spent his childhood on the Gower Peninsula, at Reynoldston and Penmaen. When he was six, the family moved to Cardiff, where his father had taken a new job. He was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham. He intended to read classics at university, but he sent a composition to the composer, Alun Hoddinott, who encouraged him to instead study music at Cardiff University. In 1969 he founded the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, and remained its director until 1985. During this period he also composed his first opera, ''The Journey'' (1979). In 1986 he moved to Canada, to teach on the Music Theatre course at the Banff Centre in Alberta. He was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ileana Cotrubas
Ileana (also Illeana, Iliana, Eleana, Eliana) is a female given name. It is the feminine form of the male name Elijah. It has been adapted for Romanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Italian and Spanish (in Spanish there is also Ilean and in Romanian Ileana). In Romanian it is a form of the name "Helen" (another form is Elena), and a hypocoristic for ''Ileana'' is ''Nuţi'' (from Elenuţa, Ilenuţa). In Romanian mythology, Ileana Cosânzeana is a mythological feminine figure represented as a beautiful good-natured princess, embodying the concept of feminine beauty. Ileana or Illeana may refer to: People Ileana * Princess Ileana of Romania (1909-1991) * Ileana Beltrán, Cuban judoka * Ileana Cabra, Puerto Rican singer * Ileana Citaristi, Italian dancer * Ileana Cosânzeana, figure in Romanian mythology * Ileana Cotrubaș, Romanian opera soprano * Illeana Douglas, American actress * Ileana D'Cruz, Indian-born Portuguese actress * Ileana Gyulai-Drîmbă-Jenei, Romanian fencer * Ileana O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stuart Burrows
Stuart Burrows (born 7 February, 1933) is a Welsh operatic tenor. Biography The Cilfynydd-born singer was born on William Street, the same birthplace as fellow opera star Sir Geraint Evans, Welsh rugby international Glyn Davies, and politician Lord Merlyn-Rees. As a boy, Burrows sang soprano from his bedroom window to neighbors on the street below. His first solo performance was as a congregation member at the local Bethel Chapel, where he performed " Bless This House." He began his working career as a teacher in Bargoed, but his talent as a tenor soon brought him attention. His recitals included works by Beethoven, Berlioz, Schubert, Sullivan, Tippett, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Offenbach, and Handel. He has earned worldwide recognition for being adept at oratorios and operas and specializing in the music of Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti, and especially Mozart, earning him the title of "The King of Mozart." In 1963, Burrows debuted with the Welsh National Opera as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Krause
Tom Gunnar Krause (5 July 1934 − 6 December 2013) was a Finnish operatic bass-baritone, particularly associated with Mozart roles. Early life Born in Helsinki, Tom Krause studied medicine for three years with the intention of becoming a psychiatrist, while singing and playing the guitar in a jazz band, The Jamcats. His vocal talent led him to leave his medical studies for serious voice studies at the Vienna Music Academy. He studied with Margot Skoda, Sergio Nazor, Rudolf Bautz, and Vera Rózsa. Career Krause made his operatic debut in Berlin, as Escamillo, in 1959, and quickly gained a reputation in opera and concert throughout Europe and the United States. He was fluent in seven languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish and Finnish. During a career spanning over 50 roles in the Italian, German, French, English, Finnish, Czech, Russian, and Swedish repertory including the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern, Mr. Krause appeared in leading roles at m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Hampson (baritone)
Thomas Walter Hampson (born June 28, 1955) is an American lyric baritone, a classical singer who has appeared world-wide in major opera houses and concert halls and made over 170 musical recordings. Hampson's operatic repertoire spans a range of more than 80 roles, including the title roles in Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'', Rossini's ''Guillaume Tell'' and ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'', Thomas' ''Hamlet'', and Tchaikovsky's ''Eugene Onegin''. The center of his Verdi repertoire remains Posa in ''Don Carlo'', Germont in ''La traviata'', the title roles in ''Macbeth'' and ''Simon Boccanegra'', and more recently also Amfortas in Wagner's ''Parsifal'' and Scarpia in Puccini's ''Tosca''. As a recitalist Hampson has won worldwide recognition for his thoughtfully researched and creatively constructed programs that explore the rich repertoire of song in a wide range of styles, languages, and periods. He is one of the most important interpreters of German Romantic song – especially known fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nelly Miricioiu
Nelly Miricioiu (born 31 March 1952) is a Romanian-born British operatic soprano singing a large repertoire ranging from bel canto to verismo. Biography Born in Adjud, Romania, Miricioiu started singing at 5 and was hailed as a child prodigy. At 9 she started studying piano and at 14 she won her first singing contest, "Young Talents, Great hopes". At 18 she sang in Pergolesi's ''La serva padrona'' and joined the Conservatory of Iași where she continued her studies with Tibi Popovici. In 1972 she was the youngest contestant in the Francisco Vinas Musical Competition in Barcelona and in 1975 she won the first prize at the very first Maria Callas Grand Prix in Athens. More first prizes followed at competitions in Geneva, Paris, Sofia, Oostend. Miricioiu made her operatic debut in Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'', as the Queen of the Night at Iaşi Romanian Opera, and continued to sing at Brasov Opera House between 1975 and 1978 in roles such as Mimì in ''La bohème'', Micaëla in ''C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes (born January 10, 1935) is an American dramatic baritone most famous for his Verdi roles. From 1965 until 1997 he was associated with the Metropolitan Opera. His voice is a high dramatic baritone, combining good legato with an incisive rhythmic style. By 1965, aged 30, he had made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera. His international debuts followed soon thereafter, and Milnes became one of the world's prominent Verdi baritones of the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Milnes was born in Downers Grove, Illinois. His mother and father were dairy farmers. As a child, he exhibited strong and varied musical talents. In addition to singing, he also played piano, violin, viola, double bass, clarinet, and tuba. Although his interests did not always lean toward opera, he spent many hours singing to his father's cows and was once found on a tractor practicing an operatic laugh. While in high school, Milnes planned to be an anesthesiologist, but later returned to music, studyi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne () is an English country house, the site of an opera house that, since 1934, has been the venue for the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The house, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England, is thought to be about six hundred years old and listed at grade II.Kennedy, p. 5 History of the house "There had been a manor house at Glynde Bourne (as it was often spelt) since the fifteenth century", but the exact age of the house is unknown. Some surviving timber framing and pre-Elizabethan panelling makes an early sixteenth-century date the most likely. In 1618, it came into the possession of the Hay family, passing to James Hay Langham in 1824. He inherited his father's baronetcy and estate in Northamptonshire in 1833 which under the terms of his inheritance should have led to him relinquishing Glyndebourne, but as a certified lunatic he was unable to do so. After litigation the estate passed to a relative, Mr Langham Christie, but he later had to pay £50,000 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
