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Nancy Shade
Nancy Shade (born May 31, 1946, in Rockford, Illinois) is an American spinto soprano, best known as a singing-actress. She made her formal debut as Leonora in ''Il trovatore'', in Louisville, in 1967. In 1971, she made her first of many appearances at the New York City Opera, as Musetta in ''La bohème''. She also sang there in ''Mefistofele'' (directed by Tito Capobianco), ''Madama Butterfly'' (opposite José Carreras), ''Pagliacci'', ''Susannah'', and ''Die tote Stadt'' (in Frank Corsaro's production). In 1973, Shade sang the title role of ''Manon Lescaut'' (opposite Harry Theyard) at the Spoleto Festival, under the direction of Luchino Visconti conducted by Thomas Schippers. The following year, she sang in a Concert Version of ''Mefistofele'' at London's Royal Festival Hall, opposite Norman Treigle in the name part. In 1976 she created the role of Barbara in the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). The largest city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, Rockford is the fifth-largest city in the state and the 171st most populous in the United States. According to 2020 U.S. Census data, the City of Rockford had a population of 148,655 with an outlying metropolitan area population of 348,360. Settled in the mid-1830s, the position of the city on the Rock River made its location strategic for industrial development. In the second half of the 19th century, Rockford was notable for its output of heavy machinery, hardware and tools; by the twentieth century, it was the second leading center of furniture manufacturing in the nation, and 94th largest city. During the second half of the 20th century, Rockford struggled alongs ... [...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] |
Werner Torkanowsky
Werner Torkanowsky (born on 30 March 1926; died on 20 October 1992) was a successful German Conductor (music), conductor in both the concert hall and opera house. He was born in Berlin, Germany, and raised on a kibbutz in Israel, coming to the United States in 1948 to study the violin. From 1954 to 1958, however, he studied conducting under Pierre Monteux. Following his debut with the Ballets Espagnoles, he became Music Director of Jerome Robbins's "Ballet USA." In 1959, Torkanowsky made his debut with the New York City Opera, with Gian Carlo Menotti's ''The Medium'', with Claramae Turner in the name part. The next year, he led ''The Consul'' with the company. It was around that time that he was conductor for a film of that opera, starring Patricia Neway and Chester Ludgin. (It went unseen until 2004, when it was released by VAI on DVD and Compact Discs, to much acclaim.) He returned to the City Opera in 1962 for, again, ''The Consul''. In 1961, Torkanowsky first led the New ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Diego Opera
The San Diego Opera Association (SDO) is a professional opera company located in the city of San Diego, California. It incorporated in 1965, presenting operas under the name of the San Diego Opera."Company History" on sdopera.com. Retrieved 2 June 2014 It is a member of the professional association OPERA America, which ranked it among the top ten opera companies in the United States. David Ng (2014) "San Diego Opera will close, in 'a sign of the times'" ''Los Angeles Times'', March 20, 2014 The company was founded in 1950 as the San Diego Opera Guild, originally to prese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Périsson
Jean Périsson (6 July 1924 in Arcachon – 18 February 2019) was a French Conducting, conductor. Career A pupil of Jean Fournet, he won the first prize at the Besançon conducting competition in 1952. He was assistant to Igor Markevitch at the Salzburg Mozarteum, and was chief conductor of the Strasbourg Radio Orchestra from 1955-56. He was music director for the city of Nice from 1956-65, giving Wagner cycles (with artists from Bayreuth Festival, Bayreuth). He was a permanent conductor at the Paris Opera from 1965-69 and led an early French production of ''Káťa Kabanová'' at the Salle Favart. He conducted in San Francisco, Ankara and Beijing.Il nous ont quittés : Jean Périsson. ''Diapason (magazine), Diapason'', No. 678, Avril 2019, p15. The 1952 winner of International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors, he was invited by the People’s Republic of China to hold a one-month position with China National Symphony (formerly Central Philharmonic Society) in May 1980. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susanne Marsee
Susanne Marsee (born Susan Irene Dowell; November 26, 1941, San Diego, California) is an American mezzo-soprano of note, particularly acclaimed as a singing-actress. Her principal teacher was Nadine Conner, and her educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Los Angeles, and advanced studies at the American Opera Center of The Juilliard School. She is of Greek, English, and French heritage. New York City Opera Raised in Westchester, California, Marsee was the New York City Opera's leading mezzo-soprano from 1970, when she debuted as Sara, Duchess of Nottingham, opposite Beverly Sills, Plácido Domingo, and Louis Quilico, in Donizetti's ''Roberto Devereux'', with Julius Rudel conducting Tito Capobianco's production. She proceeded to sing a great gallery of roles at the City Opera, including Siébel in ''Faust'', Angelina in ''La Cenerentola'', Rosina in ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'', Sesto in ''Giulio Cesare'', Cherubino in ''Le nozze ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chester Ludgin
Chester Ludgin (May 20, 1925 – August 9, 2003) was an American operatic baritone. Biography Chester Ludgin was a native of Brooklyn, New York. He made his professional debut in 1956 with The Experimental Opera Theatre of America (affiliated with the New Orleans Opera Association), as Baron Scarpia in Giacomo Puccini's ''Tosca'', conducted by Renato Cellini and directed by Armando Agnini. The very next year, he first appeared with the New York City Opera, as Dr Falke in Johann Strauss II's ''Die Fledermaus'', opposite Phyllis Curtin. With the City Opera, Ludgin was heard in many roles, including what was perhaps his greatest success, John Proctor in the world premiere of Robert Ward's ''The Crucible'' (1961, with Norman Treigle as the Reverend John Hale). He was also in the premieres of Robert Kurka's ''The Good Soldier Schweik'' (1958), Norman Dello Joio's '' The Triumph of St. Joan'' (1959), and Abraham Ellstein's ''The Golem'' (1962) for that company. He also portrayed Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Imbrie
Andrew Welsh Imbrie (April 6, 1921 – December 5, 2007) was an American contemporary classical music composer and pianist. Career Imbrie was born in New York City and began his musical training as a pianist when he was 4. In 1937, he went to Paris to study composition briefly with Nadia Boulanger and piano with Robert Casadesus. He returned to the United States the next year to attend Princeton University where he studied with Roger Sessions, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1942. His senior thesis there, a string quartet, was recorded by the Juilliard Quartet. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army as a Japanese translator. Afterwards, he went to the University of California, Berkeley, where he received an M.A. in Music in 1947; there he continued to study with Sessions, who had taken a position at Berkeley. Imbrie taught composition, theory, and analysis at Berkeley from 1949 until his retirement in 1991. In the summer of 1991 he was Composer-in-Residence at Tangl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when he first visited the city. In 1909, he returned as the conductor of the International Opera Company of Montreal, one of the many visiting troupes that frequented the bustling city. Continued visits for the next decade convinced him that a San Francisco company was viable. In 1921, Merola returned to live in the city under the patronage of Mrs. Oliver Stine. During this time, Merola conceived of branching away from the area's reliance on visiting troupes for entertainment that had been common place since the Gold Rush era. By the fall, he was planning his first season, and the very next year, Merola organized a trial season at Stanford University. The first performance occurred in the Stanford Cardinal's football stadium on June 3rd, 1922 wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Orleans Opera
Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in addition to theaters hosting traveling performers and companies. Earlier opera houses Operas were staged at a variety of theaters in the city, the first documented was André Grétry's ''Sylvain'' at the Theatre de la Rue Saint Pierre on 22 May 1796. On 30 January 1808, the Théâtre St. Philippe was opened with the U.S. premiere of Étienne Méhul's ''Une folie''. The U.S. premiere of Luigi Cherubini's ''Les deux journées'' took place at this theater on 12 March 1811. The city's most famous opera venue between 1819 and 1859 was the Théâtre d'Orléans. That theater was succeeded in 1859 by the French Opera House, located on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. Living in a cosmopolitan city, New Orleans' inhabitants, whether high in sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby (conductor), John Crosby, oversaw the building of the first opera house on a newly acquired former guest ranch of . The company has presented operas each summer festival season since July 1957, and is internationally known for introducing new operas as well as for its productions of the List of important operas, standard operatic repertoire. Since its inception, Santa Fe Opera has staged 43 American premieres and 15 world premieres, as of 2017. General history John Crosby, who was a New York-based conductor, founded the company in 1956, initially with the financial support of his parents, who helped in the acquisition of the land and the building of the first opera house. One goal was to give American singers the opportunity to learn and perform new roles while having ample time for rehearsa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and with the Royal Opera House, itself known as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centred on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the historical buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the London Transport Museum and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The area was fields until briefly settled in the 7th century when it became the heart of the Anglo-Saxon trading town of Lundenwic, then abandoned at the end of the 9th century after which it returned to fields. By 1200 part of it had been walled off by the Abbot of Westminster Abbey for use as arable l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
