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Paradise Lost (Penderecki)
''Paradise Lost'' is an opera in two acts with music by Krzysztof Penderecki and an English libretto by Christopher Fry. The opera is based on the 1667 epic poem of the same name by Milton. Penderecki himself characterized the work as a '' Sacra Rappresentazione'' (sacred representation) rather than an opera. He wrote the opera on commission for the 1976 US Bicentennial celebrations. The first performance was given on 29 November 1978, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The same production was given at La Scala, Milan on 31 January 1979. The opera is set in heaven, hell, and on earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ... at the dawn of creation, and is divided into 42 scenes. Roles References Further reading *Humphrey, Mary Lou (January 1979). "Paradise Lost: Pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', ''Anaklasis'' and '' Utrenja''. Penderecki's ''oeuvre'' includes four operas, eight symphonies and other orchestral pieces, a variety of instrumental concertos, choral settings of mainly religious texts, as well as chamber and instrumental works''.'' Born in Dębica, Penderecki studied music at Jagiellonian University and the Academy of Music in Kraków. After graduating from the Academy, he became a teacher there and began his career as a composer in 1959 during the Warsaw Autumn festival. His ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'' for string orchestra and the choral work ''St. Luke Passion'' have received popular acclaim. His first opera, '' The Devils of Loudun'', was not immediately successful. In the mid-1970s, Penderecki became a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Stone (baritone)
William Stone (born March 12, 1944, Goldsboro, North Carolina) is an American operatic baritone. He is a graduate of Duke University (B.A., 1966) and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (M.M. 1968, D.M.A. 1979). He made his professional operatic debut in 1975 and his international debut in 1977. He was inducted as a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity on April 1, 2003. William Stone is a Vocal Instructor at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Curtis Institute of Music. He was Professor of Voice and Opera at the Boyer College of Music and Dance, Temple University, from September, 2005 through June, 2010. Debuts *Lyric Opera of Chicago, world premiere of ''Paradise Lost'', (Adam), 29 November 1978. *New York City Opera, ''La traviata'' (Giorgio Germont), October 1981. *Seattle Opera, ''Don Carlos'' (Rodrigue), July 1993. *Metropolitan Opera, '' Roméo et Juliette'' (Capulet), 8 April 1998.Metropolita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1978 Operas
Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – The Holy Crown of Hungary (also known as Stephen of Hungary Crown) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held since World War II. * January 10 – Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, a critic of the Nicaraguan government, is assassinated; riots erupt against Anastasio Somoza Debayle, Somoza's government. * January 18 – The European Court of Human Rights finds the British government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture. * January 22 – Ethiopia declares the ambassador of West Germany ''persona non grata''. * January 24 ** Soviet Union, Soviet satellite Kosmos 954 burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. ** ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Little (tenor)
Frank Little (né Francis Easterly Little, on March 22, 1936; died on February 22, 2006) was an operatic lyric tenor and educator. Born in Greeneville, Tennessee, in the Smoky Mountains, he matriculated at East Tennessee State University, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Northwestern University. Little's official debut was as Normanno in ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', in 1970, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, his first of many appearances with that theatre, including the world premiere of Penderecki's ''Paradise Lost'' (as Michael), in 1978, which was seen at the Teatro alla Scala the following year. He also gave a private, command performance for Pope John Paul II. With the Metropolitan Opera, the tenor debuted as Narraboth in ''Salome'', opposite Maralin Niska, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf, in 1977. He then portrayed Jonas in John Dexter's new production of ''Le prophète'', with Marilyn Horne, Renata Scotto (later Rita Shane), and James McCracken, also in 1977. Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Opie
Alan Opie (born 22 March 1945 in Redruth, Cornwall, England) is an English baritone, primarily known as an opera singer. Education He attended Truro School and went to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University as a choral student in 1963. He also studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the London Opera Centre before joining the Sadler's Wells Opera (now the English National Opera, ENO). He became a Principal baritone there while still a student. Opera career Opie has also sung with the other major UK opera companies Scottish Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Internationally, he has performed in the opera houses of Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, Brussels, Berlin, Chicago and Santa Fe and regularly appears at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. He has also sung at the Bayreuth Festival. In 1996, Opie switched his status at the ENO from company member to regular guest, enabling him to make his début at L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joy Davidson
Joy Davidson (born August 18, 1937, Fort Collins, Colorado) is an American operatic mezzo-soprano, actress, and pedagogue. She has performed internationally in many of the world's great opera houses. Life and career A native of Fort Collins, Colorado, Davidson is a graduate of Fort Collins High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Occidental College in 1959. She worked briefly as an elementary school music teacher before pursuing graduate studies in opera at Florida State University with Elena Nikolaidi. She attended the UCLA Summer Opera Program where she was a student of Jan Popper. She later studied with Irma McDaniels and Daniel Harris in Miami. Davidson made her professional opera debut in 1965 in the title role of Rossini's ''La Cenerentola'' with the Miami Opera. That same year she was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera National Company with whom she toured the United States in performances for the next two years. Among the roles she portrayed with the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3–A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4; 220–880 Hz). In the lower and upper extremes, some mezzo-sopranos may extend down to the F below middle C (F3, 175 Hz) and as high as "high C" (C6, 1047 Hz). The mezzo-soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic mezzo-soprano. History While mezzo-sopranos typically sing secondary roles in operas, notable exceptions include the title role in Bizet's '' Carmen'', Angelina ( Cinderella) in Rossini's '' La Cenerentola'', and Rosina in Rossini's '' Barber of Seville'' (all of which are also sung by sopranos and contraltos). Many 19th-century French-language operas give the leading female role to mezzos, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Esswood
Paul Lawrence Vincent Esswood (born 6 June 1942) is an English countertenor and conductor. He is best known for his performance of Bach cantatas and the operas of Handel and Monteverdi. Along with his countrymen Alfred Deller and James Bowman, he led the revival of countertenor singing in modern times. Life and career Paul Esswood was born in West Bridgford, England. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London from 1961 to 1964 after which he sang in the choir of Westminster Abbey. His professional debut was in a performance of Handel's ''Messiah'' for Angel Records, conducted by Charles Mackerras (1967). Esswood has participated in over 150 recordings, including the alto parts of many Bach cantatas in the complete Teldec series by conductors Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Gustav Leonhardt. He has recorded ''Messiah'' four times, as well as extended works by Henry Purcell, Claudio Monteverdi, Francesco Cavalli, Marc-Antoine Charpentier and others. Among the roles in cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Countertenor
A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a specific kind of countertenor) may match the soprano's range of around C4 to C6.A sopranist is a term used to describe a countertenor whose vocal range is so high it is equivalent to that of a soprano; however, this term is widely used falsely. Countertenors often are baritones or tenors at core, but only on rare occasions do they use their lower vocal range, instead preferring their falsetto or high head voice. The nature of the countertenor voice has radically changed throughout musical history, from a modal voice, to a modal and falsetto voice, to the primarily falsetto voice which is denoted by the term today. This is partly because of changes in human physiology and partly because of fluctuations in pitch. The term first cam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Powers (baritone)
William Powers may refer to: *William Powers Jr. (1946–2019), former president of the University of Texas at Austin *William T. Powers (1926–2013), scientist associated with perceptual control theory * William T. Powers (industrialist) (1820–1909), manufacturer and capitalist * William Powers (baritone), American opera singer * William Powers (writer) (born 1961), American writer, journalist and technologist *William Powers (politician) (active 1991–2001), former New York state Republican Party chairman * William F. Powers (born 1940), vice president of research for the Ford Motor Company * William W. Powers, member of the Illinois House of Representatives * Bill Powers (American politician) (born 1957), member of Tennessee General Assembly See also * Will Powers, stagename for Lynn Goldsmith (born 1948) * Will Powers, fictional character from Ace Attorney, see List of Ace Attorney characters * William Power (other) * William (other) * Powers (disambiguat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Ballam
Michael Lynn Ballam (born August 21, 1951) is an American opera singer, educator, and arts administrator. He is the founding general director of Utah Festival Opera and a professor of music at Utah State University. He has served on the faculty of the Music Academy of the West, where he also studied, and as a guest lecturer at Stanford, Yale, Catholic University and Manhattan School of Music. Biography Early life and education Michael Ballam was born in Logan, Utah to Grant Lamb Ballam, a pharmacist, and his wife, Marianne Fullmer. He was raised in River Heights, a town adjacent to Logan. Ballam credits his great-grandfather, an immigrant from Denmark, as an inspiration for his pursuit of music and Latter-day Saint Christianity. In 1956, he made his stage debut at Logan's Capitol Theatre, now the Ellen Eccles Theatre. He attended Sky View High School in the neighboring town of Smithfield, Utah, Smithfield, where he was cast as Wang Ta in Flower Drum Song and Billy Bigelow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is widely defined to be B2, though some roles include an A2 (two As below middle C). At the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to the second F above middle C (F5). The tenor voice type is generally divided into the ''leggero'' tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, and tenor buffo or . History The name "tenor" derives from the Latin word '' tenere'', which means "to hold". As Fallows, Jander, Forbes, Steane, Harris and Waldman note in the "Tenor" article at ''Grove Music Online'': In polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the enor was thestructurally fundamental (or 'holding') voice, vocal or instrumental; by the 15th century it came to signify the male voice that sang such parts. All other voices were normal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
