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Polyphonia Orchestra
''Polyphonia'' is a one-act ballet choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon to music by György Ligeti, costumes designed by Holly Hynes, and was created for the New York City Ballet. It premiered on January 4, 2001 at the New York State Theater. It is regarded as Wheeldon's breakthrough, and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production in 2003. Production Performed by the New York City Ballet, ''Polyphonia'' premiered on January 4, 2001 at the New York State Theater. It was the first premiere of the company's winter season. ''Polyphonia'' is the first ballet Wheeldon created after he became artist-in-residence with the New York City Ballet and retired from dancing. It is plotless. Wheeldon described it as "romantic with comic twists", and said it was inspired by Norman Morrice's works, though reviewers have noted it also includes homage to Frederick Ashton and George Balanchine, especially the latter's "leotard ballets". The title is a reference to micropolyphony, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Wheeldon
Christopher Peter Wheeldon OBE (born 22 March 1973) is an English international choreographer of contemporary ballet. Life and career Born in Yeovil, Somerset, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dancer at the age of 8. He attended the Royal Ballet School between the ages of 11 and 18. In 1991, Wheeldon joined the Royal Ballet, London; and in that same year, he won the gold medal at the Prix de Lausanne competition. In 1993, at the age of 19, Wheeldon moved to New York City to join the New York City Ballet. Wheeldon was named Soloist in 1998.Brown, Mark. "Ballet world abuzz at British choreographer's huge gamble," ''Manchester Guardian'', 5 January 2007. Wheeldon began choreographing for the New York City Ballet in 199 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Royal Ballet
The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Ninette de Valois, Dame Ninette de Valois. It became the resident ballet company of the Royal Opera House in 1946, and has purpose-built facilities within these premises. It was granted a royal charter in 1956, becoming recognised as Britain's flagship ballet company. The Royal Ballet was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century, and continues to be one of the world's most famous ballet companies to this day, generally noted for its artistic and creative values. The company employs approximately 100 dancers. The official associate school of the company is the Royal Ballet School, and it also has a sister company, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, which operates independently. The Prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Bal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Due Capricci (Ligeti)
''Due capricci'' is a set of two capricci for piano written by Hungarian composer György Ligeti. Both of the capricci were finished in 1947. Composition The two pieces were composed when Ligeti was still studying in Sandor Veress's class at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, this is, as a part of his academic exercises. These represent the beginning of the shedding of Béla Bartók's and other Hungarian composer's influence, as he was asked to write it in his own style. Strangely, the second capriccio was composed first, in the spring of 1947, and the second capriccio was composed in November 1947. Both capricci are dedicated to Márta Kurtág. The set has been published by Schott Music together with Ligeti's ''Invention An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an i ...'' for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lakodalmas (Ligeti)
''Lakodalmas'', commonly translated into English as ''Wedding Dance'', is an early vocal composition by Hungarian composer György Ligeti. It was completed in 1950, before he finished his musical studies. Composition Ligeti finished this composition in 1950, when he was living in Hungary. At that time, he was following Béla Bartók's steps: he produced other vocal compositions based on Hungarian traditional music and poems. This composition has been later associated with Bujdosó (1946) and Kállai kettős (1950), forming a set called ''Three Hungarian Folksongs'', even though there is no direct relation; all those compositions were composed, conceived, and published separately. ''Lakodalmas'' was composed during a Stalinist era, and Hungarian folksongs were strictly restricted. It was later published by Schott Music. Analysis This short composition is in only one movement and takes approximately one minute to perform. It is amongst Ligeti's shortest vocal compositions. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invention (Ligeti)
''Invention'' is an early composition by Hungarian composer György Ligeti. It is scored for solo piano and was composed in 1948. Composition At the time of the composition, Hungary had gone through World War II and was about to enter a Stalinist era, which would last seven years. At that time, Ligeti was 24 years old and was still a student at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Very influenced by the style of Béla Bartók, Ligeti wrote the composition in 1948, as an academic composition for Sandor Veress's classes. It was dedicated to György Kurtág, a fellow student of his, and was later published by Schott Music together with Ligeti's 1947 Due capricci, even though they were composed a year apart and were conceived separately. Analysis This is a very short composition for piano, which takes around one minute to perform. When asked to write a Bach-like invention, Ligeti wrote it with his own harmonic style. This two-part invention shows a very profusely used counterpoint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musica Ricercata
''Musica ricercata'' is a set of eleven pieces for piano by György Ligeti. The work was composed from 1951 to 1953, shortly after the composer began lecturing at the Budapest Academy of Music. The work premiered on 18 November 1969 in Sundsvall, Sweden. Although the ricercata (or ricercar) is an established contrapuntal style (and the final movement of the work is in that form), Ligeti's title should probably be interpreted literally as "researched music" or "sought music". This work captures the essence of Ligeti's search to construct his own compositional style ''ex nihilo'', and as such presages many of the more radical directions Ligeti would take in the future. In response to a request by the Jeney Quintet, six of the movements were arranged for wind quintet as Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet (1953). They are, in order: III, V, VII, VIII, IX, X. Eight movements (I, III, IV, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI) were transcribed for bayan by Parisian accordionist Max Bonnay. Pitch struc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Études (Ligeti)
The Hungarian composer György Ligeti composed a cycle of 18 études for solo piano between 1985 and 2001. They are considered one of the major creative achievements of his last decades, and one of the most significant sets of piano studies of the 20th century, combining virtuoso technical problems with expressive content, following in the line of the études of Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy, and Alexander Scriabin but addressing new technical ideas as a compendium of the concepts Ligeti had worked out in his other works since the 1950s. Pianist Jeremy Denk wrote that they "are a crowning achievement of his career and of the piano literature; though still new, they are already classics." Scope of the work There are 18 études arranged in three books or ''Livres'': six Études in Book 1 (1985), eight in Book 2 (1988–1994), four in Book 3 (1995–2001). Ligeti's original intention had been to compose only twelve Études, in two books of six each, on the model o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miami City Ballet
Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida, led by artistic director Lourdes Lopez. MCB was founded in 1985 by Toby Lerner Ansin, a Miami philanthropist. Ansin and the founding board hired Edward Villella, former New York City Ballet principal dancer to be the founding artistic director. A bulk of the company's repertoire is made up of the work of George Balanchine, though the company also performs works by Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Trey McIntyre, Mark Morris (choreographer), Mark Morris, Jimmy Gamonet, who was the company's founding Resident Choreographer and Ballet Master from 1986 to 1999, Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck, and others, in addition to traditional full-length works including "Giselle" and "Don Quixote (ballet), Don Quixote". In 2012, Lourdes Lopez was chosen to replace founding artistic director Edward Villella. Miami City Ballet features an international ensemble of over 50 dancers. The company has an active repertoir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Washington Ballet
The Washington Ballet (TWB) is an ensemble of professional ballet dancers based in Washington DC. It was founded in 1976 by Mary Day, and has been under the artistic directorship of Julie Kent since 2016. Septime Webre was artistic director for 17 years starting in 1999 and stepped down as artistic director at the conclusion of the 2015/2016 season. The Mary Day years (1976–99) Mary Day ''(née'' Mary Henry Day; 25 January 1910 – 11 July 2006), a native of Washington, and her mentor, Lisa Gardiner ''(né'' Elizabeth C. Gardiner; 1894–1958), established The Washington School of Ballet in 1944. In the 1950s, a pre-professional group of dancers trained at the school joined to perform at the National Cathedral and the D.C. Department of Recreation with the National Symphony Orchestra. This group also toured New York, West Virginia, and the Dominican Republic, where the troupe performed with Alicia Alonso in 1956. In 1961, the Washington Ballet School premiered Day's ''The N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boston Ballet
The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. It has been led by Violette Verdy (1980–1984), Bruce Marks (1985–1997), and Anna-Marie Holmes (1997–2000). Mikko Nissinen was appointed artistic director in September 2001. History 1956-1979 In 1956, E. Virginia Williams moved her ballet school from a studio in Back Bay to 186 Massachusetts Avenue, across from the Loew's State Theatre in Boston. At this point, the school offered classes starting at a children's level all the way to a professional division. In 1958, out of her Boston School of Ballet (which was sometimes called The New England School of Ballet), E. Virginia Williams formed a small dance group named The New England Civic Ballet. The group primarily performed at small local festivals and venues around New England. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Montbrison, Loire, Montbrison in the Loire department of France, the son of an engineer, Boulez studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Olivier Messiaen, and privately with Andrée Vaurabourg and René Leibowitz. He began his professional career in the late 1940s as music director of the Renaud-Barrault theatre company in Paris. He was a leading figure in avant-garde music, playing an important role in the development of integral serialism (in the 1950s), Aleatoric music, controlled chance music (in the 1960s) and the electronic transformation of instrumental music in real time (from the 1970s onwards). His tendency to revise earlier compositions meant that his body of work was relatively small, but it included pieces regarded by many as lan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris Opera Ballet
The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded as one of the four most prominent ballet companies in the world, together with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, the Mariinsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg and the Royal Ballet in London.Pourquoi les ballets de l'Opéra de Paris font partie des spectacles favoris des fêtes article by Martine Robert, 27 December 2013, Les Echos. The position of director of dance is currently vacant, but [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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