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Rachel Harnisch
Rachel Harnisch (born 1 August 1973) is a Swiss operatic soprano. Life Born in Brig, Harnisch studied at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg with Beata Heuer-Christen. In 2000, she made her debut as Pamina ''(The Magic Flute)'' at the Stadttheater Bern under the direction of Miguel Gomez-Martinez and at the Zürich Opera House with Franz Welser-Möst. Further engagements took her to the Grand Théâtre de Genève, to Zurich and to Santiago de Chile. In 2004, she was Fiordiligi in '' Così fan tutte'' in Ferrara under the direction of Claudio Abbado. In Modena and Reggio nell'Emilia, she sang Micaela in '' Carmen'', also in Bern and Avenches. She made her debut in Paris at the Opéra Bastille as Pamina, directed by Robert Wilson and under the musical direction of Jiří Kout. In 2006, she sang her first Contessa in ''Le nozze di Figaro'' in Verona. In 2007, she made her debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Pamina, followed by her first Amor in '' Orfeo ed Euridice'' conduct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880 Hz in choral music, or to "soprano C" (C6, two octaves above middle C) = 1046 Hz or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which often encompasses the melody. The soprano voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, soubrette, lyric, spinto, and dramatic soprano. Etymology The word "soprano" comes from the Italian word '' sopra'' (above, over, on top of),"Soprano" '' |
Orfeo Ed Euridice
' (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on Orpheus, the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the ''azione teatrale'', meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing. The piece was first performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 5 October 1762, in the presence of Empress Maria Theresa. ''Orfeo ed Euridice'' is the first of Gluck's "reform" operas, in which he attempted to replace the abstruse plots and overly complex music of ''opera seria'' with a "noble simplicity" in both the music and the drama. The opera is the most popular of Gluck's works, and was one of the most influential on subsequent Opera in German, German operas. Variations on its plot—the underground rescue mission in which the hero must control, or conceal, his emotions—can be found in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'', Ludwig van Beethoven, Beetho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Missa Cellensis In Honorem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae
The Missa Cellensis in honorem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae in C major by Joseph Haydn, Hob. XXII:5, Novello 3, was originally written in 1766, after Haydn was promoted to Kapellmeister at Eszterháza following the death of Gregor Joseph Werner. The original title as it appears on the only surviving fragment of Haydn's autograph score, that has been discovered around 1970 in Budapest, clearly assigns the mass to the pilgrimage cult of Mariazell, Styria. Until that discovery, the work was known as ''Missa Sanctae Caeciliae'', or in German ''Cäcilienmesse'', a title probably attributed to the mass in the 19th century. Whether the alternative title refers to a performance of the piece by the ''St. Cecilia's Congregation'', a Viennese musician's fraternity, on some St. Cecilia's day (22 November), as has been suggested, remains speculation. It is believed that the original manuscript was lost in the Eisenstadt fire of 1768, and that when Haydn rewrote the piece from memory, he may al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Creation (Haydn)
''The Creation'' (german: Die Schöpfung) is an oratorio written between 1797 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn ( Hob. XXI:2), and considered by many to be one of his masterpieces. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the Book of Genesis. The libretto was written by Gottfried van Swieten. The work is structured in three parts and scored for soprano, tenor and bass soloists, chorus and a symphonic orchestra. In parts I and II, depicting the creation, the soloists represent the archangels Raphael (bass), Uriel (tenor) and Gabriel (soprano). In part III, the bass and soprano represent Adam and Eve. The first public performance was held in Vienna at the old Burgtheater on 19 March 1799. The oratorio was published with the text in German and English in 1800. Inspiration Haydn was inspired to write a large oratorio during his visits to England in 1791–1792 and 1794–1795 when, alongside his close friend English music historian Charles Burney, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Le Martyre De Saint Sébastien
''Le Martyre de saint Sébastien'' is a five-act musical mystery play on the subject of Saint Sebastian, with a text written in 1911 by the Italian author Gabriele D'Annunzio and incidental music by the French composer Claude Debussy (L.124). Background The work was produced in collaboration between Gabriele D'Annunzio (at that time living in France to escape his creditors) and Claude Debussy, and designed as a vehicle for Ida Rubinstein. Debussy's contribution was a large-scale score of incidental music for orchestra and chorus, with solo vocal parts (for a soprano and two altos). Debussy accepted the commission in February 1911. Some of the material was orchestrated by André Caplet. During auditions for the female semi-chorus, the chorus director Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht suggested, on hearing Ninon Vallin, that she take over the role of the celestial voice. As Rose Féart (who had been engaged) was absent from the general rehearsal, Vallin sang the role and Debussy insiste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mendelssohn)
At two separate times, Felix Mendelssohn composed music for William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (in German ''Ein Sommernachtstraum''). First in 1826, near the start of his career, he wrote a concert overture ( Op. 21). Later, in 1842, only a few years before his death, he wrote incidental music (Op. 61) for a production of the play, into which he incorporated the existing overture. The incidental music includes the famous "Wedding March". Overture The overture in E major, Op. 21, was written by Mendelssohn at 17 years and 6 months old (it was finished on 6 August 1826).''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 5th ed., 1954 Contemporary music scholar George Grove called it "the greatest marvel of early maturity that the world has ever seen in music". It was written as a concert overture, not associated with any performance of the play. The overture was written after Mendelssohn had read a German translation of the play in 1826. The translation was by A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elijah (oratorio)
''Elijah'' (german: Elias), Op. 70, MWV A 25, is an oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn depicting events in the life of the Prophet Elijah as told in the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings of the Old Testament. It premiered on 26 August 1846. Music and its style This piece was composed in the spirit of Mendelssohn's Baroque predecessors Bach and Handel, whose music he greatly admired. In 1829 Mendelssohn had organized the first performance of Bach's '' St Matthew Passion'' since the composer's death and was instrumental in bringing this and other Bach works to widespread popularity. By contrast, Handel's oratorios never went out of fashion in England. Mendelssohn prepared a scholarly edition of some of Handel's oratorios for publication in London. ''Elijah'' is modelled on the oratorios of these two Baroque masters; however, in its lyricism and use of orchestral and choral colour the style clearly reflects Mendelssohn's own genius as an early Romantic composer. The work is scored for eigh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Child Of Our Time
''A Child of Our Time'' is a secular oratorio by the British composer Michael Tippett (1905–1998), who also wrote the libretto. Composed between 1939 and 1941, it was first performed at the Adelphi Theatre, London, on 19 March 1944. The work was inspired by events that affected Tippett profoundly: the assassination in 1938 of a German diplomat by a young Jewish refugee, and the Nazi government's reaction in the form of a violent pogrom against its Jewish population: Kristallnacht. Tippett's oratorio deals with these incidents in the context of the experiences of oppressed people generally, and carries a strongly pacifist message of ultimate understanding and reconciliation. The text's recurrent themes of shadow and light reflect the Jungian psychoanalysis which Tippett underwent in the years immediately before writing the work. The oratorio uses a traditional three-part format based on that of Handel's ''Messiah'', and is structured in the manner of Bach's Passions. The work' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operabase
Operabase is an online database of opera performances, opera houses and companies, and performers themselves as well as their agents. Found at operabase.com, it was created in 1996 by English software engineer and opera lover Mike Gibb.Edward Schneider (29 July 2001),"Singing and Their Suppers" ''The New York Times''. Retrieved 13 May 2011. Initially a hobby site, it became his full-time occupation after three years. ''Opera'' magazine describes the Operabase website as "the most comprehensive source of data on operatic activity". Public website By its tenth anniversary, in 2006, the site received "about 10,000 visitors a day to the public site, who look at over four million pages a month between them. Of these, fewer than half use English, 17% use German, 12% Italian, 10% French, 9% Spanish." In autumn of that year the British magazine ''Opera Now'' reported that "Operabase has taken on the Herculean task of making he siteavailable to every European Union citizen in their own la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giorgio Battistelli
Giorgio Battistelli (born 25 April 1953) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. A native of Albano Laziale (province of Rome), he studied at the conservatory in L'Aquila and is a former student of Stockhausen and Kagel. Battistelli has written nearly 20 operas on subjects ranging from Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopaedia to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. His opera '' CO2'', based on Al Gore's ''An Inconvenient Truth'', premiered at La Scala in 2015. His opera ''Wake'' was premiered by the Birmingham Opera Company in March 2018 and is inspired by the story of Lazarus being brought back from the dead. In 1994 he founded with some friends the improvisation group entitled ''Edgard Varèse'' and an instrumental ensemble named ''Beat '72''. From 1985 to 1986 he was host of the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst in Berlin. In 1990 he won the SIAE for an opera and in 1993 the Cervo Prize for contemporary music. He was also artistic director of the Cantiere Interna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vlaamse Opera
The Vlaamse Opera (Flemish Opera) is an opera company in Belgium directed by Jan Vandenhouwe which operates in two different opera houses in two Flemish cities, the Vlaamse Opera Antwerp at Van Ertbornstraat 8 and the Vlaamse Opera Ghent at Schouwburgstraat 3. However, the company shares one orchestra, choir, technical team, etc. The organization is mainly financed by the Flemish government and the city councils of Antwerp and Ghent. In its current form, the company was created in 1996 as a successor to the Flemish Opera Foundation (''Vlaamse Opera Stichting,'' which had existed since 1988), and the Opera for Flanders (''Opera voor Vlaanderen,'' which had existed since 1981). Both former institutions were similar fusions between the former opera houses of Antwerp and Ghent. Since the fusion in 1981, the company has been giving performances in two different historic theatres. History Antwerp The first public opera performances in Antwerp date back to 1661. Performances took plac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Le Duc D'Albe
''Le duc d'Albe'' (its original French title) or ''Il duca d'Alba'' (its later Italian title) is an opera in three acts originally composed by Gaetano Donizetti in 1839 to a France, French language libretto by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier. Its title, which translates as ''The Duke of Alba'', refers to its protagonist Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba. The work was intended for performance at the Paris Opéra. However, William Ashbrook notes that "Rosine Stoltz, the director's mistress, disliked her intended role of Hélène and Donizetti put the work aside when it was half completed".Ashbrook 1998, p. 1263 Donizetti then abandoned the score in favour of continuing to work simultaneously on both ''L'ange de Nisida'' and ''L'elisir d'amore'', and thus it was nearly 34 years after the composer's death that it was completed by his former pupil Matteo Salvi and received its first performance in an Italian translation and under its Italian title ''Il duca d'Alba'' a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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