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Richard Stilwell (bass-baritone)
Richard Stilwell III (born 6 May 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an operatic and concert baritone. After graduating from Indiana University in 1966, Stilwell joined the Army Chorus in Washington. He appeared as a soloist with the chorus singing the tribute: "One Small Step" in a national telecast with the returning astronauts of Apollo 11 and President Richard Nixon. He also appeared with the American Light Opera Company. He currently lives in McLean, Virginia with his wife and two sons. Stilwell sang Billy Budd in the premiere of Britten's ''Billy Budd'' at the Metropolitan Opera, directed by John Dexter, and The Lodger in the premier of Dominick Argento's ''The Aspern Papers'' alongside Frederica Von Stade and Elisabeth Soderstrom. He appears alongside Frederica von Stade in the landmark recording of '' Pelléas et Mélisande'' under the baton of Herbert von Karajan, and as the voice of Count Almaviva (from '' Le nozze di Figaro'') and Don Giovanni in the 1984 f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition. Originally understood as an entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include numerous genres, including some that include spoken dialogue such as '' Singspiel'' and '' Opéra comique''. In traditional number opera, singers employ two styles of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pelléas Et Mélisande (opera)
''Pelléas et Mélisande'' (''Pelléas and Mélisande'') is an opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. The French libretto was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's symbolist play of the same name. It premiered at the Salle Favart in Paris by the Opéra-Comique on 30 April 1902; Jean Périer was Pelléas and Mary Garden was Mélisande, conducted by André Messager, who was instrumental in getting the Opéra-Comique to stage the work. The only opera Debussy ever completed, it is considered a landmark in 20th-century music. The plot concerns a love triangle. Prince Golaud finds Mélisande, a mysterious young woman, lost in a forest. He marries her and brings her back to the castle of his grandfather, King Arkel of Allemonde. Here Mélisande becomes increasingly attached to Golaud's younger half-brother Pelléas, arousing Golaud's jealousy. Golaud goes to excessive lengths to find out the truth about Pelléas and Mélisande's relationship, even forcing his own child, Yniold ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago College Of Performing Arts
Chicago College of Performing Arts is a performing arts college that is housed at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois, United States. While the school is officially a part of Roosevelt University, it has its own distinct personality. The relationship between the two is much like that of the Eastman School of Music and The University of Rochester or the College-Conservatory of Music and the University of Cincinnati. The college has two divisions: the Music Conservatory and the Theatre Conservatory. Nearly 600 students come from more than 40 states and 25 countries to study at the college. Its faculty consists primarily of world class professional actors, directors and musicians, including nearly 30 members of the Chicago Symphony and the Lyric Opera of Chicago (half of whom are principals) and theatre performers with credits from Broadway to Chicago and the West Coast. History Chicago Musical College was founded in 1867, less than four decades after the city of Chicago ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Wilson (director)
Robert Wilson (born October 4, 1941) is an American experimental theater stage director and playwright who has been described by ''The New York Times'' as "mericas – or even the world's – foremost vanguard 'theater artist. He has also worked as a choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video artist, and sound and lighting designer. Wilson is best known for his collaboration with Philip Glass and Lucinda Childs on ''Einstein on the Beach'', and his frequent collaborations with Tom Waits. In 1991, Wilson established The Watermill Center, "a laboratory for performance" on the East End of Long Island, New York, regularly working with opera and theatre companies, as well as cultural festivals. Wilson "has developed as an avant-garde artist specifically in Europe amongst its modern quests, in its most significant cultural centers, galleries, museums, opera houses and theaters, and festivals". Early life and education Wilson was born in Waco, Texas, the son of Loree Velma (né ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franco Zeffirelli
Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, gaining both acclaim and notoriety for his lavish stagings of classical works, as well as his film adaptations of the same. A member of the Forza Italia party, he served as the Senator for Catania between 1994 until 2001. Films he directed included the Shakespearean adaptations ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1967), starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton; '' Romeo and Juliet'' (1968), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director; and ''Hamlet'' (1990), starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close. His Biblical television miniseries '' Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977) won both national and international acclaim and is still frequently shown at Christmas and Easter in many countries. A Grande Ufficiale OMRI of the It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
José Carreras
Josep Maria Carreras Coll (; born 5 December 1946), better known as José Carreras (, ), is a Spanish operatic tenor who is particularly known for his performances in the operas of Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona, he made his debut on the operatic stage at 11 as Trujamán in Manuel de Falla's ''El retablo de Maese Pedro'', and went on to a career that encompassed over 60 roles, performing in the world's leading opera houses and on numerous recordings. He gained fame with a wider audience as one of the Three Tenors, with Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, in a series of large concerts from 1990 to 2003. He is also known for his humanitarian work as president of the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation (La Fundació Internacional Josep Carreras per a la Lluita contra la Leucèmia), which he established following his own recovery from the disease in 1988. Life and career Early years Carreras was born in Sants, a working-class district in Barcelon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto (born 24 February 1934) is an Italian soprano and opera director. Recognized for her sense of style, her musicality, and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation. Since retiring from the stage as a singer in 2002, she has turned successfully to directing opera as well as teaching in Italy and America, along with academic posts at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Juilliard School in New York. Singing career Renata Scotto was born in Savona, Italy. She made her operatic debut in her home town on Christmas Eve of 1952 at the age of 18 in front of a sold-out house as Violetta in Verdi's '' La traviata''.The next day, she made her 'official' opera debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan as Violetta. Shortly after, she performed in her first Puccini opera, ''Madama Butterfly'', in Savona and was paid twenty-five thousand lire. Both roles would later become closely associated with her name. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teresa Stratas
Teresa Stratas (born May 26, 1938) is a retired operatic soprano from Canada of Greek descent. She is especially well known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's ''Lulu''. Early life and career Stratas was born Anastasia Stratakis to a struggling immigrant Cretan family in Oshawa, near Toronto, Ontario. At age 13, she performed Greek pop songs on the radio. She graduated from The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. At age 20, Stratas made her professional opera debut as Mimì in ''La bohème'' at the Toronto Opera Festival. One year later in 1959, she co-won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, appearing later that year with the Metropolitan Opera as Poussette in ''Manon''. She created the title role in Peggy Glanville-Hicks' ''Nausicaa'' at the Herod Atticus Theatre in Athens in 1961, made her Covent Garden debut as Mimì that same year and in 1962, she made her La Scala debut as Isabella in Manuel de Falla's ''L'Atlántida''. She continued her car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georg Solti
Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-serving music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Born in Budapest, he studied there with Béla Bartók, Leó Weiner and Ernő Dohnányi. In the 1930s, he was a répétiteur at the Hungarian State Opera and worked at the Salzburg Festival for Arturo Toscanini. His career was interrupted by the rise of the Nazis' influence on Hungarian politics and, being of Jewish background, he fled the increasingly harsh Hungarian anti-Jewish laws in 1938. After conducting a season of Russian ballet in London at the Royal Opera House he found refuge in Switzerland, where he remained during the Second World War. Prohibited from conducting there, he earned a living as a pianist. After the war, Solti was appointed musical director of the Bavarian State O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gabriel Bacquier
Gabriel Bacquier (; 17 May 1924 – 13 May 2020) was a French operatic baritone. One of the leading baritones of the 20th century and particularly associated with the French and Italian repertoires, he was considered a fine singing actor equally at home in dramatic or comic roles and gave regular song recitals. He was a long-term member of the Opéra-Comique and the Paris Opera, but forged a long career internationally at leading opera houses in Europe and the U.S. His large discography spans five decades, and he was considered as “the ambassador of French song”. Alain Pâris. ''Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siècle.'' Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris, 1995, p. 197. Early life and studies Born Gabriel Augustin-Raymond-Théodore-Louis Bacquier in Béziers, France, on 17 May 1924, he was the only child of railway employees. As a young boy, he was fascinated by everything to do with singing: records, broadcasts and photos of singers.Sega ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karan Armstrong
Karan Armstrong (December 14, 1941 – September 28, 2021) was an American operatic soprano, who was celebrated as a singing actress. After winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1966, she was given small roles at the Metropolitan Opera, and appeared in leading roles at the New York City Opera from 1969, including Conceptión in Ravel's ''L'heure espagnol'', Blonde in Mozart's ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'', and the title roles in Verdi's ''La traviata'', Offenbach's ''La belle Hélène'' and Puccini's ''La fanciulla del West''. After she performed in Europe from 1974, first as Micaëla in Bizet's ''Carmen'', and then as a sensational '' Salome'' at the Opéra du Rhin, she enjoyed a career at major opera houses, appearing in several opera recordings and films. Armstrong was for decades a leading soprano at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where her husband Götz Friedrich was director. She appeared in world premieres, including Gottfried von Einem's ''Jesu Hochz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Götz Friedrich
Götz Friedrich (4 August 1930 in Naumburg, Germany – 12 December 2000 in Berlin, Germany) was a German opera and theatre director. He was a student and assistant of Walter Felsenstein at the Komische Oper Berlin in (East) Berlin, where he went on to direct his early productions. He first came to international prominence with a controversial 1972 production of Wagner's ''Tannhäuser'' at Bayreuth. He defected to the West whilst working on a production of ''Jenůfa'' in Stockholm later the same year. From 1972 to 1981 he was principal director at the Hamburg State Opera. Between 1977 and 1981, he was also director of productions at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in London, where he staged the first British performances of the three-act completion of Berg's ''Lulu''. In 1981 he took up the post of general director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin where he stayed until his death in 2000, staging productions across the whole of the operatic repertoire. He was particularly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
