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Seattle Opera
Seattle Opera is an opera company based in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as its first general director until 1983. The company's season runs from August through late May, comprising five or six operas of eight to ten performances each, often featuring double casts in major roles to allow for successive evening presentations. Since August 2003, Seattle Opera has performed at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall (capacity: 2,967), which was built on the site of the old Seattle Opera House at Seattle Center. The company's current general director is Christina Scheppelmann, who assumed the role in August 2019. Seattle Opera does not have a full-time music director; in October 2007, it announced the appointment of Asher Fisch as its principal guest conductor. The Ross years From the outset, Ross saw opera as something that had to be sold using similar techniques to those used to sell popular entertainment. "To sell opera…you have to get their attention ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christina Scheppelmann
Christina Scheppelmann is a German arts administrator. Scheppelmann is the general director of the Seattle Opera. She is one of the major female opera administrations in the United States, along with Francesca Zambello of the Washington National Opera, Khori Dastoor of Houston Grand Opera, Deborah Sandler of Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Annie Burridge of Austin Opera, and Sue Dixon of Portland Opera. Scheppelmann earned her degree in banking in Germany. In 1988, she began working in artist management in Milan, Italy. In 1994, she worked for the San Francisco Opera, over seeing the season design and staffing. Scheppelmann was director of artistic operations at the Washington National Opera for 11 years, a position in which she collaborated with then general director Plácido Domingo. She was the first general director at the Royal Opera House Muscat. In August 2019, Scheppelmann left the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain to serve as general director of the Seattle Opera S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opera Company
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] |
Götterdämmerung
' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), WWV 86D, is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled (''The Ring of the Nibelung'', or ''The Ring Cycle'' or ''The Ring'' for short). It received its premiere at the on 17 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of the whole work. The title is a translation into German of the Old Norse phrase ', which in Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ... refers to a prophesied war among various beings and gods that ultimately results in the burning, immersion in water, and renewal of the world. As with the rest of the ''Ring'', however, Wagner's account diverges significantly from these Old Norse sources. Composition Roles Synopsis Prologue Prelude to the Prologue Scene 1 T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Kaczorowski
Peter Kaczorowski (born 1956) is an American theatrical lighting designer. Kaczorowski was born in Buffalo, New York. He is credited with lighting designs for Broadway and off-Broadway shows, as well extensive work in opera. He has been nominated five times for Tony Awards and won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design for '' The Producers'' and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for ''Contact''. He is also the recipient of Outer Critics, Drama-Logue, Ovation and Hewes design awards. He was recently nominated (in 2012) for the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Play for '' The Road to Mecca''. He has more than 50 Broadway plays and musicals to his credit including Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, No Man's Land/Waiting for Godot in rep, Love Letters, The Country House, The Assembled Parties," Nice Work If You Can Get It", ''Venus in Fur'', '' Wit'', ''Anything Goes'', ''A View From the Bridge'', ''The Pajama Game'', ''Seascape'', ''Who's Afraid of Virgin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Pakledinaz
Martin Pakledinaz (September 1, 1953 – July 8, 2012) was an American costume designer for stage and film. He won his Tony Awards for designing the costumes for ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and the 2000 revival of ''Kiss Me, Kate'', which also earned him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design. His most recent costume designs were for the Broadway shows '' Nice Work If You Can Get It'' (2012); ''Man and Boy'' (revival, 2011); ''Master Class'' (revival 2011) and ''The Normal Heart''. He worked on the 1995 production of ''Holiday'' at the Circle in the Square Theatre. He designed costumes for plays for the leading regional theatres of the United States, and the Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden.Biography at Tisch, New York University design.tisch.nyu.edu, accessed July 3, 2009 Opera credits ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Wadsworth
Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the first martyr (or "protomartyr") of the Christian Church. In English, Stephen is most commonly pronounced as ' (). The name, in both the forms Stephen and Steven, is often shortened to Steve or Stevie. The spelling as Stephen can also be pronounced which is from the Greek original version, Stephanos. In English, the female version of the name is Stephanie. Many surnames are derived from the first name, including Stephens, Stevens, Stephenson, and Stevenson, all of which mean "Stephen's (son)". In modern times the name has sometimes been given with intentionally non-standard spelling, such as Stevan or Stevon. A common variant of the name used in English is Stephan ; related names that have found some curr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermann Michael
Hermann Michael (1937–2005) was a German symphonic and opera conductor. He studied piano and cello at the Stuttgart Conservatory and had not formally studied conducting when he audited a master class led by Herbert von Karajan in Berlin in 1960. Michael then took a three-week master class with conductor Hans Swarowsky and was invited to the first Cantelli Conducting Competition in Italy, which he won. Michael served as von Karajan's assistant at the Vienna State Opera and undertook guest engagements before being appointed director of the Bremen Opera, where he served from 1970 to 1978. After 1984 he was active in North America, conducting the symphony orchestras in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Montreal, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington D.C. He also conducted at the Metropolitan Opera from 1989 to 1996, where he led performances of ''Die Fledermaus'', ''Der Fliegende Holländer'', and ''Fidel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manuel Rosenthal
Manuel Rosenthal (18 June 1904 – 5 June 2003) was a French composer and conductor who held leading positions with musical organizations in France and America. He was friends with many contemporary composers, and despite a considerable list of compositions is mostly remembered for having orchestrated the popular ballet score ''Gaîté Parisienne'' from piano scores of Offenbach operettas, and for his recordings as a conductor. Early life and career Rosenthal was born in Paris to Anna Devorsosky, of Russian-Jewish descent, and a French father he never met.Nichols R. Manuel Rosenthal: Obituary. ''The Guardian'', 9 June 2003. His surname was taken from his stepfather, Bernard Rosenthal. He started his musical studies on violin at age 6, which he played in cafés and cinemas after his stepfather's death in 1918 to support his mother and sisters.Anderson, Martin, "A Century in Music: Manuel Rosenthal in Conversation" (April 2000). ''Tempo'' (New Ser.) (212): pp. 31-37. In 1920, he e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armin Jordan
Armin Jordan (9 April 1932 – 20 September 2006) was a Swiss conductor known for his interpretations of French music, Mozart and Wagner. Armin Jordan was born in Lucerne, Switzerland. "Mr. Jordan was a large man, with a slab of a face and a full mouth, often twisted in a sardonic smile, and his powerful physical presence belied the careful near-understatement of his conducting", noted ''The New York Times'' in his obituary. Jordan was most unusual at a time when conductors flew about the world from one engagement to another. For the most part he stayed close to home in Switzerland and France. After leading a number of Swiss orchestras he became principal conductor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Geneva, in 1985, a position he held until 1997. Armin Jordan did not conduct in the United States until 1985. He appeared in Seattle and New York City. Seattle scheduled him for Wagner's ''Ring'' in 2000 and 2001, but he had to withdraw after a few performances in 2000 because of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonya Friedman
Sonia is a feminine given name in many areas of the world including Western world, the West, Russia, Iran, and South Asia. Sonia and its variant spellings Sonja and Sonya are derived from the Russian hypocorism, hypocoristic ''Sonya'', an abbreviation of ''Sophia (name), Sofiya'' (Greek ''Sophia'' "Wisdom"). The name was popularised in the English-speaking world by characters in the novels ''Crime and Punishment'' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1866, English translation 1885) and ''War and Peace'' by Leo Tolstoy (1869, English translation 1886), and later by a Publishers Weekly list of bestselling novels in the United States in the 1910s, 1917 bestselling novel, ''Sonia: Between Two Worlds'', by Stephen McKenna (novelist), Stephen McKenna. Scandinavian countries spell the name with the letter ''j'': Sonja, while many English speaking countries spell it with ''i'' or ''y'': Sonia or Sonya. Many other variant spellings exist. Although the most common English pronunciation is , is also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ragnar Ulfung
Ragnar Sigurd Ulfung (born 28 February 1927) is a Norwegian operatic tenor. Described in the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' as "a brilliant actor with an incisive voice", he was particularly known for his portrayals of Herod (''Salome'') and Mime (''Der Ring des Nibelungen'').Blyth (2001) p. 60 He is also an opera director. Amongst the productions he has directed was a complete ''Ring'' cycle for the Seattle Opera. Ulfung was born in Oslo and studied there and in Milan before making his debut in ''Let's Make an Opera'' (Oslo, 1950). He made a successful debut at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1958 as Canio in ''Pagliacci'' and remained a member of the company until 1984. However, he also made guest appearances abroad. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera on 12 December 1972 as Mime in ''Siegfried'' and went on to sing 93 performances there between 1972 and 1993. In 1975 he appeared in Ingmar Bergman's celebrated film of Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'' in the role of Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George London (bass-baritone)
George London (born George Burnstein; May 30, 1920 – March 24, 1985) was an American concert and operatic bass-baritone. Biography George Burnstein was born to U.S. naturalized parents of Russian origin in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and grew up in Los Angeles, California. His operatic debut was in 1941 as George Burnson, singing Dr Grenvil in ''La traviata'' at the Hollywood Bowl. In the summer of 1945 Antal Doráti invited his longtime friend, the Hungarian bass Mihály Székely, to sing at the first concert of the newly reorganized Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Due to travel difficulties, Székely was unable to arrive in time, so Doráti called upon young George London as a substitute. After performing widely with tenor Mario Lanza and soprano Frances Yeend as part of the Bel Canto Trio in 1947–48, London was engaged by the Vienna State Opera, where he scored his first major success in 1949. In 1950, he sang the role of Pater Profundis in Mahler's Eighth Symphony, conducted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
