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Stephen Climax
''Stephen Climax'' is an opera in three acts by Hans Zender, who wrote his own libretto based on James Joyce and Hugo Ball. It was premiered on 15 June 1986 at the Oper Frankfurt, staged by Alfred Kirchner and conducted by Peter Hirsch. The opera was published by Breitkopf & Härtel. A 1990 production at La Monnaie in Brussels was recorded. History Zender wrote his own libretto, based on two literary sources, Hugo Ball's ''Symeon, der Stylit'' (Simeon Stylites) from his legends of saints, and the Stephen Dedalus episodes from ''Ulysses'' by James Joyce. Zender worked on the opera from 1976 and again from 1984. ''Stephen Climax'' was premiered on 15 June 1986 at the Oper Frankfurt, staged by Alfred Kirchner and conducted by Peter Hirsch. It was the only world premiere at the Oper Frankfurt during the Gielen era. It was also performed at La Monnaie in Brussels in 1990 and the Staatstheater Nürnberg in 1991. The opera was published by Breitkopf & Härtel. Theme A main charac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Zender
Johannes Wolfgang Zender (22 November 1936 – 22 October 2019) was a German conductor and composer. He was the chief conductor of several opera houses, and his compositions, many of them vocal music, have been performed at international festivals. As a conductor, he worked at the Theater Freiburg, Theater Bonn, Opernhaus Kiel and Hamburg State Opera, and led the radio orchestra Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. He taught at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt. His opera '' Stephen Climax'' premiered in 1986 at the Oper Frankfurt, and his third opera, ''Chief Joseph'', premiered in 2005 at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Career Born in Wiesbaden, Zender attended the Maifestspiele at age 13, listening to concerts conducted by Carl Schuricht, Karl Böhm and Günter Wand, among others. He took piano lessons and learned to play the organ. From 1949, he went each year to the Darmstädter Ferienkurse, where he got to know trends in new music by Karlheinz Stockha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, 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 ''wikt:teneo#Latin, 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 [tenor was the] structurally fundamental (or 'holding') voice, vocal or instrumental; by the 15th century it came to signify the male voice that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nancy Shade
Nancy Shade (born May 31, 1946, in Rockford, Illinois) is an American spinto soprano, best known as a singing-actress. She made her formal debut as Leonora in ''Il trovatore'', in Louisville, in 1967. In 1971, she made her first of many appearances at the New York City Opera, as Musetta in ''La bohème''. She also sang there in ''Mefistofele'' (directed by Tito Capobianco), ''Madama Butterfly'' (opposite José Carreras), ''Pagliacci'', ''Susannah'', and ''Die tote Stadt'' (in Frank Corsaro's production). In 1973, Shade sang the title role of ''Manon Lescaut'' (opposite Harry Theyard) at the Spoleto Festival, under the direction of Luchino Visconti conducted by Thomas Schippers. The following year, she sang in a Concert Version of ''Mefistofele'' at London's Royal Festival Hall, opposite Norman Treigle in the name part. In 1976 she created the role of Barbara in the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian ... [...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, includin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Mora
Reginald Barry Mora (15 November 1940 – 11 October 2021) was a New Zealand classical baritone who had an active international career in concerts and operas from the mid-1970s through the 1990s. Retired from the stage, he was a member of the board at The NBR New Zealand Opera. Early life Mora grew up at Taikorea, near Palmerston North and attended Palmerston North Boys' High School. Career Mora's career began with the New Zealand Broadcasting Service followed by a job in the management of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He had been studying singing and performing as a concert soloist and in opera. In the early 1970s he moved to London to pursue his singing career. Mora studied singing in London with Otakar Kraus. He was a member of the Gelsenkirchen Opera House from 1976 until 1980 where he became principal baritone. He made his professional debut as Anckarström in Giuseppe Verdi's ''Un ballo in maschera''. In 1980 he joined the Frankfurt Opera House where he had a hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joshua Hecht
Joshua Hecht (March 4, 1928 – March 29, 2019) was an American operatic bass. Biography Born in New York City, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, he received a Bachelor of Arts from New York University, in 1951. Hecht was a student of Rosa Ponselle, and made his formal debut with her company, the Baltimore Civic Opera, in 1953, as the Comte des Grieux in ''Manon''. Two years later, he first appeared with the New York City Opera, as Monterone in ''Rigoletto'', with Cornell MacNeil in the name part. From 1955 to 1960, the bass sang with that ensemble, as Colline in ''La bohème'', Cesare Angelotti in ''Tosca'', Sparafucile in ''Rigoletto'' (with Aldo Protti, later Louis Quilico, as the jester), Ferrando in ''Il trovatore'' (conducted by Julius Rudel), Oronte in Rolf Liebermann's ''School for Wives'', the Elder Ott in the New York premiere of Carlisle Floyd's ''Susannah'' (with Phyllis Curtin and Norman Treigle, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf), Alonso in the American premiere of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lyndon Terracini
Lyndon William Terracini, OSI (born 1949), is an Australian operatic baritone and from 2009 to October 2022 artistic director of Opera Australia. Early life Terracini was born in 1949, the oldest of four children born to Shirley and Vita Terracini, and grew up in Dee Why, New South Wales. His paternal grandfather, the son of an immigrant from Genoa, converted to Christianity from Judaism and joined the Salvation Army. He grew up in a devout Salvationist family and played multiple instruments in the Salvation Army band, including cornet, flugelhorn, trombone, euphonium and timpani. He later studied music at the University of Sydney. Career Terracini's professional operatic debut was in 1976 as Sid in The Australian Opera's production of ''Albert Herring'' at the Sydney Opera House. The same year, he sang in the Australian premier of Hans Werner Henze's '' El Cimarrón'', conducted by the composer at the Adelaide Festival. Henze and Terracini later collaborated on several projec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred Vökt
Alfred Vökt (; 21 May 1926 – 14 June 1999) was a Swiss operatic tenor who made a career at major opera houses, mainly in Germany. He focused on supporting roles and took part in world premieres such as Henze's ''König Hirsch'' in Kassel and Hans Zender's ''Stephen Climax'' at the Oper Frankfurt in 1986. Vökt appeared at major European opera houses and festivals. Career Born in Basel, Vökt first studied law at the University of Basel, being awarded a Doctor of Law in 1955; at the same time, he studied voice with Ernst Reiter. He was a member of a choir in Basel from 1950 to 1958. He was an ensemble member of Theater Basel from 1955 to 1957. He was then a member of the Städtische Bühnen Oberhausen (1958–1959), Stadttheater Gießen (1959–1960), Opernhaus Kiel (1960–1962) and the Staatstheater Kassel (1962–1965). In Kassel, he appeared as Ceccho in the world premiere of the complete version of Henze's ''König Hirsch'' on 10 March 1963, and as the Father in Ján Ci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
June Card
June Card (born April 10, 1937) is an American soprano and stage director who had an active career in operas and concerts from 1959 through today. She began her career as a chorus girl on Broadway before moving into opera. She established herself as an operatic soprano in Germany during the mid to late 1960s, ultimately forging a more-than-30-year-long partnership with the Oper Frankfurt. She also appeared as a guest artist with major opera houses internationally and worked as a soloist in the oratorio repertoire. In recent years she has been active as a stage director for opera productions in Germany, France and America, and worked as a voice teacher and master class instructor. Career Born in Dunkirk, New York, Card studied singing with May Browner at the Mannes College The New School for Music. While a student she began her career performing as an ensemble member in the original Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''The Sound of Music'' in 1959-1960, including ... [...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" '' |
Operissimo
Operissimo is an online database based in Zürich which is dedicated to recording details of classical music concerts and opera performances. The database currently includes biographies on over 7,500 composers and 44,000 performing artists,"Operissimo" Mannheim University Library
The Mannheim University Library ( German: ''Universitätsbibliothek Mannheim'') is the library of the University of Mannheim.
The library provides books and information resources for researchers, instructors, students and further education at un ... encompassing both historical and contemporary figures. The biographies contain articles, withou ...
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William Workman (baritone)
William Workman (February 4, 1940, Valdosta, Georgia — September 13, 2019, Horst, Steinburg) was an American baritone who had an active career in operas and concerts from the 1960s into the 2000s. Particularly active with the Hamburg State Opera (HSO) and Opera Frankfurt, he notably created the roles of Tony in the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's ''Help, Help, the Globolinks!'' (1968) and Prince Henri of Condé in the world premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki's ''The Devils of Loudun'' (1969). His final appearance with the HSO was as Osmin in Mozart's ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' in 2004. Life and career Born in Valdosta, Georgia, Workman studied voice at Davidson College with Donald Plott before pursuing studies in opera with Martial Singher at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He continued with further training with Singher at the Music Academy of the West in California. In 1965 became a resident artist at the Hamburg State Opera (HSO), making his profe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
