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Salammbô (Mussorgsky)
''Salammbô'' (russian: Саламбо, Salambo) lternative title: ''The Libyan'' (russian: Ливиец, Liviyets)is an unfinished opera in four acts by Modest Mussorgsky. The fragmentary Russian language libretto was written by the composer, and is based on the novel '' Salammbô'' (1862) by Gustave Flaubert, but includes verses taken from poems by Vasiliy Zhukovsky, Apollon Maykov, Aleksandr Polezhayev, and other Russian poets. ''Salammbô'' was Mussorgsky's first major attempt at an opera. He worked on the project from 1863 to 1866, completing six numbers before losing interest. Composition history The Russian translation of Flaubert's 1862 novel was published serially in the Saint Petersburg journal '' Otechestvennye Zapiski'' in 1863, and was read with enthusiasm by the six members of the commune in which the composer was then living. Mussorgsky was likely influenced in his choice of subject by having recently heard Aleksandr Serov's '' Judith'', which premiered on 1 ... [...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] |
Zoltán Peskó
Zoltán Peskó (15 February 1937 – 31 March 2020) was a Hungarian conductor and composer who held leading positions at German, Italian and Portuguese opera houses and orchestras, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, La Fenice, and Teatro Nacional de São Carlos. He was a regular conductor at La Scala, where he promoted contemporary opera. Early life and education Peskó was born in Budapest, Hungary, on 15 February 1937. He graduated from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in 1962. He went on to study at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, then learned composition under Pierre Boulez in Basel in the 1960s. He also studied conducting under Franco Ferrara, and studied composition under Goffredo Petrassi. Career He conducted at the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1966 to 1973, was chief conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna until 1976 and musical director of La Fenice in Venice until 1977. He was a regular conductor of the RAI Symp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Night On Bald Mountain
''Night on Bald Mountain'' (russian: Ночь на лысой горе, translit=Noch′ na lysoy gore, links=no), also known as ''Night on the Bare Mountain'', is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian literary works and legend, Mussorgsky composed a "musical picture", ''St. John's Eve on Bald Mountain'' (russian: Иванова ночь на лысой горе, translit=Ivanova noch′ na lysoy gore, links=no) on the theme of a Witches' Sabbath occurring at Bald Mountain on St. John's Eve, which he completed on that very night, 23 June 1867. Together with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's ''Sadko'' (1867), it is one of the first tone poems by a Russian composer. Although Mussorgsky was proud of his youthful effort, his mentor, Mily Balakirev, refused to perform it. To salvage what he considered worthy material, Mussorgsky attempted to insert his ''Bald Mountain'' music, recast for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra, into two subsequent pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Totentanz (Liszt)
''Totentanz'' ( en, Dance of the Dead): Paraphrase on ''Dies irae'', S.126, is the name of a work for solo piano and orchestra by Franz Liszt notable for being based on the Gregorian plainchant melody '' Dies irae'' as well as for stylistic innovations. It was first planned in 1838, completed and published in 1849, and revised in 1853 and 1859. Obsession with death Some of the titles of Liszt’s pieces, such as ''Totentanz'', ''Funérailles'', '' La lugubre gondola'' and '' Pensée des morts'', show the composer's fascination with death. In the young Liszt we can already observe manifestations of his obsession with death, with religion, and with heaven and hell. According to Alan Walker, Liszt frequented Parisian "hospitals, gambling casinos and asylums" in the early 1830s, and he even went down into prison dungeons in order to see those condemned to die. Sources of inspiration In the Romantic age, due to a fascination with everything Medieval, the aspect of fantast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byrsa
Byrsa was a walled citadel above the Phoenician harbour in ancient Carthage, Tunisia, as well as the name of the hill it rested on. Legend In Virgil's account of Dido's founding of Carthage, when Dido and her party were encamped at Byrsa, the local Berber chieftain offered them as much land as could be covered with a single oxhide. Therefore, Dido cut an oxhide into tiny strips and set them on the ground end to end until she had completely encircled the hilltop of Byrsa ( grc-gre, βύρσα, "oxhide"). History The citadel dominated the city below and formed the principal military installation of Carthage. Its name appeared on Carthaginian currency under the form (). It was besieged by Scipio Aemilianus Africanus in the Third Punic War when the city was defeated and destroyed in 146BCE. The Byrsa citadel was the seat of the proconsul of Africa within the Roman Empire. In 439 CE, Geiseric took possession of Carthage. The Vandal kings ruled North Africa from the Byrsa until ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tunisia
) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , coordinates = , official_languages = Arabic Translation by the University of Bern: "Tunisia is a free State, independent and sovereign; its religion is the Islam, its language is Arabic, and its form is the Republic." , religion = , languages_type = Spoken languages , languages = Minority Dialects : Jerba Berber (Chelha) Matmata Berber Judeo-Tunisian Arabic (UNESCO CR) , languages2_type = Foreign languages , languages2 = , ethnic_groups = * 98% Arab * 2% Other , demonym = Tunisian , government_type = Unitary presidential republic , leader_title1 = President , leader_name1 = Kais Saied , leader_ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercenary War
The Mercenary War, also known as the Truceless War, was a mutiny by troops that were employed by Carthage at the end of the First Punic War (264241 BC), supported by uprisings of African settlements revolting against Carthaginian control. It lasted from 241 to late 238 or early 237 BC and ended with Carthage suppressing both the mutiny and the revolt. The war began in 241 BC as a dispute over the payment of wages owed to 20,000 foreign soldiers who had fought for Carthage in Sicily during the First Punic War. When a compromise seemed to have been reached, the army erupted into full-scale mutiny under the leadership of Spendius and Matho. 70,000 Africans from Carthage's oppressed dependent territories flocked to join them, bringing supplies and finance. War-weary Carthage fared poorly in the initial engagements of the war, especially under the generalship of Hanno. Hamilcar Barca, a veteran of the campaigns in Sicily (and father of Hannibal Barca), was given jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classical world. The city developed from a Canaanite Phoenician colony into the capital of a Punic empire which dominated large parts of the Southwest Mediterranean during the first millennium BC. The legendary Queen Alyssa or Dido, originally from Tyre, is regarded as the founder of the city, though her historicity has been questioned. According to accounts by Timaeus of Tauromenium, she purchased from a local tribe the amount of land that could be covered by an oxhide. As Carthage prospered at home, the polity sent colonists abroad as well as magistrates to rule the colonies. The ancient city was destroyed in the nearly-three year siege of Carthage by the Roman Republic during the Third Punic War in 146 BC and then re-developed as Roman Car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moloch
Moloch (; ''Mōleḵ'' or הַמֹּלֶךְ ''hamMōleḵ''; grc, Μόλοχ, la, Moloch; also Molech or Molek) is a name or a term which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the book of Leviticus. The Bible strongly condemns practices which are associated with Moloch, practices which appear to have included child sacrifice. Traditionally, Moloch has been understood as referring to a Canaanite god. However, since 1935, scholars have debated whether or not the term refers to a type of sacrifice on the basis of a similar term, also spelled ''mlk'', which means "sacrifice" in the Punic language. This second position has grown increasingly popular, but it remains contested. Among proponents of this second position, controversy continues as to whether the sacrifices were offered to Yahweh or another deity, and whether they were a native Israelite religious custom or a Phoenician import. Since the medieval period, Moloch has often been portrayed as a bull-hea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanit
Tanit ( Punic: 𐤕𐤍𐤕 ''Tīnīt'') was a Punic goddess. She was the chief deity of Carthage alongside her consort Baal-Hamon. Tanit is also called Tinnit. The name appears to have originated in Carthage (modern day Tunisia), though it does not appear in local theophorous names. She was equivalent to the war goddess Astarte, and later worshipped in Roman Carthage in her Romanized form as Dea Caelestis, Juno Caelestis, or simply Caelestis. In modern-day Tunisian Arabic, it is customary to invoke or ('Mother Tannou' or 'Mother Tangou', depending on the region), in years of drought to bring rain. Similarly, Algerian, Tunisian and many other spoken forms of Arabic refer to " farming" to refer to non-irrigated agriculture. Such usage is attested in Hebrew, a Canaanite language sister to Phoenician, already in the 2nd century CE Mishnah. Tanit or Tinnīt? Until 1955 the name of the goddess was only known in Phoenician characters, as TNT (written without vowels). It wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamilcar Barca
Hamilcar Barca or Barcas ( xpu, 𐤇𐤌𐤋𐤒𐤓𐤕𐤟𐤁𐤓𐤒, ''Ḥomilqart Baraq''; –228BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman, leader of the Barcid family, and father of Hannibal, Hasdrubal and Mago. He was also father-in-law to Hasdrubal the Fair. Hamilcar commanded the Carthaginian land forces in Sicily from 247BC to 241BC, during the latter stages of the First Punic War. He kept his army intact and led a successful guerrilla war against the Romans in Sicily. Hamilcar retired to Carthage after the peace treaty in 241BC, following the defeat of Carthage. When the Mercenary War burst out in 239BC, Hamilcar was recalled to command and was instrumental in concluding that conflict successfully. Hamilcar commanded the Carthaginian expedition to Spain in 237BC, and for eight years expanded the territory of Carthage in Spain before dying in battle in 228 BC. He may have been responsible for creating the strategy which his son Hannibal implemented in the Second Pun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Stone (baritone)
William Stone (born March 12, 1944, Goldsboro, North Carolina) is an American operatic baritone. He is a graduate of Duke University (B.A., 1966) and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (M.M. 1968, D.M.A. 1979). He made his professional operatic debut in 1975 and his international debut in 1977. He was inducted as a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity on April 1, 2003. William Stone is a Vocal Instructor at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Curtis Institute of Music. He was Professor of Voice and Opera at the Boyer College of Music and Dance, Temple University, from September, 2005 through June, 2010. Debuts *Lyric Opera of Chicago, world premiere of ''Paradise Lost'', (Adam), 29 November 1978. *New York City Opera, ''La traviata'' (Giorgio Germont), October 1981. *Seattle Opera, ''Don Carlos'' (Rodrigue), July 1993. *Metropolitan Opera, '' Roméo et Juliette'' (Capulet), 8 April 1998.Metropolitan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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