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The Miser
''The Miser'' (french: L'Avare; ; also known by the longer name ''L'Avare ou L'École du Mensonge,'' meaning The Miser, or the School for Lies) is a five-act comedy in prose by the French playwright Molière. It was first performed on September 9, 1668, in the theatre of the Palais-Royal in Paris. The play The play was first produced when Molière's company was under the protection of Louis XIV. It was loosely based on the Latin comedy ''Aulularia'' by Plautus, from which many incidents and scraps of dialogue are borrowed, as well as from contemporary Italian farces. The miser of the title is called Harpagon, a name adapted from the Greek ἁρπάγη pronounced ''harpágay'', meaning a hook or grappling iron (ἁρπάγη < ἁρπάζω = grab). He is obsessed with the wealth he has amassed and always ready to save expenses. Now a widower, he has a son, Cléante, and a daughter, Élise. Although he is over sixty, he is attempting to arrange a marriage between himself and an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miser
A miser is a person who is reluctant to spend, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities, in order to hoard money or other possessions. Although the word is sometimes used loosely to characterise anyone who is mean with their money, if such behaviour is not accompanied by taking delight in what is saved, it is not properly miserly. Misers as a type have been a perennial object of popular fascination and a fruitful source for writers and artists in many cultures. Accounting for misers One attempt to account for miserly behaviour was Sigmund Freud's theory of anal retentiveness, attributing the development of miserly behaviour to toilet training in childhood, although this explanation is not accepted by modern evidence-based psychology. In the Christian West the attitude to those whose interest centred on gathering money has been coloured by the teachings of the Church. From its point of view, both the miser and the usurer were guilty of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world literature. His extant works include comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and more. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed at the Comédie-Française more often than those of any other playwright today. His influence is such that the French language is often referred to as the "language of Molière". Born into a prosperous family and having studied at the Collège de Clermont (now Lycée Louis-le-Grand), Molière was well suited to begin a life in the theatre. Thirteen years as an itinerant actor helped him polish his comedic abilities while he began writing, combining Commedia dell'arte elements with the more refined French comedy. Through the patronage of aristocrats includi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
François Le Métel De Boisrobert
François le Métel de Boisrobert (1 August 1592 – 30 March 1662) was a French poet, playwright, and courtier. Life He was born in Caen. He trained as a lawyer, later practising for a time in Rouen. He traveled to Paris in 1622 and established employment at court, for he had a share in the ballet of the ''Bacchanales'' performed at the Louvre in February. In 1630 visited Rome, where he won the favour of Pope Urban VIII and was made a canon of Rouen. He was introduced to Cardinal Richelieu in 1623, and became one of five poets to inspire Richelieu's works. It was Boisrobert who suggested to Richelieu the plan of the Académie française, and he was one of its earliest and most active members. These efforts resulted in him becoming quite wealthy. After the death of Richelieu, he became affiliated with Mazarin, whom he served faithfully throughout the Fronde. In his later years, he dedicated much of his time to his duties as a priest. He wrote a number of comedies and cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jovan Sterija Popović
Jovan Sterija Popović (; sr-cyr, Јован Стерија Поповић; 13 January 1806 – 10 March 1856) was a Serbian playwright, poet, lawyer, philosopher and pedagogue who taught at the Belgrade Higher School. Sterija was recognized by his contemporaries as the one of the leading Serbian intellectuals and he is regarded as one of the best comic playwrights in Serbian literature. Life Popović was born in Werschetz (Vršac), in the Temesch County of Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary (now Serbia). His father Sterija (meaning "star"), after whom he was nicknamed, was a merchant. The ethnicity of Popović's father and of Popović himself is disputed, with some saying that they were of Aromanian descent while others saying they were of Greek one. His maternal grandfather was known painter and poet Nikola Nešković, of whom he would later write a biography. Popović attended grammar schools in Vršac, Karlowitz (Sremski Karlovci), Temeschwar (Timișoara) and Ofenpesth (Bud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marun Al Naqqash
Marun Al Naqqash (Arabic: مارون النقاش) (1855–1817) was a Sidon-born Maronite who produced the first theatre play texts in Arabic language. Early life and education Al Naqqash was born in Sidon on 9 February 1817 into a Maronite family. In 1825 his family moved to Beirut where he studied Arabic language, literature in addition to law and foreign languages, including French, Italian and Turkish. He also involved in poetry, Oriental music and was educated as a bookkeeper. Career and activities Following the completion of his studies Al Naqqash began to work as a chief clerk at the customs department and became a member of the chamber of commerce in Beirut. He traveled to Damascus, Aleppo and Egypt for business. In 1846 he went to Italy where he was introduced the Italian theatre and opera. After he returned to Lebanon he translated ''The Miser'', a play by Molière, into Arabic and published it with the title ''Al-bakhīl'' in 1847 which was the first Arabic play te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vasily Pashkevich
Vasily Alexeyevich Pashkevich also Paskevich (russian: Васи́лий Алексе́евич Пашке́вич or Паске́вич) (c. 1742, probably Ukraine – March 20, 1797 in St. Petersburg) was a Russian composer, singer, violinist and teacher of Ukrainian origin who lived during the time of Catherine the Great. Biography Vasily Pashkevich was of Ukrainian originShuliar, Orest: History of Vocal Art. Ivano-Frankivsk: Institute of Arts of Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, 2013. P. 13. and according to some sources was born in Ukraine. Vasily Pashkevich entered court service in 1756 becoming a court composer to Tsar Peter III of Russia and later to his widow, Catherine the Great. He also played violin, and taught singing in the Academy of Arts 1773-1774 and later in the court capella. Between 1780 and 1783 he managed the Karl Kniper Theatre and in 1789 he became the first violin of the court orchestra, remaining in charge of imperial ballroom music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giacomo Cordella
Giacomo Cordella (Naples, 25 July 1786 – Naples, 8 May 1847) was an Italian composer. Biography Cordella studied in Naples with Fedele Fenaroli and Giovanni Paisiello. In 1804 he composed his first work, a cantata entitled ''La Vittoria dell'Arca contro Gerico''.Fétis, ''Biographie universelle'' With the help of Paisiello in 1805 he had the possibility to produce in Venice his first opera, ''Il ciarlatano'', which was appreciated for its comic verve and then performed in other cities in northern Italy, including Milan, Turin and Padua. Cordella continued his activity mainly in Naples, where he was appreciated for his opere buffe, while his few opere serie met with failures. His greatest success was ''Una follia'',Libby, ''New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' first performed in 1813, an opera buffa featuring "a vivacious plot and a melody that flows agreeably".Cruciani, ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' Cordella composed also sacred music. Works Operas Other *''La vitt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gennaro Astarita
Gennaro Astarita (also spelled Astaritta) (c.1745–49 – 18 December 1805) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. The place of his birth is unknown, although he was active in Naples for many years. He began his operatic career in 1765, collaborating with Niccolò Piccinni in the writing of the opera ''L'orfana insidiata''. He became the maestro di cappella in Naples in 1770. Astaritta is also considered to have played an important role in the development of opera in Russia. He first visited the country in 1781 and by 1784 he had become the director of Moscow's Petrovsky Theatre (the predecessor of the Bolshoi Theatre). In 1794, Prince Nicolai Yusupov, who at the time was the director of the Imperial Theatres in St Petersburg, asked him to bring an Italian opera troupe to the city, which he did in 1796. Astarita ran the troupe until 1799. Amongst the singers he recruited was Teresa Saporiti, who had created the role of Donna Anna in Mozart's ''Don Giovanni''.Randel (1996) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
L'avaro (Anfossi)
''L'avaro'' ("The Miser"), is an opera (''dramma giocoso'') in three acts composed by Pasquale Anfossi. The libretto by Giovanni Bertati is based on Molière's 17th-century comedy ''The Miser''. Considered one of Anfossi's best operas, it premiered at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice in the autumn season of 1775 and was subsequently performed throughout Italy and in other European cities. Background and performance history Anfossi was a prolific composer. ''L'avaro'' was the 25th of his 70 or more operas and one of the three which he had composed for the 1775 season at Venice's Teatro San Moisè. His librettist Giovanni Bertati was equally prolific, having written at least 70 libretti in his lifetime, almost all of them in the ''dramma giocoso'' genre. The premiere production of ''L'avaro'' had sets designed by Domenico and Gerolamo Mauri and costumes by Giuseppe Tadio. The performance was accompanied by a ballet, ''La serenata interrotta, o sia Il triplice matrimonio'' ("The Seren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pasquale Anfossi
Pasquale Anfossi (5 April 1727 – February 1797) was an Italian opera composer. Born in Taggia, Liguria, he studied with Niccolò Piccinni and Antonio Sacchini, and worked mainly in London, Venice and Rome. He wrote more than 80 operas, both '' opera seria'' and ''opera buffa'', although he concentrated on church music, especially oratorios, during his last years. Anfossi died in Rome in 1797. Career Aiming at first to become a performer, he studied violin at the Neapolitan Loreto Conservatorium from 1744 to 1752, and played in an opera orchestra for ten years. He then turned to composing, studying with Sacchini and Piccinni. The first performance of his own work, the ''opera buffa'' ''La Serva Spiritosa'' was at the Rome Carnival in 1763, though his authorship of the work was not clearly established at the time. It appears he preferred to work under his teacher Sacchini, supplementing his tutor's works. Nevertheless, he made a breakthrough with his '' dramma giocoso'' '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giovanni Bertati
Giovanni Bertati (10 July 1735 – 1 March 1815) was an Italian Libretto, librettist. Bertati was born in Martellago, Italy. In 1763, he wrote his first libretto, ''La morte di Dimone'' ("The Death of Dimone"), set to music by Antonio Tozzi. Two years later, ''L'isola della fortuna'' ("The Island of Fortune"), based on Bertati's libretto and Andrea Luchesi's music, was performed in Vienna. During 1770, Bertati visited Vienna several times, where he collaborated with Baldassare Galuppi. Emperor Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold II gave Bertati the title of ''Poeta Cesareo'' ("Imperial Poet") of the Italian Opera in Vienna, previously held by Lorenzo Da Ponte, who, a year earlier, fell in disgrace with the emperor. He died in Venice, Italy. During his career as a librettist, Bertati was almost exclusively devoted to writing Dramma giocoso, drammi giocosi. His most celebrated libretto is ''Il matrimonio segreto'' ("The Secret Marriage"), set to the music of Domenico Cimarosa, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commedia Dell'arte
(; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Characterized by masked "types", was responsible for the rise of actresses such as Isabella Andreini and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. A , such as ''The Tooth Puller'', is both scripted and improvised. Characters' entrances and exits are scripted. A special characteristic of is the , a joke or "something foolish or witty", usually well known to the performers and to some extent a scripted routine. Another characteristic of is pantomime, which is mostly used by the character Arlecchino, now better known as Harlequin. The characters of the usually represent fixed social types and stock characters, such as foolish old men, devious servants, or military officers full of false bravado. The characters are exaggerated "r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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