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The Secret (opera)
''The Secret'' ( cz, Tajemství) is a comic opera in three acts by Bedřich Smetana. The libretto was written by Eliška Krásnohorská. The premiere took place on 18 September 1878 at the Nové České Divadlo (New Czech Theatre) in Prague. Background Krásnohorská proposed the idea for a new opera to Smetana two weeks after the opening of ''The Kiss'', but kept details of the plot a secret from the composer until July 1877, when a draft outline, drawing on several sources, including ''Les femmes et le secret'' by La Fontaine, was sent to him.Large B. Smetana's 'The Secret'. ''Musical Times'', May 1972, 452-4. The librettist had set the action in the small town of Bĕlá in the Bezdĕz mountains, visible from Smetana's home in the country. Fighting his increasing deafness and resultant depression, Smetana made a few small changes to Krásnohorská's original draft and delivered a full score to the New Czech Theatre on 4 August 1877, for the premiere in September. The through com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bedřich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana ( , ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival." He has been regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music. Internationally he is best known for his 1866 opera ''The Bartered Bride'' and for the symphonic cycle ''Má vlast'' ("My Fatherland"), which portrays the history, legends and landscape of the composer's native Bohemia. It contains the famous symphonic poem "Vltava", also popularly known by its German name "Die Moldau" (in English, "The Moldau"). Smetana was naturally gifted as a composer, and gave his first public performance at the age of 6. After conventional schooling, he studied music under Josef Proksch in Prague. His first nationalistic music was written during the 1848 Prague uprising, in which he briefly participated. After failing to establish his career in Prague, he left for Sweden ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vilém Tauský
Vilém Tauský CBE (20 July 1910, Přerov, Moravia – 16 March 2004, London) was a Czech conductor and composer who, from the advent of the Second World War, lived and worked in the UK, one of a significant group of émigré composers and musicians who settled there. Life Vilém Tauský was from a musical family: his Viennese mother had sung Mozart at the Vienna State Opera under Gustav Mahler, and her cousin was the operetta composer Leo Fall.'Tauský, Vilém' by , ''Grove Music Online'' (2001) Tauský studied with and later became a repetiteur at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supraphon
Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers. History The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. The name was used for the label of domestic albums produced for export by Ultraphon company. Post World War II Ultraphon was nationalized and changed its name to Gramofonové závody. In 1961 the name was changed to Gramofonové závody – Supraphon and later just to Supraphon in 1969. In Czechoslovakia, it was one of the three major state-owned labels, the other two being Panton and Opus. Panton is currently a division of Supraphon; Opus (operating in Slovakia) became independent after break-up of Czechoslovakia and was acquired by Warner Music Group in 2019. Catalogues The artistic direction of the firm gave rise to a broad catalogue of titles which systematically mapped out the works of Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, Leoš J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leo Marian Vodička
Leo Marian Vodička (born 8 April 1950) is a Czech operatic tenor who has had an active international career since the early 1970s. He has sung on a number of complete opera recordings and appears in several filmed opera performances. Born in Brno, Vodička studied singing at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in his native city. He made his professional opera debut in 1971 at the Jihočeské divadlo in České Budějovice as Lukáš in Bedřich Smetana's '' The Kiss''. He remained at that opera house for one year, after which he was committed to the Moravské divadlo in Olomouc from 1972 to 1979. He sang at the Brno National Theatre from 1979 to 1982. From 1982 to 1987, he was a member of the Prague National Theatre. He returned to Brno from 1987 to 1992. Since 1992 Vodička has worked as a freelance artist without a permanent engagement. He made his debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1990 as the Prince in Antonín Dvořák's '' Rusalka'' and his first appearanc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Věra Soukupová
Věra Soukupová (born 12 April 1932) is a Czech mezzo-soprano. Born in Prague, Soukupová studied singing at the Prague Conservatory and privately with Luis Kadeřábek and A. Mustanová-Linková. She won several competitions, including the international singing competition in Prague (1954), the international singing competition in Toulouse (1958), the competition at the Prague Spring Festival (1960), and the international singing competition in Rio de Janeiro (1963). She began her performance career as a concert singer in 1955 and in 1957 made her stage debut at the Divadlo Josefa Kajetána Tyla in Plzeň Plzeň (; German and English: Pilsen, in German ) is a city in the Czech Republic. About west of Prague in western Bohemia, it is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 169,000 inhabita .... In 1960 Soukupová became a principal artist at the National Theatre in Prague which has remained her principal home. Ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Václav Zítek
Václav Zítek (24 March 1932 – 18 December 2011) was a Czech opera singer. A lyric baritone with a beautiful timbre and a wide vocal range, he was one of the leading Czech singers of the postwar generation. He particularly excelled in portraying Janáček and Smetana heroes. His voice is preserved on numerous opera recordings made with the Supraphon record label. Biography Born in Tisá, Zítek studied singing privately with E. Matoušková, M. Linka, D. Levytský, and Zdeněk Otava. Between 1955 and 1959, he worked on the staff at the National Theatre in Prague and sang in some smaller roles. In 1959–1960, he worked as a principal artist at the Zdeněk Nejedlý Theatre in Ostrava. He then was a leading baritone at the opera house in Ústí nad Labem from 1960 to 1969. While there he also appeared occasionally as a guest artist at the Prague National Theatre. He eventually left Ústí nad Labem for that house, singing as a leading baritone at the National Theatre from 196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Theatre (Prague)
The National Theatre ( cs, Národní divadlo) in Prague is known as the alma mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of History of the Czech Republic, Czech history and art. The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions, with a rich artistic tradition, which helped to preserve and develop the most important features of the nation–the Czech language and a sense for a Czech musical and dramatic way of thinking. Today the National Theatre consists of three artistic ensembles: opera, National Theatre Ballet (Prague), ballet and drama. They alternate in their performances in the historic building of the National Theatre, in the Theatre of the Estates and in the Kolowrat Theatre. All three artistic ensembles select their repertoire both from Culture of the Czech Republic, classical heritage, and modern authors. Initial design and construction, 1844 to 1881 The cornerstone of the National Theatre was laid on 16 May 1868, but the idea of b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adolf Krössing
Adolf Krössing (5 January 1848 – 28 January 1933) was a German Bohemian operatic tenor, stage director, and actor of both the stage and film. Possessing a smaller voice, Krössing impressed audiences not with his vocal prowess but with his dramatic gifts. A master of improvisation and comic timing, he excelled in character roles. He is particularly remembered for creating roles in several world premieres by Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák. Biography Krössing was born in Prague, the son of a German father and a French mother. He was brought up in an entirely German environment, being schooled by German tutors and speaking primarily German at home. His father wanted Krössing to become a lawyer, but his own proclivities lay towards the theatre. Under the advice of a friend, he began taking singing lessons with František Vogl in Prague. Shortly thereafter he began appearing in stage plays in that city. Krössing made his first singing appearances in concerts at the Pilse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betty Fibichová
Betty Fibichová (16 March 1846 – 20 May 1901) was a Czechoslovak opera singer and the wife of composer Zdeněk Fibich. The greatest Czech operatic contralto of her day, she enjoyed close artistic partnerships with both Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana in addition to collaborating frequently with her husband. Biography Born Betty Hanušová in Jilemnice, Fibichová made her professional opera debut at the Provisional Theatre in 1868. Later that year Bedřich Smetana became her artistic manager, and she became highly involved with his group of artists that would later be established at the Prague National Theatre. She notably sang at the opening of the theatre on 11 June 1881 as Radmilla in the world premiere of Smetana's ''Libuše''; a performance given in honor of the visit of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria. A fire broke in the new theatre on the following 12 August 1881 which destroyed the copper dome, the auditorium and stage of the theatre. The theatre was repaired a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically between the F below middle C (F3 in scientific pitch notation) to the second F above middle C (F5), although, at the extremes, some voices can reach the D below middle C (D3) or the second B above middle C (B5). The contralto voice type is generally divided into the coloratura, lyric, and dramatic contralto. History "Contralto" is primarily meaningful only in reference to classical and operatic singing, as other traditions lack a comparable system of vocal categorization. The term "contralto" is only applied to female singers; men singing in a similar range are called "countertenors". The Italian terms "contralto" and "alto" are not synonymous, "alto" technically denoting a specific vocal range in choral singing without regard to factors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baritone
A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C (i.e. F2–F4) in choral music, and from the second A below middle C to the A above middle C (A2 to A4) in operatic music, but the range can extend at either end. Subtypes of baritone include the baryton-Martin baritone (light baritone), lyric baritone, ''Kavalierbariton'', Verdi baritone, dramatic baritone, ''baryton-noble'' baritone, and the bass-baritone. History The first use of the term "baritone" emerged as ''baritonans'', late in the 15th century, usually in French sacred polyphonic music. At this early stage it was frequently used as the lowest of the voices (including the bass), but in 17th-century Italy the term was all-encompassing and used to describe the averag ... [...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] |
