|
The Greek Passion
''The Greek Passion'' (Czech ''Řecké pašije'') is an opera in four acts by Bohuslav Martinů. The English-language libretto, by the composer, is based on Jonathan Griffin's translation of the novel ''The Greek Passion'' (or '' Christ Recrucified'') by Nikos Kazantzakis. Background The opera exists in two versions. Martinů wrote the original version from 1954 to 1957. He offered this original version of the opera in 1957 to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where the music director, Rafael Kubelík, and the general administrator, David Webster, had approved the score for production. However, following intervention by Sir Arthur Bliss, the company then demurred on the production and did not stage the work at the time. The composer then produced a second version of the opera first performed, at the Zurich Opera, Zürich, on 9 June 1961, after Martinů's death in 1959. The second version was first produced in the UK at Welsh National Opera on 29 April 1981, conducted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and briefly studied under Czech composer and violinist Josef Suk. After leaving Czechoslovakia in 1923 for Paris, Martinů deliberately withdrew from the Romantic style in which he had been trained. During the 1920s he experimented with modern French stylistic developments, exemplified by his orchestral works ''Half-time'' and ''La Bagarre''. He also adopted jazz idioms, for instance in his '' Kitchen Revue'' (''Kuchyňská revue''). In the early 1930s he found his main fount for compositional style: neoclassicism, creating textures far denser than those found in composers treating Stravinsky as a model. He was prolific, quickly composing chamber, orchestral, choral and instrumental w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its early days the company gave a single week's annual season in Cardiff, gradually extending its schedule to become an all-year-round operation, with its own salaried chorus and orchestra. It has been described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the finest operatic ensembles in Europe". For most of its existence the company lacked a permanent base in Cardiff, but in 2004 it moved into the new Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay. The company tours nationally and internationally, giving more than 120 performances annually, with a repertoire of eight operas each year, to a combined audience of more than 150,000 people. Its most frequent venues other than Cardiff are Llandudno in Wales and Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Oxfo ... [...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] |
Fritz Peter (tenor)
Fritz Peter (7 November 1925 – 8 January 1994) was a Swiss operatic tenor. Life and career Born in Camorino, Peter first did an apprenticeship as a mechanical engineer. He then studied singing from 1945 to 1948 with the soprano Annelies Gamper and with Elfriede Lemmer at the Zurich University of the Arts, from 1948 to 1955 with the soprano Margherita Perras in Zurich and then with Vito Frazzi in Siena and with Alphons Fischer in Stuttgart. From 1955 to 1961, he was engaged at the Städtische Bühne Ulm, where, in addition to roles as a lyric tenor, he also took on roles as a Heldentenor, such as Florestan in ''Fidelio'', Don José in ''Carmen'', Riccardo in ''Un ballo in maschera'' and Max in ''Der Freischütz''. He was then engaged at the Stadttheater/Opernhaus Zürich until 1990. There, he sang tenor roles in operas and operettas such as ''Si j'étais roi, Lulu, Wozzeck, Il matrimonio segreto, Martha Il re cervo, Jenůfa, The Count of Luxembourg, Paganini, Don Giovann ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Pease
James Pease (9 January 1916, in Indianapolis – 26 April 1967, in New York City)“Pease, James” in ''Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Classical Musicians'', ed. Laura Kuhn. Schirmer Books, 1997. was an American bass-baritone, notable for his Wagnerian roles. He was also a distinguished Balstrode in Benjamin Britten’s ''Peter Grimes'', a role which he was the first to perform in the US in 1946, and later recorded under the composer’s direction in 1958. Life and career A law graduate of Indiana University in 1939, Pease won a scholarship at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and studied there rather than begin practice as a lawyer. He made his debut with the Philadelphia Opera Company as Mephistopheles in ''Faust'', and sang many other roles with the company both in Philadelphia and in Boston. He also pursued concert, oratorio and radio work on the East Coast of the United States ''The Lewiston Daily Sun'', May 5, 1947. He was praised by Serge Kousse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass-baritone
A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the title role in ''Der fliegende Holländer'', Wotan/Der Wanderer in the ''Ring Cycle'' and Hans Sachs in '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''. Wagner labelled these roles as ''Hoher Bass'' ("high bass")—see fach for more details. The bass-baritone voice is distinguished by two attributes. First, it must be capable of singing comfortably in a baritonal tessitura. Secondly, however, it needs to have the ripely resonant lower range typically associated with the bass voice. For example, the role of Wotan in ''Die Walküre'' covers the range from F2 (the F at the bottom of the bass clef) to F4 (the F above middle C), but only infrequently descends beyond C3 (the C below middle C). Bass-baritones are typically divide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandra Warfield
Sandra Warfield (June 8, 1921 – June 29, 2009) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who performed with New York City's Metropolitan Opera from the 1950s through the 1970s. She was born in Kansas City, Missouri on June 8, 1921, as Flora Jean Bornstein and studied music there at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music (which later became a division of the University of Missouri–Kansas City). She made her stage debut with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera during the 1940s.Fox, Margalit"Sandra Warfield, Opera and Cabaret Singer, Dies at 88" ''The New York Times'', July 4, 2009. Accessed July 5, 2009. In 1950 she portrayed Prince Orlofsky in ''Die Fledermaus'' at the Chautauqua Opera. Warfield first appeared on the stage of Metropolitan Opera in a 1953 performance of '' The Marriage of Figaro'', the 1786 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in which she sang the role of a peasant girl. She sang the role of Delilah in Camille Saint-Saëns's ''Samson and Delilah'' at a concert i ... [...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] |
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" '' |
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] |
Paul Sacher
Paul Sacher (28 April 190626 May 1999) was a Swiss conductor, patron and billionaire businessperson. At the time of his death Sacher was majority shareholder of pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche and was considered the third richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of US$13 billion. He founded and conducted the Basler Kammerorchester (1926–1987). He commissioned notable works of composers of the 20th century and premiered them with the chamber orchestra. While better known for his interest in new music, he was also devoted to music of baroque and classical eras; he founded the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, institute for early music, in 1933. Biography Sacher studied under Felix Weingartner, among others. In 1926 he founded the chamber orchestra Basler Kammerorchester, which specialized in both modern (twentieth-century) and pre-classical (mid-eighteenth-century) repertory. In 1928 he founded the Basel Chamber Choir. Both the orchestra and choir gave their las ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Theatre Of Northern Greece
The National (or State) Theatre of Northern Greece (Κρατικό Θέατρο Βορείου Ελλάδος), an institution promoting theatrical plays in Thessaloniki and northern Greece, was founded in 1961 by Sokratis Karantinos, its first director. The Drama School and the Dance Theatre are integral parts of the National Theatre. The first base of the institution was the building of the Royal Theatre (Thessaloniki) but in 1962 was transferred to the current building. The complex of the Society of Macedonian Studies consists of three buildings. Megaron B', which hosts the theatre, was designed in early 1950s by Vasilis Kassandras, influenced by the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. NTNG’s present institutional framework was established in 1994, with an Artistic Director and a seven-member Board of Directors who run the Theatre, which is subsidized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Greece). With four indoor theatres and two open-air theatres, NTNG is one of the bigg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpeg "Click for more on -> Paul Sacher")
