The Marriage (opera)
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The Marriage (opera)
''The Marriage'' is a comic opera in 2 acts by Bohuslav Martinů, to the composer's own libretto, after the play of the same name by Nikolai Gogol. The opera was commissioned for television by the NBC, and the NBC Opera Theatre performed the work's world premiere on their television program ''NBC TV Opera Theatre'' for a national broadcast in the United States on 2 July 1953. The opera has subsequently been adapted for the stage and recorded on CD. Television premiere Martinů was first approached to compose an opera for the NBC Opera Theatre by the company's Artistic Director, the conductor Peter Herman Adler, and their executive producer, Samuel Chotzinoff. Martinů had already been contemplating setting Gogol's play to music, and his suggestion to Adler and Chotzinoff was readily accepted. Martinů commenced on writing both the music and the libretto. Although the NBC announced that they were mounting a new opera with music by Martinů, they refused to disclose to the press w ...
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Comic Opera
Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, ''opera buffa'', emerged as an alternative to '' opera seria''. It quickly made its way to France, where it became ''opéra comique'', and eventually, in the following century, French operetta, with Jacques Offenbach as its most accomplished practitioner. The influence of the Italian and French forms spread to other parts of Europe. Many countries developed their own genres of comic opera, incorporating the Italian and French models along with their own musical traditions. Examples include German ''singspiel'', Viennese operetta, Spanish '' zarzuela'', Russian comic opera, English ballad and Savoy opera, North American operetta and musical comedy. Italian ''opera buffa'' In late 17th-century Italy, light-hearted m ...
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Theater Bonn
Theater Bonn (also known as the Stadttheater Bonn) is the municipal theatre company of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is an organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts. It operates several performance venues throughout the town: for music theatre, the and for plays, and the Choreographisches Theater for ballet and dance. History The history of theatre in Bonn dates back to the time of the electors. End of the 17th century, a court theatre was established at the Electoral Palace, where French and Italian troupes played. In the 18th century, an amateur theatre was established for German plays (''Nationaltheater''), directed by Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann from 1778 to 1784, who staged the premiere of Schiller's '' Die Verschwörung des Fiesko zu Genua'' on 20 July 1783. The new French government destroyed the court theatre in 1797. In 1826, citizens built their own play house. A new building was opened in 1848, marked by Beeth ...
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Bass (voice Type)
A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C (i.e., E2–E4).; ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'' gives E2–E4/F4 Its tessitura, or comfortable range, is normally defined by the outermost lines of the bass clef. Categories of bass voices vary according to national style and classification system. Italians favour subdividing basses into the ''basso cantante'' (singing bass), ''basso buffo'' ("funny" bass), or the dramatic ''basso profondo'' (low bass). The American system identifies the bass-baritone, comic bass, lyric bass, and dramatic bass. The German ''Fach'' system offers further distinctions: Spielbass (Bassbuffo), Schwerer Spielbass (Schwerer Bassbuffo), Charakterbass (Bassbariton), and Seriöser Bass. These classification systems can ...
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Ruth Kobart
Ruth Kobart (April 24, 1924 – December 14, 2002) was an American performer, whose six-decade career encompassed opera, Broadway musical theatre, regional theatre, films, and television. Life and career Born as Ruth Maxine Kahn in Des Moines, Iowa, Kobart studied opera at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago and made her professional debut as the Witch in an off-Broadway production of Engelbert Humperdinck's '' Hänsel und Gretel''. She frequently toured with the NBC Opera Theatre (NBCOT) and the New York City Opera (NYCO). With the NBCOT she notably created the role of Agata in the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's ''Maria Golovin'' at the Expo '58 in Brussels on August 20, 1958; later the same year she portrayed the role on Broadway. For the NBC, she also created the role of Arina in the premiere of Bohuslav Martinů's '' The Marriage''. She played Madame Pace in the world premiere of Hugo Weisgall's ''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' at the NYCO in ...
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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 ...
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Winifred Heidt
Winifred is a feminine given name, an anglicization of Welsh ''Gwenffrewi'', from ''gwen'', "fair", and ''ffrew'', "stillness". It may refer to: People * Saint Winifred * Winifred Atwell (1914–1983), a pianist who enjoyed great popularity in Britain in the 1950s with a series of boogie woogie and ragtime hits * Winifred Mitchell Baker (born 1957), better known simply as Mitchell Baker, the "Chief Lizard Wrangler" and the President of the Mozilla Corporation * Winifred, Countess of Dundonald, wife of Douglas Cochrane, 12th Earl of Dundonald * Winifred Brunton (1880-1959), a painter from South Africa most famous for her haunting portraits of Egyptian pharaohs * Winifred Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (née ''Dallas-Yorke;'' 1863–1954), wife of William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland * Winifred Copperwheat (19051976), English violist * Winifred Starr Dobyns (18861963), American suffragist and landscape designer * Dr. Winifred Margaret 'Winnie' Ewing (born 1929), ...
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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 ...
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Michael Pollock (tenor)
Michael Pollock (October 20, 1921 – November 8, 2003) was an American operatic tenor, opera director, and voice teacher. He notably worked as both a performer and director at the New York City Opera during the 1940s and 1950s. Biography Born in New York City, Pollock began his career appearing in Off-Broadway productions in the mid-1940s. In 1947–1948 he was a member of the chorus in the Broadway revival of Marc Blitzstein's ''The Cradle Will Rock''. In 1949 he became a member of the New York City Opera (NYCO) at the invitation of Laszlo Halasz, making his debut with the company as the animal vendor in Richard Strauss's ''Der Rosenkavalier''. In 1953 he created the role of Kokhkaryov in the world premiere of Bohuslav Martinů's '' The Marriage'' with the NBC Opera Theater. Pollock appeared as a character tenor in numerous NYCO productions up through 1956, notably creating roles in the world premieres of David Tamkin's ''The Dybbuk'' (1951) and Aaron Copland’s ''The Tend ...
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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 ...
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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"
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Donald Gramm
Donald John Gramm (February 26, 1927 – June 2, 1983) was an American bass-baritone whose career was divided between opera and concert performances. His appearances were primarily limited to the United States, which at the time was unusual for an American singer. John Rockwell of ''The New York Times'' described Gramm as follows: "He had an unusually rich, noble tone, and although its volume may not have been large, it penetrated even the biggest theaters easily. Technically, he could handle bel-canto ornamentation fluently. But his real strengths lay in his aristocratic musicianship (impeccable phrasing that he polished by accompanying himself at the piano, and an easy command of five languages) and his instinctive acting."Rockwell, John (3 June 1983)."Donald Gramm is dead at 56; bass-baritone at Met Opera ''The New York Times''. Retrieved 2 January 2010. Among the most notable of his many operatic roles were the title role in Verdi's ''Falstaff'', Leporello in Mozart's ''Don Gi ...
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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 ...
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