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Ursula Schröder-Feinen
Ursula Schröder-Feinen (21 July 1936 – 9 February 2005) was a German operatic dramatic soprano who performed internationally, including at the Metropolitan Opera and the Bayreuth Festival. Life and career She was born in Gelsenkirchen, where she studied voice with Maria Helm. Later she studied at the Folkwangschule in Essen. From 1958 she sang in the opera chorus of her hometown. In 1961 her career as a soloist began with singing the title role of Verdi's ''Aida''. She was a member of the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein from 1968 to 1972. She performed at the Edinburgh Festival, the Vienna State Opera and at La Scala. She appeared as a guest at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, in Leipzig, Geneve, Strasbourg, Copenhagen, Prague and Amsterdam, among others. Her debut at the Metropolitan Opera was in 1970 as Chrysothemis in '' Elektra'' by Richard Strauss, alongside Birgit Nilsson and Regina Resnik, conducted by Karl Böhm. She performed there Brünnhilde in Wagner's ''Siegfri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 25th-most populous city of Germany and the 11th-most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher, Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies at the centre of the Ruhr, Ruhr area, the largest urban area of Germany, of which it is the fifth-largest city after Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg and Bochum. The Ruhr is located in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, the List of EU metropolitan regions by GDP#2021 ranking of top 4 German metropolitan regions, second-biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union. Gelsenkirchen is the fifth-largest city of Westphalia after Dortmund, Bochum, Bielefeld and Münster, and it is one of the southernmost cities in the Low German dialect area. The city is home to the Association football, football club FC Schalke 04, Schalke 04, which is named after Gelsenkirchen-Schalke. The club's current stadium Veltins-Arena, h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Böhm
Karl August Leopold Böhm (28 August 1894 – 14 August 1981) was an Austrian conductor. He was best known for his performances of the music of Mozart, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. Life and career Education Karl Böhm was born in Graz, Styria, Austria. The son of a lawyer, he studied law and earned a doctorate in this subject before entering the music conservatory in his home town of Graz. He later enrolled at the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied under Eusebius Mandyczewski, a friend of Johannes Brahms. Munich, Darmstadt, Hamburg In 1917, Böhm became a rehearsal assistant in his home town, making his debut as a conductor in Viktor Nessler's ''Der Trompeter von Säckingen'' in 1917. He became the assistant director of music in 1919, and the following year, the senior director. On the recommendation of Karl Muck, Bruno Walter engaged him at the Bavarian State Opera, Munich in 1921. An early assignment here was Mozart's ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'', with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teatro Dell'Opera Di Roma
The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The present house seats 1,560. Original Teatro Costanzi: 1880 to 1926 The Teatro dell'Opera was originally known as the ''Teatro Costanzi'' after the contractor who built it, (1819–1898). It was financed by Costanzi, who commissioned the Milanese architect Achille Sfondrini (1836–1900), a specialist in the building and renovation of theatres. The opera house was built in eighteen months, on the site where the house of Heliogabalus stood in ancient times, and was inaugurated on 27 November 1880 with a performance of ''Semiramide'' by Gioachino Rossini. Designing the theatre, Sfondrini paid particular attention to the acoustics, conceiving the interior structure as a "resonance chamber", as is evident from the horseshoe shape in particular. W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vienna Philharmonic
Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. Selection involves a lengthy process, with each musician demonstrating their capability for a minimum of three years' performance for the opera and ballet. After this probationary period, the musician may request an application for a position in the orchestra from the Vienna Philharmonic's board. The Vienna Philharmonic hires no musician over 35 years of age, and has a mandatory retirement age of 65; 30 years of service are required for full pension. History Precursors and formation Until the 1830s, orchestral performance in Vienna was done by ''ad hoc'' orchestras, consisting of professional and (often) amateur musicians brought together for specific performances. In 1833, Franz Lachner formed the forerunner of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Berry (bass-baritone)
Walter Berry (8 April 1929 – 27 October 2000) was an Austrian lyric bass-baritone who enjoyed a prominent career in opera. He has been cited as one of several exemplary operatic bass-baritones of his era. Professional career Walter Berry was born in Vienna. He studied voice at the Vienna Music Academy and made his stage debut with the Vienna State Opera in 1947. He became a permanent member of the company in 1950, remaining with that ensemble for his entire career, although he undertook frequent guest appearances elsewhere in Europe and in the UK. In 1952, Berry made his first appearance at the Salzburg Festival, where he subsequently performed on a regular basis. While in Salzburg, he collaborated with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in a production of Mozart's opera ''Don Giovanni'' with Leontyne Price and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. While appearing in Vienna and Salzburg, Berry interpreted an extensive operatic repertoire which included ove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Hesse
Ruth Hesse (18 September 1936 – 13 July 2024) was a German opera singer. A dramatic mezzo-soprano, she was a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1962 to 1995, where she took part in the world premiere of Henze's ''Der junge Lord''. She was first invited to the Bayreuth Festival in 1960, where she performed until 1979. Her international career began after she appeared at the Vienna State Opera in 1965 in two leading roles, Ortrud in Wagner ''Lohengrin'' and Eboli in Verdi's ''Don Carlos''. She performed there regularly to 1988, and was appointed an Austrian Kammersängerin in 1982. Hesse first appeared as Brangäne in Wagner's ''Tristan und Isolde'' at the Opéra National de Lyon. Her first role at the Royal Opera House, in 1969, was the Nurse in ''Die Frau ohne Schatten'' by Richard Strauss, which became a signature role, repeated in Paris and at the 1974 Salzburg Festival, among others. Her voice was described as of a wide range, dark timbre and capable of dramatic express ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James King (tenor)
James King (May 22, 1925November 20, 2005) was an American operatic tenor who had an active international singing career in operas and concerts from the 1950s through 2000. Widely regarded as one of the finest American heldentenors of the post-war period, he excelled in performances of the works of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. King made several recordings during his career, most notably singing the role of Siegmund in ''Die Walküre'' for Sir Georg Solti's famous recording of Wagner's '' Ring Cycle''. He was a member of the voice faculties at the University of Missouri–Kansas City and the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University. Biography King was born in Dodge City, Kansas, to an Irish father and a mother of German lineage. In his youth he actively sang in church choirs and studied the violin. He earned a bachelor's degree in music from Louisiana State University in 1949, where he trained to be a baritone with Dallas Draper. He then pursued a master's degree in v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonie Rysanek
Leopoldine Rysanek (14 November 1926 – 7 March 1998), known professionally as Leonie Rysanek, was an Austrian dramatic soprano. Life Rysanek was born in Vienna as one of six children of a Czech father and an Austrian mother. She entered the Vienna Academy at 16, where she studied with Alfred Jerger. Rysanek made her operatic debut in 1949 in Innsbruck. In 1951, the Bayreuth Festival reopened and the new leader Wieland Wagner asked her to sing Sieglinde in ''Die Walküre'', conducted by Herbert von Karajan. He was convinced that her unique, young and beautiful voice, combined with her rare acting abilities, would create a sensation. She became a star overnight, and the role of Sieglinde followed her for the rest of her career. Her final performance was at the Salzburg Festival in August 1996, as Klytämnestra in '' Elektra'' by Richard Strauss. She made her American debut at the San Francisco Opera on 18 September 1956 in '' Der fliegende Holländer'', the first of he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of the festival; one highlight is the annual performance of Hofmannsthal's play ''Jedermann (play), Jedermann'' (''Everyman''). Since 1967, an annual Salzburg Easter Festival has also been held, organized by a separate organization. History Music festivals were held in Salzburg at irregular intervals since 1877 by the International Mozarteum Foundation but were discontinued in 1910. A festival was planned for 1914, but it was cancelled at the outbreak of World War I. In 1917, Friedrich Gehmacher and Heinrich Damisch formed an organization known as the ''Salzburger Festspielhaus-Gemeinde'' to establish an annual festival of drama and music, emphasizing especially the works of Mozart. At the close of the war in 1918, the festival's revival wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parsifal
''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of the '' Minnesänger'' Wolfram von Eschenbach and the Old French chivalric romance ''Perceval ou le Conte du Graal'' by the 12th-century ''trouvère'' Chrétien de Troyes, recounting different accounts of the story of the Arthurian knight Parzival (Percival) and his spiritual quest for the Holy Grail. Wagner conceived the work in April 1857, but did not finish it until 25 years later. In composing it he took advantage of the particular acoustics of his newly built Bayreuth Festspielhaus. ''Parsifal'' was first produced at the second Bayreuth Festival in 1882. The Bayreuth Festival maintained a monopoly on ''Parsifal'' productions until 1914, however the opera was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1903 after a US court ruled ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lohengrin (opera)
''Lohengrin'' ( in German language, German), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 75, is a Romanticism, Romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the ''Parzival'' of Wolfram von Eschenbach, and its sequel ''Lohengrin'', itself inspired by the epic of ''Garin le Loherain''. It is part of the Knight of the Swan legend. The opera has inspired other works of art. King Ludwig II of Bavaria named his castle Neuschwanstein Castle after the Swan Knight. It was King Ludwig's patronage that later gave Wagner the means and opportunity to complete, build a theatre for, and stage his epic cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''. He had discontinued composing it at the end of Act II of ''Siegfried'', the third of the ''Ring'' tetralogy, to create his radical chromatic masterpiece of the late 1850s, ''Tristan und Isolde'', and his lyrical comic opera of the mid-1860s, ''Di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Der Fliegende Holländer
' (''The Flying Dutchman''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 63, is a German-language opera, with libretto and music by Richard Wagner. The central theme is redemption through love. Wagner Conducting, conducted the premiere at the Königliches Hoftheater Dresden in 1843. Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography ''Mein Leben (Wagner), Mein Leben'' that he had been inspired to write the opera following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839. In his 1843 ''Autobiographic Sketch (Wagner), Autobiographic Sketch'', Wagner acknowledged he had taken the story from Heinrich Heine's retelling of the Flying Dutchman, legend in his 1833 satirical novel ''The Memoirs of Mister von Schnabelewopski'' (''Aus den Memoiren des Herrn von Schnabelewopski''). This work shows early attempts at operatic styles that would characterise his later music dramas. In ''Der fliegende Holländer'' Wagner uses a number of leitmotifs (literally, "leading motifs") associated with th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
