|
Wonderland (Faryl Smith Album)
''Wonderland'' is the second studio album by teenage mezzo-soprano Faryl Smith, released by Decca Records on 30 November 2009. Smith became famous after her participation in ''Britain's Got Talent'' in 2008, and subsequently, aged 13, signed with Universal Classics and Jazz, releasing her debut album, ''Faryl''. Released only a few months afterwards, ''Wonderland'' contains a mix of classical and non-classical songs, which were chosen by both Smith and her record label. A concept album, it is based on '' Alice in Wonderland'', and features a digitally produced "duet" with Luciano Pavarotti, who died in 2007, as well as a song set to "Winter", from Vivaldi's '' Four Seasons''. As with ''Faryl'', ''Wonderland'' was produced by Jon Cohen. Smith promoted the album with appearances on television and radio. For the most part, critics responded positively to the album, with praise for Smith's vocals, the song choice and the musical arrangement, but criticism for "the lack of emotiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faryl Smith
Faryl Smith (born 23 July 1995) is a British soprano whose performance repertoire includes opera, classical and classical crossover. Her diverse concerts draw a wide range of audiences, and she particularly enjoys introducing new audiences to classical music. Faryl has released two albums with Decca Records both in the UK and the US and works frequently with many different charities. Faryl rose to fame after appearing on the second series of the ITV television talent show ''Britain's Got Talent'' in 2008. After the show, she, unlike other finalists, did not sign with the judge Simon Cowell's record label Syco. Smith signed a contract with Universal Classics and Jazz for a £2.3 million advance in December 2008, the largest ever granted to a schoolgirl. Her debut album, ''Faryl'', was recorded from December 2008 to January 2009 and released in March 2009. ''Faryl'' became the fastest-selling solo classical album in British chart history, selling 29,200 copies in the first we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Britain's Got Talent (series 2)
The second series of British talent competition programme ''Britain's Got Talent'' was broadcast on ITV, from 12 April to 31 May 2008. Following the success of its first series, ITV commissioned the programme for additional episodes, with more venues used for auditions than in the previous series, and the number of semi-finalists, semi-final rounds, and finalists increased by production staff. Both the judges from the first series - Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan - and Ant & Dec returned to co-host the second series, along with Stephen Mulhern returning to front the second series of ''Britain's Got More Talent'' on ITV2. The second series was won by street dancer George Sampson and finishing in first place and dance duo Signature finishing in second place. During its broadcast, the series proved to be a greater ratings success, averaging 10.2 million viewers. ITV was forced to defend the programme during its second series, after viewers criticised the involvement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print circulation of 716,923 in December 2016, dropping to 587,803 the following year. Its Sunday sister paper is the '' Sunday Mirror''. Unlike other major British tabloids such as '' The Sun'' and the '' Daily Mail'', the ''Mirror'' has no separate Scottish edition; this function is performed by the '' Daily Record'' and the '' Sunday Mail'', which incorporate certain stories from the ''Mirror'' that are of Scottish significance. Originally pitched to the middle-class reader, it was converted into a working-class newspaper after 1934, in order to reach a larger audience. It was founded by Alfred Harmsworth, who sold it to his brother Harold Harmsworth (from 1914 Lord Rothermere) in 1913. In 1963 a restructuring of the media interests of the Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanessa-Mae
Vanessa-Mae (陈美 Chén Měi; born 27 October 1978) also called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, is a Singaporean-born British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the United Kingdom in 2006. She competed under the name Vanessa Vanakorn ( th, วาเนสซ่า วรรณกร; her father's surname) for Thailand in alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics. She was initially banned from skiing by the International Ski Federation (FIS) after participating in a qualifying race allegedly organised to enable her to qualify for the Winter Olympics. An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport led to the ban being nullified, citing lack of evidence for her own wrongdoing or any manipulation. The FIS later issued an apology to her. Early life and education Vanessa-Mae was born on 27 October 1978 in Singapore, to Singaporean mother Pamela Soei Luang Tan and Thai father Vorapong Vanakorn. After adoption ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opera Babes
The Opera Babes are an English crossover classical music duo, consisting of Karen England, mezzo-soprano, and Rebecca Knight, soprano. The duo came to wide attention when they sang "Un bel dì vedremo" (from the opera ''Madame Butterfly'') on television sports programmes, beginning in 2002. In addition to performing with major orchestras in Britain and touring with their own shows, they released their first album, ''Beyond Imagination'' in 2002 and their second album, ''Renaissance'', in 2006. Background and history The Opera Babes met in Cambridge while performing Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'' in a touring opera company. England studied at Leeds University and London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Knight, whose mother is the opera singer Gillian Knight, wrote for children's television early in her career. Both women have performed with the English touring company Opera della Luna and at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. They began busking together i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Mail (Wales)
The ''Western Mail'' is a daily newspaper published by Media Wales Ltd in Cardiff, Wales owned by the UK's largest newspaper company, Reach plc. The Sunday edition of the newspaper is published under the title ''Wales on Sunday''. It describes itself as "the national newspaper of Wales" (originally "the national newspaper of Wales and Monmouthshire"), although it has a very limited circulation in north Wales. The paper was published in broadsheet format until 2004, when it became a compact. It has an average circulation of 7,177 down from over 40,000 in 2007. History The ''Western Mail'' was founded in Cardiff in 1869 by John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute as a Conservative penny daily paper designed to promote the Marquess' political aspirations. Henry Lascelles Carr (1841–1902), editor since 1869, bought the paper with Daniel Owen in 1877. Under Carr, and later William Davies, the paper became influential in Wales. Historically in South Wales the ''Western Mail' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merry Christmas, Mr
Merry may refer to: A happy person with a jolly personality People * Merry (given name) * Merry (surname) Music * Merry (band), a Japanese rock band * ''Merry'' (EP), an EP by Gregory Douglass * "Merry" (song), by American power pop band Magnapop Places * Merry Township, Thurston County, Nebraska Merry Township is one of eleven townships in Thurston County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 68 at the 2020 census. See also *County government in Nebraska County government in Nebraska is organized in one of two models: *Township ... See also * Merri (other) {{disambig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto influenced and pioneered a number of electronic music genres. Sakamoto began his career while at university in the 1970s as a session musician, producer, and arranger. His first major success came in 1978 as co-founder of YMO. He concurrently pursued a solo career, releasing the experimental electronic fusion album '' Thousand Knives'' in 1978. Two years later, he released the album ''B-2 Unit''. It included the track "Riot in Lagos", which was significant in the development of electro and hip hop music. He went on to produce more solo records, and collaborate with many international artists, David Sylvian, Carsten Nicolai, Youssou N'Dour, and Fennesz among them. Sakamoto composed music for the opening ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sun (United Kingdom)
''The Sun'' is a British Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper, published by the News UK#News Group Newspapers Ltd, News Group Newspapers division of News UK, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. It was founded as a broadsheet in 1964 as a successor to the ''Daily Herald (UK newspaper), Daily Herald'', and became a tabloid in 1969 after it was purchased by its current owner. ''The Sun'' had the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, largest daily newspaper circulation in the United Kingdom, but was overtaken by Free newspaper, freesheet rival ''Metro (British newspaper), Metro'' in March 2018. The paper became a seven-day operation when ''The Sun on Sunday'' was launched in February 2012 to replace the closed ''News of the World'', employing some of its former journalists. The average circulation for ''The Sun on Sunday'' in September 2019 was 1,052,465. In February 2020, it had an average daily circulation of 1.2 million. ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)
''The Four Seasons'' ( it, Le quattro stagioni) is a group of four violin concertos by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. These were composed around 1718−1720, when Vivaldi was the court chapel master in Mantua. They were published in 1725 in Amsterdam, together with eight additional concerti, as (''The Contest Between Harmony and Invention''). ''The Four Seasons'' is the best known of Vivaldi's works. Though three of the concerti are wholly original, the first, "Spring", borrows patterns from a sinfonia in the first act of Vivaldi's contemporaneous opera ''Il Giustino''. The inspiration for the concertos is not the countryside around Mantua, as initially supposed, where Vivaldi was living at the time, since according to Karl Heller they could have been written as early as 1716–1717, while Vivaldi was engaged with the court of Mantua only in 1718. They were a revolution in musical conception: in them Vivaldi repr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
O Holy Night
"O Holy Night" (original title: ) is a well-known sacred song for Christmas performance. Originally based on a French-language poem by poet Placide Cappeau, written in 1843, with the first line (Midnight, Christian, is the solemn hour) that composer Adolphe Adam set to music in 1847. The English version (with small changes to the initial melody) is by John Sullivan Dwight. The carol reflects on the birth of Jesus as humanity's redemption. History In Roquemaure in France at the end of 1843, the church organ had recently been renovated. To celebrate the event, the parish priest persuaded poet Placide Cappeau, a native of the town, to write a Christmas poem. Soon afterwards, in that same year, Adolphe Adam composed the music. The song was premiered in Roquemaure in 1847 by the opera singer Emily Laurey. Transcendentalist, music critic, minister, and editor of ''Dwight's Journal of Music'', John Dwight, adapted the song into English in 1855. This version became popular in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
(They Long To Be) Close To You
"(They Long to Be) Close to You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The best-known version is that recorded by American duo the Carpenters for their second studio album '' Close to You'' (1970) and produced by Jack Daugherty. Released on May 14, 1970, the single topped both the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. It also reached the top of the Canadian and Australian charts and peaked at number six on the charts of both the UK and Ireland. The record was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in August 1970. Early versions The song was first recorded by Richard Chamberlain and released as a single in 1963 as "They Long to Be Close to You". However, while the single's other side, "Blue Guitar", became a hit, "They Long to Be Close to You" did not. The tune was also recorded as a demo by Dionne Warwick in 1963, was re-recorded with a Burt Bacharach arrangement for her album ''Make Way for Dionne Warwick'' (1964), an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
