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Špalíček (ballet)
''Špalíček'' (''The Chapbook'' or ''The Little Block'') is a 1932 three-act folk ballet composed by Bohuslav Martinů (H. 214). It premiered in 1933 in Prague with the subtitle "Ballet from folk games, customs, and fairytales - Ballet-revue". The title is taken from the folk-song collections hawked at fairs around Bohemia in the 1700s.Large, Brian (1975). ''Martinů''. London: Duckworth Books, Duckworth. , p54-55. Background From a long way off he was preparing himself for theatre work: for national Czech plays, for the ballet ''Špalíček'' and the operas ''Hry o Marii'' ''(The Plays of Mary)'' and ''Divadlo za branou (opera), Divadlo za bránou'' ''(The Theatre beyond the Gate)''. ''Špalíček'' was Martinů's principal theatrical project of the first half of the 1930s.Smaczny, Jan. Martinů. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London & New York, 1997. It is possible that Martinů was influenced by his teacher Roussel's opéra-ballet ''Padmâvatî'' or by St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chapbook
A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 12, 16, or 24 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. Printers provided chapbooks on credit to chapmen, who sold them both from door to door and at markets and fairs, then paying for the stock they sold. The tradition of chapbooks emerged during the 16th century as printed books were becoming affordable, with the medium ultimately reaching its height of popularity during the 17th and 18th centuries. Various ephemera and popular or folk literature were published as chapbooks, such as almanacs, children's literature, folklore, ballads, nursery rhymes, pamphlets, poetry, and political and religious Tract (literature), tracts. The term ''chapbook'' remains in use by publishers to refer to short, inexpensive booklets. Terminology ''Chapbook ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jiří Trnka
Jiří Trnka (; 24 February 1912 – 30 December 1969) was a Czechoslovak puppet-maker, illustrator, motion-picture animator and film director. In addition to his extensive career as an illustrator, especially of children's books, he is best known for his work in animation with puppets, which began in 1946. Most of his films were intended for adults and many were adaptations of literary works. Because of his influence in animation, he was called "the Walt Disney of Eastern Europe", despite the great differences between their works. He received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustrators in 1968, recognizing his career contribution to children's literature. Biography Formative years Jiří Trnka was born in Plzeň, in western Bohemia, where the family lived as middle class citizens. Although his father was a plumber and his mother a dressmaker, both remained very close to their peasant origins. As a child, young Jiří enjoyed sculpting puppets made of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adaptations Of Works By Karel Jaromír Erben
In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the population during that process. Thirdly, it is a phenotypic trait or adaptive trait, with a functional role in each individual organism, that is maintained and has evolved through natural selection. Historically, adaptation has been described from the time of the ancient Greek philosophers such as Empedocles and Aristotle. In 18th and 19th-century natural theology, adaptation was taken as evidence for the existence of a deity. Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace proposed instead that it was explained by natural selection. Adaptation is related to biological fitness, which governs the rate of evolution as measured by changes in allele frequencies. Often, two or more species co-adapt and co-evolve as they develop adaptations that inte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1940 Ballets
Year 194 ( CXCIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Septimius and Septimius (or, less frequently, year 947 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 194 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Decimus Clodius Septimius Albinus Caesar became a Roman Consul. * Battle of Issus: Septimius Severus marches with his army (12 legions) to Cilicia, and defeats Pescennius Niger, Roman governor of Syria. Pescennius retreats to Antioch, and is executed by Severus' troops. * Septimius Severus besieges Byzantium (194–196); the city walls suffer extensive damage. Asia * Battle of Yan Province: Warlords Cao Cao and Lü Bu fight for control over Yan Province; the battle lasts for over 100 days. * First year of the ''Xingping'' era during the Han Dynasty in Ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1933 Ballets
Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wishes of U.S. President Herbert Hoover. * January 28 – "Pakistan Declaration": Choudhry Rahmat Ali publishes (in Cambridge, UK) a pamphlet entitled ''Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?'', in which he calls for the creation of a Muslim state in northwest India that he calls "Pakistan, Pakstan"; this influences the Pakistan Movement. * January 30 ** Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany (German Reich), Chancellor of Germany by President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg. ** Édouard Daladier forms a government in France in succession to Joseph Paul-Boncour. He is succeeded on October 26 by Albert Sarraut and on November 26 by Camille Chautemps. February * February 1 – Adolf Hitle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1932 Compositions
Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 193 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * January 1 – Year of the Five Emperors: The Roman Senate chooses Publius Helvius Pertinax, against his will, to succeed the late Commodus as Emperor. Pertinax is forced to reorganize the handling of finances, which were wrecked under Commodus, to reestablish discipline in the Roman army, and to suspend the food programs established by Trajan, provoking the ire of the Praetorian Guard. * March 28 – Pertinax is assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard, who storm the imperial palace. The Empire is auctioned off; Marcus Didius Julianus the highest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballets By Bohuslav Martinů
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of dance with its own vocabulary. Ballet has been influential globally and has defined the foundational techniques which are used in many other dance genres and cultures. Various schools around the world have incorporated their own cultures. As a result, ballet has evolved in distinct ways. A ''ballet'' as a unified work comprises the choreography and music for a ballet production. Ballets are choreographed and performed by trained ballet dancers. Traditional classical ballets are usually performed with classical music accompaniment and use elaborate costumes and staging, whereas modern ballets are often performed in simple costumes and without elaborate sets or scenery. Etymology Ballet is a French word which had its origin in Italian '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; (17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010) was an American-born Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the English National Opera (and its predecessor) and Welsh National Opera and was the first Australian chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He also specialized in Czech music as a whole, producing many recordings for the Czech label Supraphon. Early life and education Mackerras was born in Schenectady, New York, to Australian parents, Alan Mackerras and Catherine MacLaurin. His father was an electrical engineer and a Quaker. Mackerras grew up in a musical family and his mother was immensely cultured. In 1928, when Charles was aged two, the family returned to Sydney. They initially lived in the suburb of Rose Bay, and in 1933 they moved to the then semi-rural suburb of Turramurra. Mackerras was the eldest of seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
František Jílek
František Jílek (22 May 1913 – 16 September 1993) was a Czech conductor, known especially for his interpretation of Leoš Janáček's works. Life Jílek began studying piano and composition as a pupil of Jaroslav Kvapil, and later studied conducting under Antonín Balatka and Zdeněk Chalabala at the Brno Conservatory. In 1937, Jílek completed his education at the Prague Conservatory, in the master class of Vítězslav Novák. From 1938 to 1949 he conducted the opera in Ostrava. In 1952, he became the principal conductor of the Janáček Opera in Brno, a position he held for 25 years. During his career Jílek frequently conducted the orchestra of the National Theatre in Prague, the Czech Philharmonic, as well as orchestras abroad. In 1978, he became the conductor of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra. Work He conducted the complete operas of Bedřich Smetana and Leoš Janáček, and also focused on Russian and Italian operatic repertoire. The recordings of his int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brno Philharmonic
The Brno Philharmonic (Czech: ''Filharmonie Brno'') is a Czech orchestra based in Brno, the Czech Republic. Its principal concert venue in Brno is the ''Besední dům''. The orchestra also performs regularly in the Janáček Opera House in Brno. The orchestra receives state support from the city of Brno, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the South Moravian Region (''Jihomoravský kraj''). The orchestra's current ''Intendantin'' is Marie Kučerová. The precursor ensemble to the orchestra, the Czech Symphony Orchestra, began its existence in the 1870s and was resident at the ''Besední dům''. The orchestra had to vacate the ''Besední dům'' during the time of 1953–1957. During this period, the current Brno Philharmonic was formed in 1956 with the merger of the Radio Orchestra and the Brno Region Symphony Orchestra. Břetislav Bakala served as the newly formed orchestra's first principal conductor orchestra, from 1956 to 1958. The orchestra again vacated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Large
Brian James Large (born 16 February 1939 in London, England) is a television director and author. He is among the world's foremost TV directors specializing in opera and classical music. Biography Studies Large studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Academy in 1991. After graduating from the University of London with doctorates in both music and philosophy, he did postgraduate work in Vienna and Prague. His interest in Czech and Slavic opera resulted in the publication of two pioneering volumes on the music of Bedřich Smetana and Bohuslav Martinů. BBC 1965–1980 He joined BBC2 television as a director with responsibility for music and opera at its inception in 1965. He was appointed chief opera producer in 1970. During this period he televised: * ''Burning Fiery Furnace'', ''Idomeneo'' and '' Peter Grimes'' (with Pears and Britten) * '' La traviata'' (Harwood) * ''Macbeth'' (Johnson, Shicoff, Bailey, Ghiaurov) * '' Amahl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinderella
"Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a young girl living in forsaken circumstances who is suddenly blessed by remarkable fortune, with her ascension to the throne via marriage. The story of Rhodopis, recounted by the Greek geographer Strabo sometime between 7 BC and AD 23, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt, is usually considered to be the earliest known variant of the Cinderella story. The first literary European version of the story was published in Italy by Giambattista Basile in his ''Pentamerone'' in 1634. The version that is now most widely known in the English-speaking world was published in French by Charles Perrault in ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé'' (translation: "Histories or tales of times passed") in 1697 as ''Cendrillon'' and was anglicize ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
