Chester Watson (bass‐baritone)
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Chester Watson (bass‐baritone)
Chester Watson (September 6, 1911 – January 8, 1979) was an American bass-baritone singer who had an active performance career in operas and concerts from the late 1940s into the 1970s. He was particularly active as a performer in opera on American television with the NBC Opera Theatre. He also made appearances with several American opera companies, including the New York City Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Opera Society of Washington. He is best known for creating roles in the world premieres of several American operas, including the First Police Agent in Gian Carlo Menotti's ''The Consul'' (1950), Father Julien in Norman Dello Joio's '' The Trial at Rouen'' (1956), Palivec in Robert Kurka's ''The Good Soldier Schweik'' (1958), and Leonard Swett in Thomas Pasatieri's ''The Trial of Mary Lincoln'' (1972). He notably starred opposite Maria Callas as Goffredo in the American Opera Society's lauded 1959 production of Vincenzo Bellini's '' Il pirata'', which was recorded f ...
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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 divi ...
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Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; ; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer famed for his long, graceful melodies and evocative musical settings. A central figure of the era, he was admired not only by the public, but also by many composers who were influenced by his work. His songs balanced florid Ornament (music), embellishment with a deceptively simple approach to lyric setting. Born to a musical family in Sicily, he distinguished himself early and earned a scholarship to study under several noted musicians at Music conservatories of Naples#Conservatorio di San Sebastiano, Naples' Real Collegio di Musica. There he absorbed elements of the Neapolitan School's style and was inspired by performances of Donizetti's and Rossini's operas, among others, in more modern idioms. He wrote his first opera, ''Adelson e Salvini'' (1825), for the conservatory, and his next, ''Bianca e Fernando'' (1826), on a Teatro di San Carlo-affiliated commiss ...
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The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area and has a national audience. As of 2023, the ''Post'' had 130,000 print subscribers and 2.5 million digital subscribers, both of which were the List of newspapers in the United States, third-largest among U.S. newspapers after ''The New York Times'' and ''The Wall Street Journal''. The ''Post'' was founded in 1877. In its early years, it went through several owners and struggled both financially and editorially. In 1933, financier Eugene Meyer (financier), Eugene Meyer purchased it out of bankruptcy and revived its health and reputation; this work was continued by his successors Katharine Graham, Katharine and Phil Graham, Meyer's daughter and son-in-law, respectively, who bought out several rival publications. The ''Post ...
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When Lilacs Last In The Dooryard Bloom'd (Hindemith)
''When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd: A Requiem for those we love'' (An American Requiem) is a 1946 oratorio by composer Paul Hindemith, based on the When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, poem of the same name by Walt Whitman. It is the first musical work to include the entirety of Whitman's 1865 When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, poem. Conductor Robert Shaw (conductor), Robert Shaw and the Robert Shaw Chorale commissioned the work after the 1945 death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It received its world premiere on May 14, 1946, at New York City Center, with the Collegiate Chorale conducted by Shaw and soloists Mona Paulee, contralto, and George Burnson, baritone. Paulee performed the work again with bass-baritone Chester Watson (bass‐baritone), Chester Watson and the CBS Symphony Orchestra for the work's first recorded broadcast on CBS Radio on June 30, 1946. David Neumeyer and others regard the ''Lilacs'' Requiem as Hindemith's "only profoundly American w ...
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Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Neue Sachlichkeit'' (New Objectivity) style of music in the 1920s, with compositions such as ''Kammermusik (Hindemith), Kammermusik'', including works with viola and viola d'amore as solo instruments in a neo-Bachian spirit. Other notable compositions include his song cycle ''Das Marienleben'' (1923), Das Unaufhörliche (1931), ''Der Schwanendreher'' for viola and orchestra (1935), the opera ''Mathis der Maler (opera), Mathis der Maler'' (1938), the ''Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber'' (1943), and the oratorio ''When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd (Hindemith), When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd'' (1946), a requiem based on When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, Walt Whitman's poem. Hindem ...
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CBS Symphony Orchestra
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio network serving as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of the CBS Entertainment Group division of Paramount Global and is one of the company's three flagship subsidiaries, along with namesake Paramount Pictures and MTV. Founded in 1927, headquartered at the CBS Building in New York City and being part of the "Big Three (American television), Big Three" television networks, CBS has major production facilities and operations at the CBS Broadcast Center and the headquarters of owner Paramount at One Astor Plaza (both also in that city) and Television City and the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. It is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network, after the company's trademark symbol of an eye (which has been in use sin ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ...
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United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United States Constitution (1789).See alsTitle 10, Subtitle B, Chapter 301, Section 3001 It operates under the authority, direction, and control of the United States Secretary of Defense, United States secretary of defense. It is one of the six armed forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. The Army is the most senior branch in order of precedence amongst the armed services. It has its roots in the Continental Army, formed on 14 June 1775 to fight against the British for independence during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army.Library of CongressJournals ...
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The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the ''Times'' serves as one of the country's Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The New York Times'' had 9.13 million total and 8.83 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the List of newspapers in the United States, highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 296,330 print subscribers, making the ''Times'' the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States, following ''The Wall Street Journal'', also based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publ ...
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Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelve original counties established under English rule in 1683 in what was then the Province of New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the population stood at 2,736,074, making it the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City, and the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the state.Table 2: Population, Land Area, and Population Density by County, New York State - 2020
New York State Department of Health. Accessed January 2, 2024.

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New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra'', it is one of the leading American orchestras popularly called the " Big Five". The Philharmonic's home is David Geffen Hall, at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Founded in 1842, the orchestra is one of the oldest musical institutions in the United States and the oldest of the "Big Five" orchestras. Its 14,000th concert was given in December 2004. History Founding and first concert, 1842 The New York Philharmonic was founded in 1842 by the American conductor Ureli Corelli Hill, with the aid of the Irish composer William Vincent Wallace. The orchestra was then called the Philharmonic Society of New York. It was the third Philharmonic on American soil since 1799, and had as its int ...
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