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La Morte D'Orfeo
' (''The Death of Orpheus'') is an opera in five acts by the Italian composer Stefano Landi. Dedicated to Alessandro Mattei, ''familiaris'' of Pope Paul V, it may have been first performed in Rome in 1619. The work is styled a ''tragicomedia pastorale'' (pastoral tragicomedy). The libretto, which may be by the composer himself, is in part inspired by ''La favola d'Orfeo'' (1484) by Angelo Poliziano. Unlike Monteverdi's ''L'Orfeo'' and the earliest Florentine operas on the subject ('' Euridice'' by Peri and Caccini), Landi's opera contains comic elements and deals with a different episode from the life of the mythical singer. Roles Synopsis After Orpheus has failed to save his wife Eurydice from the underworld, he renounces wine and the love of women. This offends the god Bacchus who urges his female followers, the Maenads, to kill Orpheus. The enraged Maenads tear him apart. The gods want the dead Orpheus to join them on Olympus but Orpheus wants to be reunited with Eurydice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretto, librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, Theatrical scenery, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conducting, conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another. Opera is a key part of Western culture#Music, Western classical music, and Italian tradition in particular. Originally understood as an sung-through, entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include :Opera genres, numerous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aurora (mythology)
Aurōra () is the Latin word for dawn, and the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology and Latin poetry. Like Greek mythology, Greek ''Eos'' and Rigvedic deities, Rigvedic ''Ushas'', ''Aurōra'' continues the name of an earlier Proto-Indo-European mythology, Indo-European dawn goddess, ''Hausos''. Name Aurōra stems from Proto-Italic ''*ausōs'', and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ''*haéusōs'', the "dawn" conceived as divine entity. It has cognates in the goddesses Eos, Ēṓs, Ushas, Uṣas, Aušrinė, Auseklis and Ēostre, Ēastre. Roman mythology In Roman mythology, Aurōra renews herself every morning and flies across the sky, announcing the arrival of the Sun. Her parentage was flexible: for Ovid, she could equally be ''Pallantis'', signifying the daughter of Pallas (Titan), Pallas, or the daughter of Hyperion (mythology), Hyperion. She has two siblings, a brother (Sol (Roman mythology), Sol, the Sun) and a sister (Luna (goddess), Luna, the Moon). Roman writers rarely imi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Elwes (tenor)
John Joseph Elwes (original name John Hahessy) (born 20 October 1946), is an English tenor singer. Born in Lewisham, London he was Head Chorister in the choir of Westminster Cathedral, London. His musical and vocal education were furthered by the eminent harpsichordist George Malcolm, the then Director of Music. Under the name of John Hahessy (his father was from Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary, Ireland) he had considerable success as a boy soprano - from BBC broadcasts and recordings with Decca to concerts with such conductors as Benjamin Britten. He made the 1st recording of Benjamin Britten's Canticle " Abraham and Isaac", singing the role of Isaac, accompanied by the composer. Britten later dedicated his "Corpus Christi Carol" to him. He went on to study at the Royal College of Music, and made his stage debut as a tenor in 1968 at The Proms. John Elwes is particularly well known for his sensitive and musical performances. His repertoire is extensive ranging from Monteverdi, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lethe
In Greek mythology, Lethe (; Ancient Greek: ''Lḗthē''; , ) was one of the rivers of the underworld of Hades. In Classical Greek, the word '' lethe'' ( λήθη) literally means "forgetting", "forgetfulness". The river is also known as Amelēs Potamos, or the “river of unmindfulness.” The Lethe flowed around the cave of Hypnos and through the Underworld where all those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness. The river was often associated with Lethe, the personification of forgetfulness and oblivion, who was the daughter of Eris (Strife). Mythology Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, was one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld; the other four are Acheron (the river of sorrow), Cocytus (the river of lamentation), Phlegethon (the river of fire) and Styx (the river that separates Earth and the Underworld). In myth, the shades of the dead were only able to be reincarnated after they drank from the Lethe which would wash away all their memories. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hades
Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea (mythology), Rhea, although this also made him the last son to be Cronus#Mythology, regurgitated by his father. He and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeated their father's generation of gods, the Titan (mythology) , Titans, and claimed joint rulership over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth (long the province of Gaia (mythology) , Gaia) available to all three concurrently. In artistic depictions, Hades is typically portrayed holding a bident and wearing his cap of invisibility , helm with Cerberus, the Polycephaly, three-headed dogs in religion#Religions, myths, legends, and cultures, guard-dog of the underworld, standing at his side. Roman-era mythographers eventually ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (, , ) is an extensive massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, between the regional units of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa and Pieria (regional unit), Pieria, about southwest from Thessaloniki. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks and deep gorges. The highest peak, Mytikas ( ''Mýtikas''), meaning "nose", rises to and is the highest peak in Greece, and one of the highest peaks in Europe in terms of topographic prominence. In Greek mythology, Olympus is the home of the List of Greek deities, Greek gods, on Mytikas peak. The mountain has exceptional biodiversity and rich flora (plants), flora. It has been a National parks of Greece, National Park, the first in Greece, since 1938. It is also a Man and the Biosphere Programme, World Biosphere Reserve. Olympus remains the most popular hiking summit in Greece, as well as one of the most popular in Europe. Organized mountain refuges and var ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maenad
In Greek mythology, maenads (; ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of his retinue, the '' thiasus''. Their name, which comes from μαίνομαι (''maínomai'', “to rave, to be mad; to rage, to be angry”), literally translates as 'raving ones'. Maenads were known as Bassarids, Bacchae , or Bacchantes in Roman mythology after the penchant of the equivalent Roman god, Bacchus, to wear a bassaris or fox skin. Often the maenads were portrayed as inspired by Dionysus into a state of ecstatic frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication. During these rites, the maenads would dress in fawn skins and carry a thyrsus, a long stick wrapped in ivy or vine leaves and tipped with a pine cone. They would weave ivy-wreaths around their heads or wear a bull helmet in honor of their god, and often handle or wear snakes. These women were mythologized as the "mad women" who were nurses of Dionysus in Nysa. Lycurgus "chased the Nurs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurus
In Greek mythology and religion, Eurus () is the god and personification of the east wind, although sometimes he is also said to be southeast specifically. He is one of the four principal wind gods, the Anemoi, alongside Boreas (north wind), Zephyrus (west wind) and Notus (south wind). Eurus is featured rarely in ancient literature and art, appearing together with his three brothers as part of a whole if at all, and virtually has no individual mythology of his own. Often he is excluded from the group entirely, leaving Boreas, Zephyrus and Notus to represent the Anemoi. His Roman equivalent is the god Vulturnus. Etymology The ancient Greek noun (''eûros'') refers to the wind that blows from the east. Its ultimate etymology is not clear, although it has been variously connected to the Greek words for the dawn (, ''ēṓs'') and aura (, ''aúra''). Attributes and family Eurus is traditionally the god of the east or south-east wind. He has been both described as rain-bringing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jupiter (mythology)
Jupiter ( or , from Proto-Italic language, Proto-Italic "day, sky" + "father", thus "sky father" Greek: Zeus, Δίας or Zeus, Ζεύς), also known as Jove (nominative case, nom. and genitive case, gen. ), is the sky god, god of the sky and god of thunder, thunder, and king of the gods in ancient Roman religion and Roman mythology, mythology. Jupiter was the chief deity of Roman state religion throughout the Roman Republic, Republican and Roman Empire, Imperial eras, until Constantine the Great and Christianity, Christianity became the dominant religion of the Empire. In Roman mythology, he negotiates with Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, to establish principles of Roman religion such as offering, or sacrifice. Jupiter is thought to have originated as a sky god. His identifying implement is the thunderbolt and his primary sacred animal is the eagle, which held precedence over other birds in the taking of auspices and became one of the most common symbols of the Roma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurydice
Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice', classical pronunciation: ) was a character in Greek mythology and the wife of Orpheus, whom Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several meanings for the name ''Eurydice'' have been proposed such as "true judgment" or "profound judgment" from the Greek language, Greek: ''eur dike''. Fabius Planciades Fulgentius, Fulgentius, a mythographer of the late 5th to early 6th century AD, gave the latter etymological meaning. Adriana Cavarero, in the book ''Relating Narratives: Storytelling and Selfhood'', wrote that "the etymology of Eurydice seems rather to indicate, in the term ''eurus'', a vastness of space or power, which, joining to ''dike'' [and thus ''deiknumi'', to show], designates her as 'the one who judges with breadth' or, perhaps, 'she who shows herself amply.'" Mythology Marriage to Orpheus, death and afterlife Eurydice was the wife of musician Orpheus, who loved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charon (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon ( ; ) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the worlds of the living and the dead. Archaeology confirms that, in some burials, low-value coins known generically as Charon's obols were placed in, on, or near the mouth of the deceased, or next to the cremation urn containing their ashes. This has been taken to confirm that at least some aspects of Charon's mytheme are reflected in some Greek and Roman funeral practices, or else the coins function as a viaticum for the soul's journey. In Virgil's epic poem, ''Aeneid'', the dead who could not pay the fee, and those who had received no funeral rites, had to wander the near shores of the Styx for one hundred years before they were allowed to cross the river. Charon also ferried the living mortals Heracles and Aeneas to the underworld and back again. Name origins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical 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 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral music, or to soprano C (C6) 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 soprano, coloratura, soubrette, lyric soprano, lyric, spinto soprano, spinto, and dramatic soprano, dramatic soprano. Etymology The word "soprano" comes from the Italian word ''wikt:sopra, sopra'' (above, over, on top of),"Soprano" ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' as the soprano is the highest pitch human voice, often given to the leading female roles in operas. "Soprano" refers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
