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Lívia Ághová
Lívia Ághová (born 7 October 1963) is a Slovak opera singer. She has been a principal soprano at the National Theatre in Prague since 1988. Her career has also taken her to many of the best opera houses and concert halls in North America and Europe. She has sung in numerous opera and concert recordings with such labels as Chandos, ORFEO, and Supraphon. Biography Born in Šaľa, she entered the Bratislava Conservatory in 1979 where she studied singing for four years. Immediately after graduating in 1983 she was hired by the Slovak National Theatre (SNT) as a principal soprano. She sang at that house for five years where she was particularly admired portraying Mozart heroines like Susanna in ''Le Nozze di Figaro'', Donna Elvira in ''Don Giovanni'', and Pamina in ''The Magic Flute''. Her other roles with the company included Mimi in Giacomo Puccini's '' La Boheme'', Micaela in Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'', and Marguerite in Charles Gounod's ''Faust''. In 1986 Ághová wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Šaľa
Šaľa (, ; , ) is a town in Šaľa District within Nitra Region in south-western Slovakia. Geography Šaľa is located on the Danubian Lowland on both banks of the Váh River, around 65 km from Bratislava and 30 km from Nové Zámky. Besides the town itself, it also includes the settlements of Hetméň and Veča on the left and right banks of the river respectively. The town lies in the Humid continental climate, humid continental climactic zone. History Šaľa was first mentioned in 1002 in a document of Pannonhalma Abbey. It was promoted into a market town in 1536. Šaľa was also ruled by Ottoman Turks, Ottomans between 1663 and 1686 as part of Uyvar Eyalet. The railway, built in 1850 between Vienna and Budapest speeded development in Šaľa. After 1918, the town became part of Czechoslovakia, however belonging for a short time between 1938 and 1945 again to Hungary before being returned to Czechoslovakia again. Šaľa became part of Slovakia on 1 January 1993 when Cz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire. During a brilliant student career at the Conservatoire de Paris, Bizet won many prizes, including the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857. He was recognised as an outstanding pianist, though he chose not to capitalise on this skill and rarely performed in public. Returning to Paris after almost three years in Italy, he found that the main Parisian opera theatres preferred the established classical repertoire to the works of newcomers. His keyboard and orchestral compositions were likewise largely ignored; as a result, his career stalled, and he earned his living mainly by arranging and transcribing the music of others. Restless for success, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berlin State Opera
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from 1741 to 1743 according to plans by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff in the Palladian style. Damaged during the Allied bombing in World War II, the former Royal Prussian Opera House was rebuilt from 1951 to 1955 as part of the Forum Fridericianum square. Nicknamed ''Lindenoper'' in Berlin, it is "the world´s oldest state opera" and "the first theater anywhere to be, by itself, a prominent, freestanding monumental building in a city." History Names Originally called the ('Royal Opera'), the company was renamed the ('Prussian State Opera') in 1919. After World War II it began operating as the national opera company for Communist East Germany, taking the name ('German State Opera') in 1955. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Cunning Little Vixen
''The Cunning Little Vixen'' (original title ''Příhody lišky Bystroušky'' or ''Tales of Vixen Sharp-Ears'' in English), is a three-act Czech-language opera by Leoš Janáček completed in 1923 to a libretto the composer himself adapted from a novella by Rudolf Těsnohlídek. Name The opera's libretto was adapted by the composer from a 1920 serialized novella, ''Liška Bystrouška'', by Rudolf Těsnohlídek, which was first published in the newspaper ''Lidové noviny'' (with illustrations by Stanislav Lolek). For the title of the opera, ''Příhody'' means ''tales''; ''lišky'' is the genitive of ''vixen''. ''Bystroušky'', still genitive, is the pun ''sharp'', having the double meaning of ''pointed'', like fox ears, and ''clever''. The opera first became familiar outside Czechoslovakia in a 1927 German adaptation by Max Brod who provided the new name ''Das schlaue Füchslein'', by which Germans still know it and which in English means ''The Cunning Little Vixen''. Compositi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, including Eastern European folk music, to create an original, modern musical style. Born in Hukvaldy, Janáček demonstrated musical talent at an early age and was educated in Brno, Prague, Leipzig, and Vienna. He then returned to live in Brno, where he married his pupil Zdenka Schulzová and devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research. His earlier musical output was influenced by contemporaries such as Antonín Dvořák, but around the turn of the century he began to incorporate his earlier studies of national folk music, as well as his transcriptions of "speech melodies" of spoken language, to create a modern, highly original synthesis. The death of his daughter Olga in 1903 had a profound effect on his musical output; these notable transfor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julietta
''Julietta'' is an opera by Bohuslav Martinů, who also wrote the libretto, in French, based on the play ''Juliette ou la Clé des songes'' (''Juliette, or The Key of Dreams)'' by the French author Georges Neveux. A libretto in Czech was later prepared for its premiere which took place at the Prague National Theatre on 16 March 1938. ''Julietta'' has become widely considered as Martinů's masterpiece. Performance history Martinů became aware of the play by Neveux in 1932, two years after its premiere at the in Paris (8th arrondissement) on 7 March 1930.Smaczny, Jan. "''Julietta''". In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. It appears that Neveux had come to an agreement with Kurt Weill to base a musical comedy on his play, but on hearing some of Martinů's music, passed his favour to the Czech.Bohuslav Martinů: ''Juliette ou la Clé des songes''. In: Kaminski, Piotr. ''Mille et Un Opéras''. Fayard, 2003, pp. 839–841. The initial work o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphony, symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber music, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and briefly studied under Czech composer and violinist Josef Suk (composer), Josef Suk. After leaving Czechoslovakia in 1923 for Paris, Martinů deliberately withdrew from the Romantic style in which he had been trained. During the 1920s he experimented with modern French stylistic developments, exemplified by his orchestral works ''Half-time'' and ''La Bagarre''. He also adopted jazz idioms, for instance in his ''La revue de cuisine, Kitchen Revue'' (''Kuchyňská revue''). In the early 1930s he found his main fount for compositional style: Neoclassicism (music), neoclassicism, creating textures far denser than those found in composers treating Stravinsky as a mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' and Molière's comedy ''Monsieur de Pourceaugnac''. It was first performed at the Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden on 26 January 1911 under the direction of Max Reinhardt, with Ernst von Schuch conducting. Until the premiere, the working title was ''Ochs auf Lerchenau''. (The choice of the name Ochs is not accidental, as "Ochs" means "ox", which describes the Baron's manner.) The opera has four main characters: the aristocratic Marschallin; her 17-year-old lover, Count Octavian Rofrano; her brutish cousin Baron Ochs; and Ochs's prospective fiancée, Sophie von Faninal, the daughter of a rich bourgeois. At the Marschallin's suggestion, Octavian acts as Ochs's ''Rosenkavalier'' by presenting a ceremonial silver rose to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bartered Bride
''The Bartered Bride'' (, ''The Sold Bride'') is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The work is generally regarded as a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863 to 1866, and first performed at the Provisional Theatre (Prague), Provisional Theatre, Prague, on 30 May 1866 in a two-act format with spoken dialogue. Set in a country village and with realistic characters, it tells the story of how, after a late surprise revelation, true love prevails over the combined efforts of ambitious parents and a scheming marriage broker. The opera was not immediately successful, and was revised and extended in the following four years. In its final version, premiered in 1870, it rapidly gained popularity and eventually became a worldwide success. Until this time, the Czech national opera had only been represented by minor, rarely performed works. This opera, Smetana's second, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fidelio
''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. The opera premiered at Vienna's Theater an der Wien on 20 November 1805. The following year, Beethoven's friend Stephan von Breuning (librettist), Stephan von Breuning rewrote the libretto, shortening the work from three acts to two. After further work on the libretto by Georg Friedrich Treitschke, a final version was performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor, Kärntnertortheater on 23 May 1814. As these libretto revisions were going on, Beethoven was also revising some of the music. By convention, only the final version is called ''Fidelio'', and the others are referred to as ''Leonore''. The libretto tells how Leonore, disguised as a prison guard named "Fidelio", Rescue opera, rescues her husband Florestan from death ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pagliacci
''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who murders his wife Nedda and her lover Silvio on stage during a performance. ''Pagliacci'' premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on 21 May 1892, conducted by Arturo Toscanini, with Adelina Stehle as Nedda, Fiorello Giraud as Canio, Victor Maurel as Tonio, and Mario Ancona as Silvio. Soon after its Italian premiere, the opera played in London (with Nellie Melba as Nedda) and in New York (on 15 June 1893, with Agostino Montegriffo as Canio). ''Pagliacci'' is the best-known of Leoncavallo's ten operas and remains a staple of the repertoire. ''Pagliacci'' is often staged with ''Cavalleria rusticana'' by Pietro Mascagni, a double bill known colloquially as "Cav/Pag". Origin and disputes Leoncavallo was a little-known composer when Pietro Masc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organisation of Germany's regional Public broadcasting, public-service broadcasters. It was founded in 1950 in West Germany to represent the common interests of the new, decentralised, post-war broadcasting services—in particular the introduction of a joint television network. ARD has a budget of €6.9 billion, 22,612 employees and is the largest public broadcaster network in the world. The budget comes primarily from a mandatory licence fee which every household, company and public institution, regardless of television ownership, is required by law to pay. For an ordinary household the fee is €18.36 per month, as of 2023. Households living on Welfare in Germany, welfare are exempt from the fee. The fees are not collected directly by ARD, but by the Beitragsservice von ARD, ZDF und Deutschlandradio, Beitragsservice (formerly known as Gebühreneinzugszentrale GEZ), a common organisation by the ARD member broadcasters, the second public TV broadcaster ZDF, and De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
